I didn't have as many frustrations as a child. However, one I vividly remember was grasping the end of my seat screaming in anger when the first movie rolled to the credits right after the Parr family put on their masks in the middle of the parking lot in the final scene of "Incredibles".
Fourteen years later, I still had the same excitement I used to as a child when seeing the sequel of a Disney classic.
Let's talk about what happened in between those fourteen years.
Cell phones and technology. The devices have prospered over the past decade and have continued to make our lives easier in any way possible. But despite the good, there is also some evils technology has. They have taken over our lives in these past fourteen years, and although we may not have seen it while staring at the big movie screen for almost two hours, this problem was implicitly seeping its way into our minds throughout the film.
While Mr. Incredible (Bob) was watching the kids, Elasta-girl (Helen) was off fighting the antagonist, "Screenslaver." At first, I did not think much of it. Until he took over a television show and said this.
"You are not in control, I am."
Then it all clicked for me. Out of all possibilities, why would they choose to make the villain "Screenslaver?" Why would their power be hypnotizing people with screens? How come the antagonist is really just a normal woman, hiding behind a screen?
It may be a stretch, but Elasta-girl is fighting screen addiction. In our modern society, we are constantly around screens, being hypnotized by the things they tell us to say and do. Since screens are now everywhere, the Screenslaver has the power to possess our lives in an abundant amount of ways.
Another thing that stood out to me was when Screenslaver says, "We serve only us." Not only do screens play an active role in our everyday lives, but they also are becoming more and more customizable. In result, we are adapting personalities that are more self-absorbing and creating the false perception that we are the center of our own Universe.
The self-absorbing personality extends on to Evelyn, who was the face behind the Screenslaver. In the movie, she had a brother who was an advertiser. She was working behind the scenes of the products he was selling since she was the designer. The shadow was too much for her, so she took the hypnotizing technology to create a villain to make superheroes illegal. Forever.
She was proof that not only can technology hypnotize people, but also make them do crazy things. With all the apps, websites, and social networks that have been invented in the past fourteen years, people are believing more and more that they are invincible, as long as they have their screen for protection. Evelyn is proof that technology makes people believe that they can be super.
If a childhood movie has a message as great as that, maybe there is some truth to it. Even if it is hidden. I know that I spend way too much time on my screen throughout the day. I am a victim of the real-life Screenslaver, and I know I'm not the only one.
Technology has taken over our lives. It has done wonders for our society and will continue to improve communication in the years to come. However, that idea engraved in my head maybe because the person, sitting on the other side of my screen, wanted me to believe that.
Not everything has a happy ending. When we leave the magic of Disney and step into reality, we'll see that we lost. Screenslaver has won.
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