Cars 2 is such a weird movie because they opened Pandora's box by revealing that the Cars universe is messed-up, but they didn't seem to notice the implications at all.
They could've gotten away with it, as it's for kids, fictional and you have to pick your battles that being said this movie is apparently the worst Pixar movie ever made I haven't watched or seen anything about this outside of this video but when the internet agrees yah know its bad
i suppose that's the frequent complication when trying to anthrophomorphise every-day objects. you want to keep concepts from the real wolrd to make writing easier, but when you put those concepts on what is essentially people it gets sketchy real fast. the main issue with stories that anthropomorphise every-day appliances like cars and toasters, is that, here in the real world, their value is based on functionality. a toy can still be played with even if it's technically broken, but you can't "use" a broken table or a lamp with exposed wiring thus, when we create wolds where every-day objects are alive we create wolds where someone's value to society is explicitly based on their functionality. and from there we get all sorts of messed up implications
@@zilesis1i think on one hand thats a complication, but on the other hand its an oportunity to adress themes such as ableism in a creative way. Cars 2 could have adressed ableism, they had a good setup for it, but instead they validates it by not only refusing to adress it but also villanize it. Idk this is a ramble, my point is just that anthropomorphising objects can create positive discussion about ableism rather than inherently being ableist. That is if the movie bothers adressing the implications in a respectful way. Idk what this comment is im just rambling sry😅
@@lucyandecember2843 Eh. I feel that you could just as easily say that the toys still had value. Though I do think there is something wrong with the story/characters’ morals. It could have gone in a perfectly fine direction where Woody and the penguin could have very easily been portrayed as a “I love playing with you anyway” type beat. They just didn’t, probably bc this movie was made at a time where people didn’t really think about those things, and bc they didn’t consider the implications of them being real and how people can draw correlations to real world issues.
Honestly, the bit about using the villain having a personal tow truck as an example of laziness and extravagance to be particularly insulting as having help or aids around should not be seen as lazy. I am a part time dog walker/pet sitter. I am essentially a servant in this job. Most of my clients are rich, but some are disabled. They say don't get a dog if you can't take care of it, and that includes exercise. Well, one of my disabled clients has said she would have chosen a less active breed of dog had she known she'd get in a car wreck. Honestly, hiring someone to do a job for you IS getting it done and being responsible. Whether it's outsourcing a job because you can afford to, or because you want to, or because you have to, all are valid. In my other job, I'm a pastry chef. I chose both my jobs because all i want is flexibility. I am chronically fatigued and talking exhausts me, so i bake and prepare food part time (getting to listen to podcasts about monster lore and true crime because i work in an underground kitchen that was once literal servants quarters) and i walk dogs part time. Both jobs don't even equal full time because I'm gifted in coordinating and multitasking, but it's because i do what would be seen as servant work for the rich that I'm allowed this and still able afford to live. Now, i believe in Universal Basic Income, so that working isn't connected to survival. However, i would still do both of these jobs if i had that because walking dogs helps with my depression, and i take real pride in my pastries and find the work fun and rewarding. Jobs that aid others or just do jobs for them are valid and good and people shouldn't be ashamed of them.
@@TJ-hg6op You'd be surprised just how much watching something as a kid, even if you don't fully understand it at the time, can affect you in the future.
@@TJ-hg6op Your reaction to someone sharing their personal feelings on something is to say "I don't believe that's how you felt." Please think about that. Please think about any instance of your choosing that you may have expressed a feeling or opinion to someone, then imagine that they turned to you and said "That's not how you feel. People don't feel that way about things." It's not that kids don't notice and learn things from the world around them, it's just folks that don't listen or think about other people that don't notice and learn things.
I remember sitting with my dad and sister as we tried to figure out what the different elements of the cars universe were allegories for. Eg: paint jobs being clothing, tires being shoes, Mia and Tia flashing their headlights at Lightning being actual flashing, and eventually when we came to Lemons I realised "oh shit that me". Also the "good disabled" car at the start angers me so much because the writers clearly realised what they were doing but didn't care enough to change the plot so they added a car to be like "Mater's not ableist, he has a disabled friend his economy directly benefits from the I'll health of!"
Oh I agree there was definetly some level of awareness to the implications. Plus it feels like they had to have put in extra effort for that plot point to even exist. They could've just kept the villian as the CEO of a big oil company doing malicious things for profit. That would've been alright, there was no need for ablist aspects to be added to it. How did a whole group of writers think that was a good idea? Not a single person went "Hey, guys, this is kind of a fucked up idea. Let's not do that" ??
Because, as we all know, minorities that have been made victims of systemic oppression must be wholly complacent! They must smile and accept the world they inhabit! Remember, attempting to secure a brighter future for yourself and your fellows means you're just trying to rock the boat on a non-issue! Didn't you see the words the slave owners put on the paper? That means you're not oppressed, silly-head! Just grin and bear it and accept that life is needlessly difficult for you in a way that 90% of the population doesn't even have to think about, let alone understand or empathize with! America! 😃 (Actually who am I kidding, that's everywhere at least a little bit)
When someone says "It's a kids movie" to excuse problems, I'm always baffled at the stupidity. A movie aimed at an impressionable audience who may not be as good at recognizing problems has a responsibility to be extra careful, not a blank check to be as shitty as it wants.
I think it among other things implies said people think kids when consuming media do it on such a simple level they can't possibly learn any lessons from it. When the whole points of children's media has been for centuries to pass on some lesson or another, be it spelled out, or not. Kids are very perceptive and are akin to sponges when it comes to picking up lessons. Only thing is, they pick up more on the done than said. It's why "don't do as I do but as I say" fails. Because kids pick up more on the done, rather than the said. And just because they can't explain it after doesn't mean it didn't happen. Heck, most adults can't explain the inner workings of how media they consume reinforces their attitudes and views either because most adults are in my experience in some level of ignorant bliss denial about how much hate they actually have locked up in their minds from the environment. Which doesn't require them to think to do, as they merely do it as a part of their normal daily activities. That, and media literacy is not the strong suite of many.
In addition, I feel a lot of people are perhaps even a bit scared to admit just how good kids are at picking up on this sort of stuff because it would mean they have to go through the process of examining their own actions, words, etc. That denial coming crashing down can sure be scary. Especially as the other side has a lot of not so nice realizations about one's self, as well as a whole host of anxiety inducing thoughts. But ignorance is certainly not bliss, as it's harmful to not come to terms with the hate and prejudice one carries because then one will always continue to contribute to the suffering of other people. Either by ignoring a problem, or contributing to said problem. Usually both. Reality is reality, and it's better to just get on with it than play excuse games and hide-and-seek to maintain some silly, ignorant facade as it comes with the price tag of suffering caused.
