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.
Which 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.
The 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.
The 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.
These are just off the top of my head. I’m sure more will occur to me.
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4 thoughts on “More Cars”