Exploring the Subversive Genius of Incredibles 2 (SPOILERS)

To say that 2018 was a massive year for superhero films would be a huge understatement. With Infinity War alone being released in that year and the cultural impact that had, you could easily say that it was the peak of the superhero thing that cinema is going through at the moment, even without entering Black Panther, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Deadpool 2, Aquaman, and Ant-Man & the Wasp into the conversation. With Endgame arriving the next year and doing a really solid job of bringing a satisfying sense of closure to the Marvel Infinity Saga, and consequently also feeling like a really important line in the sand for superhero movies in general, there really is a strong argument to be made for 2018 being the height of superhero movies. 

The fact that I think that Incredibles 2 is the best superhero film to come out in 2018, then, gives you not only a good idea of how much I like it, but also begins to explain part of why I like it so much, and why I think it deserves more attention than it has received. Not only was it the best superhero film of that year in my opinion, but I think it is incredibly smart and subversive, essentially taking an axe to the very concept of superhero films and superhero monoculture and smuggling it through at the height of the very culture it is dissecting. Let me explain a little bit what I mean. 

If I were to break down the core ideas being presented in Incredibles 2, I would present two main ideas to you - what it means to have information and experiences mediated for you by a screen, and a questioning of how positive superheroes as role-models actually are. I think these are really bold choices for what is essentially an animated kids film, let alone one that is being released in 2018. 

The villain of the film, Screenslaver, essentially lays out their ideology to the audience as Elastigirl is chasing them through the city in a monologue many people probably didn't even realise was showing them all of the film's cards because of how visually arresting the sequence is. This is what Screenslaver says:

Screenslaver interrupts this program for an important announcement. Don't bother watching the rest. Elastigirl doesn't save the day; she only postpones her defeat. And while she postpones her defeat, you eat chips and watch HER confront problems that you are too lazy to deal with. Superheroes are part of your brainless desire to replace true experience with simulation. You don't talk, you watch talk shows. You don't play games, you watch game shows. Travel, relationships, risk; every meaningful experience must be packaged and delivered to you to watch at a distance so that you can remain ever-sheltered, ever-passive, ever-ravenous consumers who can't bring themselves to rise from their couches, break a sweat, and participate in life. You want superheroes to protect you and make yourselves ever-more powerless in the process; while you tell yourselves you're being "looked after", that your interests are being served, and your rights are being upheld. So that the system can keep stealing from you, smiling at you all the while. Go ahead, send your supers to stop me. Grab your snacks, watch your screens, see what happens. You are no longer in control; I am.

Do I need to remind you again that this is an animated kids film?

This incredible monologue best illustrates the first of the film's two main ideas - we don't want to engage in anything unless it has been mediated by a screen. It seems almost dismissive to boil down a film's main message to "screen equals bad", and while that would be an incredibly dismissive and uninteresting way to summarise it, that is basically what it is trying to say. A version of this idea that better serves the thoughtfulness and skill with which the film executes this is that perception has overtaken reality. In the film's opening, the reality of the fact that the Incredibles took down the Underminer and saved who knows how many lives isn't even remotely as important to the public and the press as the perception that they brought the violence and destruction with them, epitomised by the press' proliferation of the image of the Incredibles standing amidst the destruction caused by their confrontation with the Underminer. This is what the film is trying to get at when it turns its attention to our society's obsession and reliance on screens - we don't give a shit about reality, we both want and have become accustomed to the mediated image of reality fed to us through a screen; that is, a singular representation, or perception, of an event over experiencing the event itself in its reality. At no other time in history has this idea been more visible and quantifiable, and Incredibles 2 deserves way more praise than it got for not only pointing it out but diving into it head first.

As I opened with, the film also deconstructs the superhero genre in a way that cuts deep to beyond the mere form and content of the genre and into the tangible effects it has on our culture and our psychology. The film argues that by placing superheroes on a pedestal we effectively shifting any and all responsibility in our lives onto an ideal that does not exists, becoming complacent, lazy and spoilt in the process. It's exactly like Screenslaver spells it out; you want superheroes to protect you and make yourselves ever-more powerless in the process. This isn't a new idea, either - ever since comic book heroes have been dominating culture, commentators and journalists have been questioning the effect superheroes have on our psychology and culture. But Incredibles 2 enters the conversation in the middle of this generation's biggest cinematic movement, during which superheroes dominate our cinemas and our TV screen, during which we are consuming superhero media at a rate that is only increasing with streaming services becoming more and more prolific. This film enters the conversation where this argument collides directly with its first argument about media and mediated images. 

What the combination of these two ideas leaves us with is something that I am still thinking about, but at the very least what it does do is give us one of the most subversive superhero films ever. Much like Infinity War, we get a villain in Incredibles 2 that really does have a point. Like all great villains in cinema, Screenslave is the hero of their own story. Speaking of which, let's dive into Screenslaver himself. Or, herself. Or... well, let's just get into it. 

Elastigirl's first encounter with Screenslaver in the flesh comes when she tracks their signal during a live broadcast on a talk show to an apartment building. It is during this confrontation that we get Screenslaver's epic monologue, after which Screenslaver is caught, revealed to be a teenaged boy in the suit. But of course it is later revealed to be Evelyn, the sister of Winston Deavor, the tech giant bringing all the old supers together to rebuild their public reputation through - that's right - media manipulation. She has been using her influence and power to manipulate others into doing her dirty work, and trying to shift public perception of supers for the worse to permanently sink their reputation. The implication of this for me is that while of course Evelyn is the driving force behind Screenslaver's plot, in a practical sense the identity of Screenslaver is actually way more nebulous and plastic as the perceptions they are trying to shift. So we have a villain in an animated superhero movie for kids that not only is absolutely right, not only has their finger directly on the pulse of today's cultural landscape, but also exists beyond any singular personality. Call me crazy, but I think that's pretty fantastic. 

So what do you think? Are we slaves to our screens, and are we blindly idolising superheroes as a way of distracting ourselves from actually solving our own problems? Or am I and other writers far more eloquent than I simply trying way too hard to analyse a film that is made for kids? I'd love to hear your take on this down in the comments. 

See you next time, legends.