You know what else was a kids movie? UP. My teacher showed it to us when it came onto dvd. Guess who had to explain infertility and death to a bunch of fourth graders?
I don't know. While it's true that it's good that we need to be careful of what we show to younger audiences, it's also important to remember that they see things more simply. The kids I've met and known typically see things in a black-and-white kind of view and often do not try to go too deep into things. Just to be clear, I'm not a fan of "It's just a kids movie" at all. But at the same time, we shouldn't expect them to comprehend things like adults do.
I can see the Rusteze product being a strong metaphor America's obsession with dental cosmetics, which is frequently tied to classism. Dental work is expensive and often not covered by health insurance, some have coined the term "luxury bones" to refer to teeth based on this weird and horrible oversight. And often one of the first things people do upon coming into a more comfortable income is "fix their teeth," usually getting important work on cavities, but also braces, veneers, whitening to get them to that celebrity perfect standard, that will keep them from being profiled as poor. And there are so many over the counter products that prey on this class indicator, along with sometimes even people's genuine health problems related to their dental care, fancy toothpastes that claim to reverse cavities and perfect everything, the myth that whiter always means healthier (it definitely doesn't, and whitening can cause serious enamel damage actually!). And meanwhile, the classism in dental care access often leads to people having to ignore their genuinely debilitating health issues like infections, impactions, and misalignments and pains that affect their ability to work, eat, sleep, even risk serious health issues. And there's the imagery of rust and tooth decay aligning well, it happens gradually and degrades a very commonly seen and profiled part of the face. And of course, the tone of the second movie even as a kid, felt so off and icky to me. I didn't get it at the time, but yeah villainising the disabled/undesirables of the society like that, mocking them, even having a slur for them in universe just feels so gross. They're just silly little cars and all, but thinking about the symbolism makes the writing feel really messed up. Another fantastic video, thankyou so much!! I love hearing your analysis of disability representation and learning more about the community.
I don't mean to undermine your interpretation but I thought rusteeze was meant to be a metaphor for hemmoroid cream, cus its specifically for rear ends
It should be noted that at the end of the first movie, McQueen was offered a sponsorship from DinoCo, which he turned down. This was painted as a selfless act resulting from his character development, remaining loyal to the company that had helped get his racing career going instead of dumping them for a more prestigious sponsor. If we assume Rust-Eze to be exploiting old cars' insecurities for a quick buck, it casts a whole new light on that.
To paraphrase Strong Female Protagonist, "A hero is someone who works to restore the status quo. A villain works to destroy it. We don't have a word in fiction for someone who works to change it." I wonder if part of the reason for the persistence of the disabled villain is that the things real disabled people advocate for require rethinking how we structure society - how we value/measure work, how we provide healthcare, etc. - so much that people can't clearly differentiate between wanting to change/fix things and wanting to "destroy the foundations of civilization" (see every absurd anti-trans statement for the same phenomenon).
As a kid I used to love both of these films, especially the second one, because of the spies. I felt bad for the disfunctional guy at the begining and I cringed at the Matter behaviours, but I didn't notice how screwed up this universe is until somebody pointed out the eugenics in the second movie. Just, hating the bad guys was convinient, becuase spies needed somebody to fight with, right? Thank you for making these and helping me notice and overcome my ableism.
They're also complete opposites when it comes to their worldbuilding. The Cars series has zero consistent rules and so many questions are unanswered when it comes to their existence and everyday life. How are they sentient, can they procreate, why do the minivans in the first movie lock their doors, why are there famous worldwide landmarks from the human world throughout the second movie, do the cow cars make milk for the "humanoid" ones, etc. Robots on the other hand is very creative and rational with its logic. From the moment the movie starts you get a feel of what their world is like and how robots have families. They have their own class system, economy, transportation, so on and so forth. Goes to show how much thought John Lassiter put into the Cars franchise, and that he was in it for the money rather than the need to tell a good story
The fact that they could have possibly made the villains be people who want to discontinue or destroy cars who are ‘discontinued’ INSTEAD of the cars being denied access to repairs and basic decency is wild 14:59
That would just be the plot of Robots… hence the thematic duality of the two films that nobody talks about for some reason. Those two go together like oil and water but in a good way.
And this is why Robots is a better metaphor for the underprivileged and disabled then the whole cars series because the people behind the movie actually thought about the message
@@corntastrophy Not really it was more about having right to being repaired a.k.a. right to being healed and other problem was how big companies can force their will on others
I remember watching this film with my mom some years ago. She loves cars, so she recognized the makes of the lemons and thought the whole thing was hysterical. I think that might be what Pixar wanted to accomplish: a nod and a wink to real world car enthusiasts. But when she and I talked about the deeper implications of this in a world where cars are people, she agreed with me that it was pretty messed up. Pixar either didn’t think this through or they didn’t care. Great video as always!
The Cars series has probably one of the least thought through worlds I've ever seen, them not seeing the rampant ableism in this movie isn't surprising
For real and nowadays I see people put them in "best movie rankings" (those 15sec ones on Tik Tok) next to stuff like Wall-E and How To Drain Your Dragon. It's the Shark Tale nostalgia all over again
This is one of the reasons I only watch the first movie. Even in the first movie I constantly have questions, like, can cars only have certain jobs if they were born that type of car? And it just gets more confusing the deeper you get into the films/ shorts/ shows.
I think the biggest issue is that they keep forgetting that they're making a world of cars™, not humans. It wasn't very bad in the first one, but the others actually have no business being Cars movies.
