Hey, did anyone else notice that Lightning's mantra, "I am speed," carries a much deeper meaning when you look at the context behind when he first says it?
On the surface, he uses it to gee/hype himself up before a race. Calm the nerves. Help get him into the right mindset - whatever he needs to do. And it works. He wins.
But there is a deeper meaning here: "I am speed," is actually a confession as well as a mantra.
Think about it - at the start of Cars 1, he has no friends. His crew chiefs can't stand him. Mack, Rusty and Dusty are loyal, but his disdain for them prevents him from seeing that. He is an arrogant prick with almost no good qualities, and no life outside of racing - but he IS damn fast.
That's why, when he says "I am speed," he isn't just hyping himself up - he's describing his entire existence. He was a likely great junior racer, and topped out at 750 horsepower, with a top speed around 200 mph. That's some serious speed - enough speed to win a Piston Cup. But what is there of him, other than speed? Absolutely nothing. He's completely hollow and narcissistic. That's where the more disturbing side of "I am speed," shows itself.
At the end of Cars 1, notice how the mantra doesn't work anymore - because he has become more than speed. He has friends that he actually misses.
Also, in Cars 3, when he begins the "I am speed," ritual, he stops, and goes, "Did I used to say that?" and after Mater's interruption, we hear that he has changed his race prep routine.
I think the reason why he is so shocked he used to say that is because he has evolved so much from the beginning of Cars 1, and cannot fathom the concept of being defined by speed. And yet, that is exactly where he used to be.
The abandoning of the mantra in Cars 3 shows how much he has evolved as a character, and I love it.
"I am speed," is FAR more than the simple phrase many people think it is.
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