My post on Cars could have been much much longer. I tried to keep it on-topic, or as on-topic as possible, with my photo/art point of view. Other random directions it could have taken me.
Didn't go into "Cars" and the romance of white privilege.
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nick (@vossbrink) November 05, 2012Which would be an expansion on my asterisked aside about how women and minorities have not had the same liberty to travel throughout the country without issue that white men have had.
Or "Cars" and predestination/caste society.
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nick (@vossbrink) November 05, 2012The Cars universe suggests that you’re born to be a specific kind of car and do a specific kind of job. Which is an interesting concept to build a kids movie upon.
Or how "Cars" has made me consider a possible minority Bechdel test. (it should be noted that "Cars" DOES pas the Bechdel test)
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nick (@vossbrink) November 05, 20121. At least two non-white characters. 2. Who talk to each other. 3. And who aren't dating/married/seperated. #MinorityBechdelTest
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nick (@vossbrink) November 05, 2012Also, it should be noted that "Cars" managed to sneak an "híjole chingado" into a G-rated movie.
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nick (@vossbrink) November 05, 2012And the way Pixar selected which stereotypes of black women and hispanic men to use in "Cars" is also interesting.
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nick (@vossbrink) November 05, 2012The treatment of minority characters in Cars is interesting to me. Especially since they do exist within a specific white-centered world. I already mentioned the romance of white privilege and travel. Couple that with the NASCAR thing and yeah. Not a lot of minority characters.
It should be noted though that Ramón and Flo are well-chosen stereotypes. It’s impressive to pick stereotyped characters but then do them in a way which doesn’t give people hives. Not all stereotypes are necessarily bad. Ramón in particular fits in perfectly with the existing latino car culture and the way it’s embraced.
And if Cars passes the minority Bechdel test, it’s only because it hearks back to a time period when Italians were considered non-white.
Or how I'd like to see the "Cars" treatment applied to other stories/movies.
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nick (@vossbrink) November 05, 2012Crash by JG Ballard #CarsTreatment
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nick (@vossbrink) November 05, 2012American Graffiti by George Lucas #CarsTreatment
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nick (@vossbrink) November 05, 2012Duel by Steven Spielberg #CarsTreatment
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nick (@vossbrink) November 05, 2012The Mahabarata #CarsTreatment
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nick (@vossbrink) November 05, 2012These are just off the top of my head. I’m sure more will occur to me.
4 thoughts on “More Cars”