I think a way to fix the ableism in this movie is that 1. make it clear that the lemon cars aren't bad guys, and 2. actually have it where Mater is one of the few cars who doesn't treat them poorly. In the bathroom scene instead of Mater being incredibly rude towards the cars, have where he's actually quite polite to them and there could even be a moment where he corrects himself and apologizes when he uses the word lemon. Later on when Holley is electrocuting that one car for information, instead of Finn being the one who stops her, its Mater who's disgusted with what she done. Later on when Mater infiltrates the meeting, he realizes that the lemons aren't bad guys, in fact they hate what they are doing, but they believe that they have no choice since the leader says its the only way for them to get the help they need, when the leader tells the lemons to kill Lightning the cars are visibly uncomfortable but believing that they had no choice they go though with the plan, with Mater trying to convince them throughout the third act that this isn't right, which causes them to feel even more conflicted. Eventually it's revealed that Axlerod was the one behind the plan, with the added part that he was gonna blame the lemon cars for what happened, which angers the cars who realized that they were used and turn against him While its not perfect I do this will not only make the lemon cars more sympathetic characters, but it could even be a way to condemn those who take advantage of people who are desperate for any help
oh wow i've never watched Cars 2 but it's wild that they dropped the ball THAT hard on it?? especially weird because i Have watched Cars 3 and it was an unexpectedly poignant narrative that very VERY openly explored privilege and directly incorporated the leading Latina voice actress' personal experience into the story, and that made me frankly OBSESSED with it; so to know these two movies exist alongside each other without any thought given to how the themes very openly clash is. giving me a whiplash.
Never saw the third film (I think I was too old by then), but I think they were pulling a Shrek forever after and trying to scrub the existence of the second film and its necessity to watch it. I think schaffrillas even called I a feature length episode of maters animated TV series (which I did watch a few episodes of and can confirm it feels more like that than a cars movie, the show was alright btw)
@@juliethepositive748 as someone who's seen the third cars film, they straight up just never acknowledge the second one. Not even as a passing reference, or a background gag. The film's emotional backbone is rather dependent on your knowledge of the first one but 2 is just ignored lmao
Oakwyrm, I never noticed Rusteeze as a medicated product. Holy shit, that is soooo fucked up. You explained this really well, people are going to accuse you of ruining the movie or being too sensitive, but you hit the nail on the head with this one. Don't listen to any of the disheartened people, because you aren't the problem for pointing out flaws that already existed.
I feel like the second movie pointing a spotlight on the messed up ways lemons are treated could be really cool. But then the makers just decided to make it a spy movie that doesn't care about the morals it's putting forward.
Hey. I have a question regarding media consumption. Let’s say you find out that one of your favorite pieces of media (whether a movie or TV show) plays into problematic (ableist) tropes. It's not that the creator of said media is problematic or that their work is *overtly* problematic. Those scenarios are very clear and black and white, IMO. But if a creator’s work happens to have a few questionable elements, I feel that’s more of a gray situation. How do you personally deal with it? Do you acknowledge that the piece of media you enjoy has some harmful elements and focus on the stuff that isn't offensive? If it's an older movie, do you accept it as a product of its time? Or do you try and avoid consuming it? Am I a bad person for enjoying problematic media?
@@jackcapellini113 I'm not OP but i like answering questions lmao (edited to fix formatting. i straight up forgot how to bold text in youtube comments XD) *How I personally deal with it* : As a fan of children's cartoons, I'm not unaccustomed to neurodivergent traits being attached to "weird" characters. And certain show's fascination with gross-out/toilet humor, especially when the main characters are younger, has never sat well with me. However, these tropes and jokes have been around for decades and are likely not changing any time soon. How I react depends on a few factors. *Do you acknowledge that the piece of media you enjoy has some harmful elements and focus on the stuff that isn't offensive?* : It depends on how heavily the story leans on those tropes. If a character with an implied disability (physical or mental) has a couple slip-ups or awkward scenes in a season, it's whatever, that's what worn out producers think is funny. But if they spend the whole show being talked over and tormented for the sake of a punchline, I won't be able to sit through it. I don't really 'let it slide' in lesser doses though. If it's bad enough in certain episodes of an otherwise decent series- I'll make sure to give a heads up for those specific segments to whoever I recommend it to. *If it's an older movie, do you accept it as a product of its time?* : Well, yeah. But I can usually suss out the difference between "They didn't have better language for this at the time" versus "Oh wow this director actually hated us". Trust me when I say there's a very distinct tonal difference- but of course people's threshholds for what they can let slide are different. *Or do you try and avoid consuming it?* : I don't really watch new shows as they come out! Idk why, when Steven Universe ended I pretty much stopped paying attention to cable TV. If it's a show or movie I've already watched, though, I usually skip the cringier parts on subsequent watches. XD *Am I a bad person for enjoying problematic media?* : I feel like that's a question to ask yourself, not trashrat9365 from the youtube comment section. When in doubt, take some time to self-reflect or talk to someone you trust. When I'm not fully vibing with a series I otherwise enjoy, I'll step away for a few days and see if I still want to get into it again after that. It's weirdly effective!
14:50 “we’re not part of a secret union of crime families” oh thank GOD I thought I was the only disabled person who wasn’t rich and evil and wore a monocle
Every time I see a reference to Pixar's Cars, my mind immediately goes to Blue Sky's Robots, where instances of. I guess... Robot ableism? Are frequently shown only in villainous characters. Who end up bonked at best and dying from their own tools of mass destruction at worst. Which is good, I think we should toss billionaires exploiting and killing people into pits of fire. Not saying the movie is perfect, it definitely has issue, but I think it handled even this better than Cars. Epic.
@@lucyandecember2843 Really? Holy Hell, I'm embarrassed to have missed it. I'll go check. (You should absolutely watch the movie, though, as far as I'm concerned it is in Blue Sky's top three best films.)
people: you can't have a gay character in a kids movie, that's spreading a wrong message! you're tainting their innocence meanwhile children's movies: **casually displays ableism, sexism, unhealthy relationships, bullying, etc and passes it off as a joke or a norm**
@@NitroIndigo+ Not entirely correct. The life of being built as a machine, is due to the cruelty of closed rail lines and dismantling half a total of steam powered machines. The case of engine scrapping, showcase how dieselization felt to be superior, however it didn't last that long, as electric engines became a lot more faster, and steam/diesel are now on the same page.
