Violet Parr, everyone. The true hero of this movie.
I want an Incredibles 2 where Violet suddenly wakes up and realizes, ‘Why did I think wearing pink sweaters and dating some popular kid was AN IMPROVEMENT?!’ Then she goes back to being the quirky, smart girl she was at the start, only now she’s more badass than before because she realizes there was NOTHING WRONG WITH WHO SHE WAS!!!
(Seriously, am I the only one who hates how they ended her story in pt. 1?)
You SEVERELY misunderstand Violet’s entire dang story arc, and her characterization at the beginning of the film.
Like, I think you need to rewatch the film. At the beginning of the film, she was scared, self conscious, etc. Those aren’t “quirks” those were her hiding her quirks because she was afraid.
Her story arc was about gaining confidence. The wearing of brighter colors was symbolic of that. If you look at concept art, she was meant to be huddled, scared, trying not to be seen, etc. Those dark clothes are meant to show her trying to “blend in” and be less noticed.
That’s also why in the beginning, she lets her hair fall in front of her face: She’s trying TO HIDE. Think about it, she wants to be “normal” instead of embracing her powers, she wants to fit in, etc.
Look at her body language during this scene. Notice how she doesn’t want to talk, she mumbles, she won’t even eat. Something is bothering her, but she doesn’t want to admit it. She constantly looks sad. Heck, I’m kind of mad at Helen in this scene for not acknowledging it. Violet’s body language is FREAKING OBVIOUS, any mother should be able to spot it, and ask what the frick is wrong, but Helen’s so preoccupied with trying to be a “normal” family that she completely ignores any signs that something is wrong.
And then we get to the problem: When Violet screams about how no one in the family is “normal”
“We ACT normal, Mom! I wanna BE normal!” and Dash even agrees, because of the pressure to act “normal” that is put on him.
She doesn’t want to “be herself” she wants to “fit in”
She has basically been told her whole life to hide who she is, hide her powers, etc to keep the family safe. She’s barely allowed to express herself, something Helen acknowledges later in the film indirectly by apologizing for putting pressure on Violet. She’s not just talking about the plane crash, she’s talking about what she’s basically done to Violet and Dash THEIR ENTIRE FREAKING LIVES. She basically did the same dang thing Elsa’s parents did in Frozen: “Conceal, don’t feel, don’t let it show” but she never gets called out on it, because she doesn’t die before realizing her mistake and fixing it.
That’s why after the talk with her Mom, it’s SO DANG IMPORTANT that she pulls her hair back: SHE’S DONE HIDING WHO SHE IS. She’s DONE trying to pretend to be normal. She realizes she is someone incredible, and is finally willing to embrace that.
Later, when she’s wearing bright clothes, it symbolizes she’s no longer afraid of being seen. She’s willing to stand out instead of blend into the background. Seriously, this is some basic cinematography symbolism, here, it’s one of the first things you learn in a film-as-literature class. Her outfit change didn’t mark a change in
Violet doesn’t become a different person. She learns to be confident with who she is.
She didn’t change who she was. She gained confidence. Confidence to talk to the boy without turning invisible. Confidence to ask him out. The moral of her story wasn’t “LOL those darn introverts need to be extroverts” the moral was “You can do whatever you set your mind to. If you can stop a literal supervillain, you can freaking ask the dang boy out.”
It’s also very similar to the costume transitions in A Cinderella Story - where the man character Sam’s wardrobe gets brighter and more flattering over the course of the film as gets more confidant and happier!
