"#I didn’t like that moral"
No, I didn’t like that message either, because I am not a supporter of objectivism.
oh man I’ve wanted to talk about this for a long time, so I’ll keep it sorta brief so I don’t blab: Objectivism was proposed by Ayn Rand, the author of Atlas Shrugged, as the notion that not all people are equal, and those who are better than others shouldn’t be hindered by those who are inferior, like Atlas, a titan, was forced to use his strength prop up the world(humanity). The Incredibles is basically all about this, the literal superman being made to protect the people who aren’t as powerful as they are. Brad Bird is a professed admirer of Ayn Rand and quotes her often enough on twitter that I unfollowed him :B hahaha
What it boils down to(and that’s extreme, this argument is VERY complex and can’t ever be boiled down, really), is the eternal argument of true freedom vs true equality. What is more important, freedom to do whatever you need to, including stepping over others to secure your family? This is represented by Mr. Incredible and his mission, he’s the good guy. The other side is true equality, the idea that all people must be made equal and it’s your duty to help them achieve equality, this is represented by Syndrome, who’s mission is exactly that- “when everyone’ super, no one will be”. he is presented as the bad guy, and this message to be bad.
The thing is, you can swing it the other way, too. Would you oppress somebody so that they have to stay shackled to everyone else’s normality, or let them really use their talents and become supermen- like Dash in his race? Or are the regular people being oppressed, because they- let’s not kid ourselves- do not have the power/abilities of super heroes and so their lives are at the whim of gods whose choices dictate their lives, which is wrong? (supervillains vs superheroes)
Does this sound familiar? It should- it was the plot of the first season of The Legend Of Korra. Korra, and the other benders, oppressed the non-benders with their powers. Obviously, a non-bender would be no match for a bender, and the peace portrayed in the first Avatar season was pretty unrealistic. Anyway, Korra didn’t believe the non-benders were oppressed, but it was shown plainly to us. She even does it a bit herself. Then, Amon and the equalists appeared, and began to level the playing field. Amon and the equalists are shown to be antagonists as well, but Korra doesn’t see or sympathize with the non-benders the entire season(but for one fleeting moment when a citizen shouts “your our avatar too!!”). She never gets the chance to see their side, and the whole thing is resolved with the underdogs being portrayed as the badguys. They even develop a way to take bending powers away, thus fulfilling the objectivist nightmare scenario of the proletariat being able to rob the higher beings of their powers and dragging them down to their level. Incredibles had this too when they were forced to go into hiding.
The favourite “underdog” story, wherein a “normal” person is elevated to become one of his heroes, is a staple in storytelling that everyone loves. But this isn’t some sort of anthem of the underdog, this is just another facet of objectivism going “hey! you can be like us, let me give you a fantastical view of how you can eschew your fellows to become one of the higher beings!” and all this plays into humankind’s natural desire to climb ranks and become important.
Anyway, the point is this: this argument is unwinnable. Both sides have good sides, and both sides have bad sides. An objectivist might be a very awesome likeable person! They wanna encourage you to be your best! Or, they might be Hitler, and believe only the best people deserve the right to live. Someone who is egalitarian is awesome too! Everybody is equal and deserves the same chance! Or, they might be Stalin, and rob/steal/kill/destroy to make every single Russian into a drone.
So it becomes your choice… think really hard about it. You might realize that “the only winning move is not to play” and that both of them must find a grey balance point between them for humankind to be happy, and that’s what we’re all searching for, all the time.
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