My oldest sister has brittle bones "disease" and has never been able to walk in her whole life. She has never been able to have even a single day when people just stare at her like she isn't even human and there's been plenty of times ignorant people have said some really insensitive stuff to her or my family and refused to back down or apologize. One time we were going to go out for dinner for my birthday and the woman who was supposed to show us to our table said "so that's 5 people and a wheelchair then?" And when we dared correcting her saying there are 6 people, one of whom uses a wheelchair she got really defensive and started insulting us and she even told her manager we were attacking her for "no reason". We had enough and ended up going somewhere else but I'll never forget that night. Some people are honestly disgusting and need to grow up
I was never a fan of the Cars movies due to never really being a cars person, and this is even more reason to not watch these movies. 3:11 I have had the issue of applying real world issues to ficitional species not working annoy me in several movies. the most recent was Elementals. The message was good, but not liking the fire people because they will literly set anything flamable they touch on fire and the fire people not liking the water people because they can seriously injure (and maybe even kill if it wasn't a kids movie) without even trying, the racism doesn't work as well.
oh yeah, i didn't actually watch elementals but i know many examples of the same stuff (zootopia being the most obvious one) if they wanted to portray an anti-racist message, MAYBE they shouldn't use bio-essentialism in their examples, it happens too often and it's just a big yikes
@@mycelium_mossI can’t really understand all this stuff about taking this stuff all too seriously. Like I understand why some people were mad at zootopia since they portrayed some as predators and some as prey. But for elemental it shows stuff as more equal. And if the takeaway from the movie you get is “oh no they hurt eachother.” You probably either didn’t watch the movie or didn’t really understand it much. And it shouldn’t even be taken literally, since it’s just a representation of racism with some supernatural stuff. Like yeah, they could have portrayed it better with just humans, but that would be not boring or fun.
ah to be fair i think elemental had more allegories to immigration/culture clash (etc) than actual racism... there's a moment of fire people definitely being discriminated against, and it's when they see the flower that explicitly works well in every condition, even fire, but they still didn't allow fire into the exhibit. most people in element city are well-meaning when it comes to fire people (like wade and his family), they just don't understand the extent of the struggle sometimes. ember takes on so much baggage it's no wonder she sees wade as literally untouchable at first due to their different elements. imo it works decently enough
Hey. I have a question regarding media consumption. Let’s say you find out that one of your favorite pieces of media (whether a movie or TV show) plays into problematic (ableist) tropes. It's not that the creator of said media is problematic or that their work is *overtly* problematic. Those scenarios are very clear and black and white, IMO. But if a creator’s work happens to have a few questionable elements, I feel that’s more of a gray situation. How do you personally deal with it? Do you acknowledge that the piece of media you enjoy has some harmful elements and focus on the stuff that isn't offensive? If it's an older movie, do you accept it as a product of its time? Or do you try and avoid consuming it?
tbf, elemental's themes go more towards cultural differences between different people if anything, and in the actual movie itself they touch and it's fine
So a major contributing factor to the plot in Cars 1 is that Lightning doesn't have headlights, which is similar to humans having bad low-light vision. He also doesn't have rear view mirrors, which is the car equivalent to peripheral vision. That combination mirrors a lot of visually impaired humans, which I think is kind of interesting.
no its simply like that because he's a race car and race cars do not require lights or rearview mirrors, at least in NASCAR which is what the piston cup races are inspired by. I swear to god it is not as deep as you think.
@@yeoldeseawitchit’s not intentional, that’s not what they were saying. They were saying they just found it interesting that in human terms, Lightning’s basically partially blind.
I keep thinking that the third cars movie is the second one and that this one just doesn’t exist and I honestly don’t remember anything about it other than Mater becomes a spy
To be honest, I never considered Cars 2 canon, my personal headcanon is that Cars 2 was just a weird dream Mater had sometime between the events of Cars 1 and 3. Infact, there are signs that Pixar doesn’t seem to consider it canon either
I only remembered the first scene with Finn McMissile doing all these car chase scenes. Cars 2 is actually the first Cars movie I watched, unfortunately. When i watched it, i didn't even know what it's about, and all i can recall beside the first few minutes of the movie is when Mater entered an all fancy toilet stall and it kepts spraying him. I kinda want to rewatch this movie to see how bad and messed up it is since kid me clearly did not see that
@@khanolval9848 I mean the two movies are really tonally different so it’s not surprising people wouldn’t like both movies. I enjoy parody more then I enjoy the cars. So a plot similar to the man who knew too little is right up my ally.
@@FosukeLordOfErroryeah, when I first saw cars 2 I didn't expect to see the cars getting killed, it was definitely a shock, I love the movie now and I love the lemon syndicate as villains.
Personally Cars 1 was a movie I couldn’t watch because I got soooo much secondhand embarrassment from it. Like the amount of bullshit Lightning says in that movie, and the amount of dumbass decisions he makes except for the end of it made it almost unwatchable. Cars 2 on the other hand was my favourite because of the whole spy thing plus the mounds of iconic quotes I still say to this day (I’m autistic, you can imagine how it was when I was younger).
I think you really make a good point about the hints of ableism in the first movie. It's easy to miss with the trash fire that the second movie is. I also was intrigued by the point that the demonization of disabled people was meant to divert attention from those who profit from fossil fuel use. Honestly, it's great to hear another disabled person bring this up. When I brought this up in my conservative-ass family, they thought I was reading too much into it and am too easily offended. For anyone who wants more content on this, Jack Saint also did an excellent video on this topic called "Oops, Disney's Cars Did Eugenics."
People do not deserve harassment for talking about disability representation in media. Any media aimed at kids should be talked about on how it handles disability.
Hey. I have a question regarding media consumption. Let’s say you find out that one of your favorite pieces of media (whether a movie or TV show) plays into problematic (ableist) tropes. It's not that the creator of said media is problematic or that their work is *overtly* problematic. Those scenarios are very clear and black and white, IMO. But if a creator’s work happens to have a few questionable elements, I feel that’s more of a gray situation. How do you personally deal with it? Do you acknowledge that the piece of media you enjoy has some harmful elements and focus on the stuff that isn't offensive? If it's an older movie, do you accept it as a product of its time? Or do you try and avoid consuming it?
@@skalessibbons7349 Is it possible to acknowledge the faults of a piece of media while still enjoying it? That’s typically what I do. I acknowledge whatever the problem is and move on enjoying the film. And if I ever decide to write my own stories, I’ll make sure to be mindful about certain harmful tropes and not include them.
@@jackcapellini113 I find it depends on whether or not I can separate the faults from the enjoyment. Sometimes I can acknowledge it and still find an enjoyable product after all is said and done, or at least see the story through to the end. (Sometimes this acknowledgment takes the form of me mentally discussing it... with myself... but that's just because I'm weird.) Other times, I find my mind too readily circles back to the faults for one reason or another. In that situation I generally no longer engage with that piece of media, but that's mostly because for *me* that specific media happens to no longer be enjoyable because to me the faults overshadow the enjoyable portions.
As a kid, I thought the lemons were all just supposed to be old people since, well, old cars. I never picked up on the ableism in the movies... and dang, is it rampant. Thank you for your informative video!
Good video. it is good you pointed out 'comedy' can be problematic thinking in disguise. It is sad that so much of what we laugh at is people 'lower' than us.
