Let me ask you something. Think of your favorite movie for a second... once you've got it, I want you to imagine how it starts.
You obviously know a lot about this movie since you picked it, but how would you describe it to someone else? What would you say to give them the gist? Are there any characters you'd skip over or backstory you'd definitely have to include for everything to make sense?
Not as easy as you might think, right?
Last night on the couch, I felt my head start subtly shaking in amazement. I found myself cozied up by the fire with my laptop and The Incredibles on in the background. I'd completely forgotten how it started, but remembered something about superheroes having to go underground and two (former) superhero parents struggling to raise a family in the suburbs. Honestly, I remember when we watched this in the gym of my elementary school but it feels way more relatable now in my thirties. I guess that's Pixar for you.
I was impressed immediately.
It opens on Mr. Incredible, in his prime, sitting down to do a talking-head interview in a TV studio. He's pinning a lapel mic to his supersuit, and off-screen, we can hear handlers trying to wrangle him. The first piece of dialogue spoken in the entire movie? It's him, he says it. Any idea what it is?
"Is this thing on... Geez, I can break through walls but I...just...can't seem to get..."
Brilliant.
Famous, capable guy struggling with basic stuff. It frames the whole movie. No narrator has to give you the backstory. They didn't use another character to point it out, either. They used him, Mr. Incredible.
I grinned widely at that. And when they continued to use the throwback interview footage to preface the present day plot, it only got bigger. Those brilliant bastards used a Q&A to open a kids movie. They covered the rules of superheroes and we never even realized. Or maybe it was only me who hadn't. Secret identities. Pressure. Disgruntled characters. Mr. Incredible even says "Sometimes I just want the world to stay saved; you know?! I feel like the maid." They gave an olive branch to every parent who first took their kids to see that when it came out. Also, the entire plot rests on the fact that the superhero main character gets sued for saving a suicidal man who jumped off a building. Pixar really um... really goes for it.
Turning back to my laptop, my focus kept drifting. I tried to reel it in but the idea of framing a story stuck with me. It's how I started thinking about the difference between understanding what's presented to us, and finding the clearest way to present it to others.
If you had to tell someone about The Incredibles, is that how you'd have started? Because I wouldn't have, but now I can't unsee it.
When someone asks you "what's new?", what's the story you tell them? Where do you start?
onward.
If you know someone who'd appreciate this, pass it along. And if something stuck with you while reading, I'd love to know what it was. For more on BUDS and The MAP Year Project, read the backstory here.