Holy crap. Minor epiphany. You know how all of the family members in The Incredibles (yep, the movie, stay with me) have different superpowers? Well, what if each of their superpowers reflects their (and my) personality traits? Is this common knowledge that I’ve only just realised now? If so that’s super embarrassing seeing as I’ve watched the movie 400 times, but it makes a tonne of sense.
It also explains why, throughout the 14 years since the movie was released, I’ve related more closely to certain family members at different stages of my life. Let’s go through them all, shall we?
Violet
Do you remember that scene at the start of the movie where Violet, the shy kid who was able to become invisible as well as create forcefields, is creepin’ in the bushes while staring at her crush, and when he chucks her a glance she just straight-up makes her head disappear so he doesn’t catch her creepin’? I mean, surely her superpower of being invisible is a nod to the fact that she’s shy, and, like most shy kids, the desire to disappear during awkward moments is pretty damn strong, right?
While I was never able to achieve literal invisibility because my parents are selfish and didn’t pass on any superhuman genetics (read more: 26-year-old sues parents for lack of superpowers), there has been many a time where I’ve wanted to be invisible – a flashback to when I vomited out the window of an Uber comes to mind. I would’ve signed a deal with the devil himself if it meant I could hide from the burning glare of the Uber driver as we drove in silence for the remaining 45-minute journey home.
Quick side note: Violet’s ability to put up a forcefield has to reference people putting up metaphorical walls to protect themselves – kinda like a defence mechanism IRL.
Mrs Incredible/Elastigirl
So Mrs Incredible has the pretty dope ability to contort her body into anything (literally anything, she turned into a parachute to save her kids from certain death, mum-of-the-year right there), however in her day-to-day life, she has to learn how to work around her husband’s kinda annoying habits and deal with her kid’s typical kid-like behaviour. Or, in other words, she has to learn to be flexible to be able to deal with her family. See where I’m going with this?
I resonated particularly strongly with Mrs Incredible when I decided to pack up my life and live overseas, only to realise you need money to live overseas, so I had to adapt (oh my god, adapt, be flexible, am I Elastiboy?) to living off rice and tomato sauce for six months before finally having a steady income. Just like Elastigirl herself, I had to contort my tastebuds into liking rice and tomato sauce. It was a mission.
Dash
Perhaps the most confident child in existence, Dash’s affinity for using his super-speed to get up to mischief is pretty much everyone’s childhood dream come true.
Look, I don’t reckon Dash is a wildly complex character, so the fact that he has a pretty straightforward power makes perfect sense. Again, I don’t possess Olympic sprinter levels of velocity, but I have been known to dodge responsibilities at a lightning pace.
Mr Incredible
Mr Incredible taken on face value is simply this super strong dude with a minor anger problem, but he’s also super nostalgic, often spending his time brooding in his office, reminiscing of the glory days when he was a celebrated hero.
While super-strength is but a pipe dream of mine, oh how strongly I can relate to his frustration at where he is at life. Have you tried being a close-to-mature-age student trying to earn the degree they previously abandoned for a life of poverty overseas? I think I was six years older than some of my classmates and they were six times better. Apparently rocking up to class late became uncool at some point during my jaunt overseas, who knew? Anywho, there were moments where I was super unhappy with where I was at, so it was easier to reminisce about a time when I thought I was doing better at the whole life thing. Mr Incredible, I feel ya.
Jack Jack
Although he may only be a teeny tiny little baby, Jack Jack hits surprisingly close to home. His parents don’t know what he’s capable of just yet, Jack Jack himself doesn’t even know, so he just sits there, trying out different options in the hopes that something will stick eventually.
If that isn’t me in my early 20’s, I dunno what is.
If you’ve overanalysed the original movie as much as I have and need some new Incredibles action pronto, check out Disney Pixar’s Incredibles 2 when it drops on June 14th, 2018.