My brother and I used to love these films when we where younger and I did legit use to perfer the second film to the first when I was little mostly because I thought the spy cars were cool I dunno up until like legit a couple years I had no taste.
You're not the only one. I used to like this movie when i was younger and watched it with my brother, idk how many times. And i used to simp Finn McMissile😐
Uh, content warning for venting about medical issues and ableism?? This review sparked one hell of a fire in me listening. The job thing hit me hard. I'm not able to work full-time, and my current part time job is hell on my body and my boss is extremely ableist and claims she's worked with autistic kids (keynote, KIDS, at a daycare center that didn't specialize with special needs kids) and ergo every issue I have is me 'imagining' it, or 'exaggerating' and she frequently makes comments about "adding that to your long list of issues" because God forbid that any condition, no matter how 'mild' a disability seems, actually is disabling and not some quirky, slightly inconvenient thing. I fully informed her that I am not able to go to the hospital (working class, we can't even afford to drive down to the beach for a weekend to put our finances into perspective) and she sTILL INSISTS on me going to get stuff checked out "If its really as bad as you're saying." Of course someone who regularly flies down to Florida, goes to see operas and ballets (Genuinely something she does, she's rich) would say that. I bring up the issue that I don't even get paid a living wage ($100 every two weeks, not counting the insanely inconsistent tip money I get at the end of the night, which often than not is between $7 and $10) and she insists on me working more days, even though day 2 out of 3 working, my back is *busted.* I've also pulled so many back and neck muscles with this job that it sent me to the ER because I was having stroke-like symptoms (whole side of my face went numb) and instead of acknowledging that heyy, my disability is a major factor in addition to the work being overwhelmingly physical, that, "Oh you just overdid yourself" and told me to my face that she "knew" I was just having an anxiety attack and that's why my face went numb. I also have issues with my reproductive organs (not yet diagnosed, my first and only trip to a gyno was traumatizing despite my files and I informing them that I was a survivor of assault) and she also piles this into the "WOW you can't have ALL these issues" and it makes me want to curb-stomp her into the concrete, and she insists that "its impossible to overdose on tylenol" when I told her I already took the max limit for my last time of the month and my intense cramping did NOT let up. its impossible for me to find work since I can't even drive. I try places like indeed to find work before I gotten this job, and the only other job I can feasibly get is not only a really exhausting full time one I've had before, but the reason why I quit in the first place is still very much a present issue over there. It just feels hopeless. I know that in the future I'm going to be homeless because there's no way I can keep up with anything, and if homelessness won't kill me, my body going 'screw you' and being in a country with one of the worst health care systems ever will.
most people are like that. everytime i tell someone that i'm autistic, i get the same reaction "you don't seem like it" or "i'd never guessed". it's something you ignore after a certain time and i'm getting by in my day-to-day life, but it still sucks. health care isn't the easiest thing in germany, but it's better than what i've heard about the US. i should stop it there and not start ranting about how the privatisation of hospitals has made things worse for everyone. because i just was reminded what a shithole this world is and how much worse most people have it. it's one thing to know it on a large scale and a different one to read stories like yours. thank you for sharing. may you always find shelter in a storm and water in the desert. may the ground rise to meet your step and may the stars protect you. i wish you all the good in the world. don't lose hope now, for every day might see your fate change for the better. and when the last visitor comes greet them with a smile.
@@hollowwoods7130Bro, what?? This is a channel often centered around disabilities. This is completely on par. To OP, I’m sorry you’re having to deal with this. I’ve been there. I hope things get better for you soon.
One of the parts of growing up is realizing that your favorite childhood movie or TV show wasn't that good. Unfortunately the internet hasn't listened to this.
yet another good example of why your channel is important. one might look at the title of this video and in a knee-jerk reaction think it ridiculous, its cars its fundamentally ridiculous, but if one gives what you're saying a shot.. holy shit you're right, the cars sequel really had a secret crime syndicate of disabled vehicles including the good ol trope of ignoring every good point the villain has because god forbid a kids movie have moral ambiguity. I said it before in a previous comment but im glad you arent scared to call disabled characters disabled, its a level of honesty people really need. its too easy to get swept up in a fantasy setting and forget that just because a character doesnt display trope-y disability doesnt mean they cant be called disabled. like of course a living car so rusted that its falling apart is disabled it makes so much sense once its pointed out
@@Oakwyrmget a real job, calling out kids movies for having fucking rusty cars doesn't count. Do you feel like you've contributed to society? Do you feel like your support of fucking children getting life changing cross sex surgery, but not supporting children being able to drink, get tattoos and get a driving licence, is a bit inconsistent?
Can u do nimona since its the best animated movie so far this year and deals with incredibly heavy topics, plus you know queer men, and the fact nimona shapeshifting is an allegory for genderfluid, oh! And one of the good guys is missing an arm, that isn't "fixed" by the end, and has a scar on his face.
I believe the creator of the graphic novel confirmed that Nimona is genderfluid, although this was some time before the movie released, but it would presumably be the same for the movie as well.
@@StormgemThunder omg! That makes this so much better because he is canonically gender fluid. I just thought that was a head cannon for her character, that the film hinted at
@@khanolval9848Nope! It's canon! Also, Nimona is based on ND Stevenson's journey figuring out his gender through Nimona. ND Stevenson is a Trans Masculine Non-binary creator. So yes, definitely a Trans allegory! Nimona even has the Trans flag above her in one shot as she talks about her experience shape-shifting. But yes, Nimona is intentionally written as a Trans character!
“It’s just a kids movie” it’s the most annoying thing to hear. It completely justifies the ignorance some people have when putting messages in media and also means that media for family or a younger demographic isn’t taken seriously, even with heavy themes, because it’s “just for kids”
2:52 I believe a big criticism of this could be changed by viewing it as more of an “anti aging cream” rather than acne or something. It still applies for the predatory effect, but it does change the context
As someone who grew up with a grandma on QVC and got all kinds of weird “medical” magazines? Rust-eze is more of a commentary on that. They have a big star who was probably never sick, or had wrinkles, show how good they look now that they use this. And a certain part of America falls for it hook line and sinker. Selling snake oil is such a common market, most people don’t bat an eye at it. As long as it’s not hurting anyone in any place other than they’re wallet. I saw Cars as a kid and… yeah. Recognized these guys right away. Lol. I see them less now, but they’re still everywhere. I think the scene was trying to set up the class commentary, and in these communities? A snake oil spokesperson is probably the best place to start if you want to show that disconnect. I definitely don’t agree with the practice, but I’m also not surprised the Rust-eze guys are the type you’d go out on the back porch and have a beer with. Maybe even say “oh you got me good you no good cheater! Pass the beer” it’s a weird culture. I don’t pretend to understand it all the time.
Hello, Oakwyrm! I came to your channel because of tma videos but stayed for disability reviews. There are no people in my life who are disabled, so it wasn't a thing that I really thought about. But your videos about disability tropes really helped me to see another point of view, get rid of stereotypes that I had and be more mindful about things that I say. Thank you so much for your work!
There are probably are disabled people in your life it just depends on how it's defined- many people just think physical disabilities & some intellectual/ developmental disabilities but it also includes learning disabilities, chronic illnesses or medical conditions like diabetes, migraines etc.
This now provokes a thought about Mator being a child and seeing other cars regularly make fun of dysfunctional cars and openly use slurs as "normal" or "just a joke" and it... breaks my heart.
I remember one of the scenes where one of the cars leaked, and, yeah, the joke was that it pissed itself. It's not even a bit funny when you think it at the light of disabled person being mocked for not having control over their body functions.
I have always considered rusting as the Cars universe equivalent for leprosy. If that is a case with the Cars movies, the context and the jokes of the scenes featuring rusting cars are much worse. At least Aardman Animation acknowledged the problematic aspect with the leprosy joke in the trailer for The Pirates! and rewrote the joke for the finished movie.
This video had me wondering if their universe has beauty salons with those rust removal lasers that actually *do* produce the instant gratification implied in the Rust-Eze commercial.
If there was a cure for most disabilities, you think people wouldn't want it. Like why the fuck is this ableist and why the fuck are we inventing words like ableist. I think people need to learn what grass is not what funking "atrocities" the car movie encourages. Like actually grow tge fuck up.
Mater was so fucking annoying in this movie, i find it hard to believe that they expected us to empathize with him. throughout the entire movie, he kept messing things up, almost on purpose, and being rude or obnoxious. that sequence where he is tied to that bell tower thing and starts agonizing about how stupid he is legit made me laugh, i dont know how that was supposed to be an emotional revelation where we feel bad for him. Lightning was justified in getting annoyed with Mater, and Mater needed some real character development. also, i know you mostly talk about movies and shows but I'd love it if you could do a video on the Six of Crows duology. the protagonist is disabled, multiple characters are heavily implied to be neurodivergent (Wylan is dyslexic and Jesper is ADHD-coded), and three of the characters are queer as well. i personally found all the characters to be realistic, well-rounded and capable in their own ways, so I'd love to hear your thoughts on it!
To be fair, the only time Mater screwed up big time was when he chose to use the fountain on stage to rinse his mouth. The rest was sort of understandable due to the facts that he had never been outside Radiator Springs before, and that Finn and Holley believed he was a spy even though he said multiple times that he was just a tow truck. Additionally, if Holley hadn't contacted Mater during the race in Japan, Mater wouldn't have been confused and wouldn't have said all that stuff while McQueen was racing. I think the point of Mater's character in the movie is that despite his flaws, he still had his wits that could help others, which was what Finn meant when he said "Spy or not, you're still the most clever and honest chap we ever met." In fact, if it weren't for Mater's mechanical expertise, Finn and Holley wouldn't have had a lead in the mission. Lastly, a majority of this movie happened all because Redline (the real American Spy) passed key information to Mater, who had no idea what was going on in the bathroom.
Even as a child this movie made me so uncomfortable. I saw it once as an adult to see if it was really as bad as I remembered. It was even worse. The "lemons" are both rich and powerful *and* too weak and poor to effectively fight their marginalisation. Total conspiracy thinking
It's always wild when someone just describes the plot of cars 2. Jack Saint did a fantastic video on Cars 2 as well, about an hour of tackling it from every angle you can, bringing up a lot of good points most people usually don't when discussing Cars 2.
You probably won’t see this… but would you want to talk about disability rep in My Little Pony? They do it really well with some characters, but I think with other characters it could have been done better. Some of the first ones that come to my mind: 1. There is a character named Kerfuffle from one of the specials that has a prosthetic leg(or pegged leg, I can’t remember) and her disability is never addressed or brought to your attention. The main characters interact with her throughout the special, and he just exists as a disabled person without her disability even being mentioned. 2. There’s a background character in one of the episodes that briefly interacts with the main cast, and he uses a wheelchair. Again, it’s not addressed or mentioned at all, and the characters just respect him as they would anyone else. 3. One of the main characters(not the main six characters, but an “adopted” sister of one of those six) named Scootaloo is a pegasus who can’t fly due to her underdeveloped wings. Since she is young, she thinks she’s a late bloomer and works hard to try to learn. Throughout the series, she realizes that she never will be able to fly(meaning that she won’t be able to control the weather like the rest of the pegasi, and she can’t access the city of the pegasi-located in the clouds-without being carried by another pegasus or taking some other form of accessible aerial transport there). She accepts this about herself after feeling insecure about it for a long time due to other people teasing her about it. In the last episode, we see how she looks as an adult; wings are still tiny and underdeveloped, and she still can’t fly. She was never “fixed” and I think that’s such a good thing for representation. 4. This is the one that I think could be handled a lot better, but I want to hear your perspective as a physically disabled person(I’m an able-bodied person). In the My Little Pony Movie, the main antagonist (named Tempest Shadow) is a unicorn whose horn was cut off in an encounter with a monster… and that’s the basis of her villain origin story. She tries to make a deal so her horn can be healed, but she fails, and at the end of the movie, she doesn’t end up being healed and learns to accept her disability. I don’t really know what to think about this one. I think there are some other examples of representation in this show, but these are the first ones I could think of. There is also a lot of unconfirmed mental disability representation as well as physical disability representation(for example, there are quite a few probably autistic characters in different places on the spectrum, many of which are in the main character group, and there’s a character that seems to have Down syndrome), but that list could go on for a long while. These are the first examples of physical disability rep that I could think of
It felt weird watching the bad guys be often old cars, my family has always driven a very old car and we love it and care for it even when it costs a lot to keep it running. Because of it's age no new parts are being made. And all the other points in this video
As a mechanical engineer, I can see where you're coming from. We're dealing with a world of sapient machines that can have parts replaced at will - McQueen himself had his painted-on headlights (like real-life NASCAR cars) replaced with real ones. By all logic, it should be possible to engineer replacement parts which don't have the crippling design flaws that these cars are living with, and actually produce them for all the cars who'd need them. Hell, Mater exhibited mechanical knowledge of his own - if he were so inclined, he could make a healthy living helping "dysfunctional cars" as you call them live normal lives instead of profiting off of them trying and failing to do so.
I feel like a better movie would've examined the lemons motivation and place in soceity, making Mater question his actions and the spy organization in general, given his wealth of experience with rusty cars. That could make for some cool conflict with the spy cars, who may or may not have troubles with killing many cars. Making Miles Axelrod a rich guy exploiting lemons on a false idea of reclaimation, when he really only cares about his oil business, could be cool. Making the underlings sympathetic could make for some good drama. Especially with the actual murder the spies comit.
Not related to the point of ableism. I thought it was neat that Fillmore recognised the fake alternative fuel for what it was and enlisted help from Sarge to replace it with actual alternative fuel.
Rust- eaz is a medicated bumper cream.... It's hemroid cream . For the elderly. That's why they are falling apart , they are old. Presumably old rednecks McQueen is mentioned a number of times in the 1st movie to not have actual headlights. They are stickers and his lack of night time vision dose cause problems afew times. So I think it's supposed to show him being arrogant and ungrateful because he's embarrassed about being in commercials about butt cream rather than being grateful they decide to back a racer with bad eyesight.
I honestly don't even see anyone using the "It's just a kids movie" argument here. This is one of those few times where it is pretty universally understood that a movie is hot garbage. Most people just choose to ignore its existence, and that includes the writers of the third film.
There are three such main level comments here thus far, all of which have become threads. I would bet real [RUclips forbidden word] that there will be more. Almost every movie / series analysis that Oakwyrm has made since he gained about 20k subs has had at least one comment to the tune of "OMG, it's not that deep!" and/or "It's. For. Kids. Get a life!" and/or "What are you smoking?!" And those are the politer wordings. Some people can be pretty inane. (edited after I checked how many there are 2023-0715 11:30 EEDT)
Thank you for putting subtitles on your videos. This makes it more accessible for me (who has troubles sometimes lining up the audio to actual thoughts) and my girlfriend who is deaf. I really appreciate it.
I relate to your point about injury due to someone else's carelessness presented as comedy. From my experience, a lot of kids just kind of accept that kind of thing as 'humor' because of how normalized it is, but over time, the bad taste left by those kinds of 'gags' starts setting in.
Some info on Otis for non Americans- Otis in CARS 2 is a reference to Otis Campbell the town drunk a recurring character from The Andy Griffith Show the running joke being After a binge, Otis will usually lock himself in the town jail until he is sober
Another example of a story where the villain has a point but the creators couldnt work in the right nuances so woops lets just make them do something irredeemably evil like blow others up.
This had to be said so badly and I am so glad you said it! Every point was spot on. Especially with how difficult it is to get work at the end. I'm physically disabled, and often use a wheelchair. And despite "non discrimination laws" I am discriminated because the laws really don't do anything unless they just come out in a public statement saying "we refuse to hire a person that uses a wheelchair". And because I COULD work one of these jobs if they would hire me, I'm not disabled enough to get benefits. It is eugenics in work today.
I just finished nimona and let me tell you I SOBBED I think you'd have a field day making a video about this gorgeous movie, with the queerness(bez telling nimona to just be a girl and nimona insisting that she's just nimona SCREAMS trans)and what felt to me like nimona being super autistic (shape shifting can be interpreted as stimming 100%) and bez trying to get her to mask. also nobody really caring about Bez losing an arm apart from jokes felt weird. anywho I could probably make my own video about it but I'd love to see your views on it
I can certainly sympathize with the "lemons" of Cars 2 and the discrimination/mistreatment they face, but I do believe that the villains did need to be stopped. The many problems the lemons face are used by the villains not as problems that need to be reversed/solved but as justification for their actions. None of the plans that are implemented make life any better for "lemons" around the world, they just make them very wealthy. I find a parallel between the plot of Cars 2 and the real life stories of the American mafia; immigrants coming to the U.S., be they Irish, Jewish, or Italian would face discrimination by the "natives" and be forced to live in substandard housing and recieve substandard services. This led to the rise in mafia families in New York and accross the country, leading to a few of these immigrant families becoming very wealthy, but rarely did they use their influence to make life better for other immigrant families, rather consolidating power for themselves. The mistreatment for the mafia isn't something to be stopped, but a justification for their actions.
when i watched cars 2 for the first time as a 9 year old the message that the movie seemed to be giving gave me a bad feeling in my stomach. i was just like, they can’t possibly be saying that the “lemon” cars are in the wrong for not wanting to be treated like shit, right?
Oh no it's ableist. We should ban it right away. Guys guys ban it. Bro if your pro abortion you can't fucking call out kids movies for having rusty cars, it doesn't work like that. In fact if your pro abortion you should be pro murder too otherwise you're a hippocrit prove me wrong. It's a bit ageist of you if you support killing babies but not children.
Man, I am so glad that out of all the movies from my childhood, this was the one I remember next to nothing about. Literally, what were they thinking with this movie.
I use a cane and, with the news about increasing pain from peripheral neuropathy, I'm considering getting a wheelchair to assist with my day to day life. I'm only 24 and I actually look far younger, as such I tend to get unpleasant stares and rude comments about using a cane."freeloader", "leech" and "parasite" are thrown around a lot because I receive disability income... seeing this movie, not just as a travesty of filmmaking but as a very malicious allegory makes me inclined to rethink my views on the world and gives me genuine fear about the notion of using a wheelchair.
I feel like it'd be super easy to fix this movie, or at least fix it a little- by having mater at the end say something like "yknow, axelrod and his posse mayve been bad apples....but seein the way they all had to struggle made me think." Push for green fuel, Otis gets the aid he actually needs with no shame, etc. It definitely wouldn't be perfect but it'd at least be SOMETHING
I wish I could watch this video on how one of the worst pixar movies (never seen it, but the internet keeps saying it, so it must be true-) is ableist. But it's literally 12 am.
@@criidawgI'm not sure if you get these videos or not, but have you seen these clickbait videos where it says "THIS IS THE DEATH OF PIXAR" because Elemental didn't do well on its opening weekend or because they hated teenage girls or because that one Buzz Lightyear movie was bad. Like people need to realize that Pixar has always had bad or weaker movies (eg A Bug's Life, cars franchise, those sequel movies in the 2010s.) Plus people have been saying that Pixar was declining in the 2010s as well. I feel like people over exaggerate stuff on the internet.
The beginning scene would have been a good scene if it had been there to show that mator is a jack@$$ in need of character growth. Imagine if the point of the broken down cars as "villians" was that mator eventually realizes that he's part of the problem and should be treating them better. It would lead great into cars 3 where lightning mcqueen gets injured and is scared he won't be able to work anymore
I watched this thing with it in the background so I completely missed the fact they were disabled and it was fine. It works just as well, they could’ve kept the same plot removing the disabled part and it would’ve been fine.
It was interesting watching this vid because I always thought the allegory was an age one when I was younger, which was set when I learnt what a lemon party was not long after watching the second movie... but watching this video, to me, showed how much overlap there is between ageism (specific to older people) and Ableism, aside from the obvious fact that many older people are disabled (ether because they were before aging and/or before being born, or because as all their body parts are aging they develop disabilities).
We calling l*mon a slur now. I get it I don't like them fruity trannies either but how am I supposed to ask for l*mon in my drink now. What a fucking tragedy.
Heres what I think they originally had in mind Cars 2 is meant to be about lightning accepting Mater for who he is, because hes different from most people. Now what I think they had in mind was to draw a comparison between Mater and the villains. Theyre both outcasts of society, theyre not "normal" in their own ways. I think thats what they were originally planning and thinking about when making movie, of course they failed miserably in every aspect of all of this and it still has disturbing subtext as a result of this failure, but I dont think they originally intended to be ableist. I think they just wanted to show the villains and Mater arent tok different, and what seperates them is how they deal with their differences. Ithink that was their original intentions, but it was lost due to how little effort they put into thinking it through.
That shows that this could obviously be a lot worse. It could have gone with Mater being like "I used to be proud of my rust and dents, but now that I know how others with similar issues went, I think I ought to have it removed."
The only part that freaked me out as a kid from this movie was the cars that got fucking exploded. That was the reason the disabled cars were the bad guys to me, not any of the rest of the reasons the movie wanted us to be upset with them lol. Only the murder part. That said, I haven’t seen this movie since that first watch. It’s super weird that cars 2 is a spy movie and then cars 3 just goes right back to being a racing film more or less, and cars 4 being a retirement film is super odd to me as well.
This video is an absolute GEM. Cars 2 is a bit of a formative movie for me(never liked the first one but the amount of Real Actual Threat of (car)Death made this stick in my brain) and despite my love of the spy insanity I LOATHE the way the villains were written and their motivation. It’s crazy to me that I have to warn people about the massive ableist vein running through a movie about tow mater becoming a spy and nearly dying. Jack Saint covered this movie in a video as well- but I think your summation of the proceedings and problems and your disabled perspective make the reasons Why it sucks stick out so much better.
I always equated the rusteez thing to hemorrhoid cream or foot fungus ointment. Even with that logic that'd mean the cars are covered head to toe in sores like a leper. Thats unnerving and equating to seriously ill people coming to a Neosporin event thinking that it will cure their leprosy.
@@bluemoth6983 Jack Saint has been mentioned a few times in other comments. Apparently, the title of that video was something like, "Oops, did Cars 2 do an eugenics?"
I was thinking about the slur thing, it could be in reference to how people use the r-word in everyday life. Which that does suck btw but, it's the sad reality
Jeez, I didn't see it like that before at all because I saw it through the lense of an adult who sees the car as a tool. But holy moly once you mentioned "in this movie they are sentient" I cringed at everything that happened in the movie. Can probably never watch that again
I think Lemon, in the Cars universe, is similar to the R slur, where people aren’t educated on the fact that is IS an ableist slur for so long that people in the community it’s meant to be against use it for people including those in their own community so the people that DO know it’s an ableist slur have to fight against a MASSIVE majority of people, including people in their own community because the slur has been so normalized.
I am honestly curious how in the world it went from an ableist slur to a normal insult. At least from what I have personally seen it used as(along with others) is that it is used for other non-disabled people who act nonsensical and abnormal. "You aren't disabled, don't make people think you are!" And on the same page, I have seen the rule of "don't ever say these things to people who actually have the respective disability, just don't. It's offensive if you do".
'Idiot' was formerly a technical term in legal and psychiatric contexts for some kinds of profound intellectual disability where the mental age is two years or less, and the person cannot guard themself against common physical dangers. Not sure but ı belive Moron was used for the same purpose too.Wouldnt they be ableist slurs too?
this is like the robot racism problem. its a metaphor collapsing in on its self because the writers didnt think that hard about it but the slur thing was definitely to far.
Honestly the lack of clarity when it comes to Cars' reproduction makes this all extra confusing, like, if they still have to be designed from scratch like irl, does that make everyone a "designer baby" who's genetics were picked on purpose instead of organically mixed? Do Car parents put in an order for their kid to be made, or are they mass produced and then "sold" (do car parent have to PAY to acquire a child?)? What would happen to baby cars that aren't sold? There's no irl equivalent to the mass production of children with genetic disabilities so how do we even deal with that?? Anyway, great analysis as always!
I've never looked at it that way, but honestly, I respect your insight. It makes sense. It isn't just mumbo jumbo to have something to complain about. I don't think I'll be able to see Cars 2 the same way ever again.
i rewatched cars 2 yesterday and on the surface its a cool movie imo (i have cars brainrot so bias ig) but yeah since im older now there where multiple times where i kid you not, i paused and just “😮👀💀 Bruh”. like 1 you straigh up see dead cars on screen which is just mind blowing to me and 2 i finally had realized how fucked up the whole lemons being villainized was. it was one of those moments where i go “how the fuck did this pass to be shown to a kids audience” and my entire childhood being obsessed with this movie was just tarnished.
Something I realized is Mater possibly neurodivergent? In the second cars he gets mocked for being different and socially awkward, as a autistic/ADHD person I can’t help but relate to that. I loved the first Cars (probably because I live in New Mexico near Route 66 and I’m a NASCAR fan), but I can’t stand the second one because of it felt like some odd mater fanfic meant to sell toys, also the mocking of “lemons” just seems off Additionally as an Italian-American I find it interesting that they name a character “Guido” (which is a Ethnic Slur towards Italian males), on the otherhand I’d take the Cars characters like Luigi and Guido (two devoted Italian immigrants) over another stereotypical mafia character (don’t get me started on how much I hate Sharktale (which is a bunch of racial stereotypes put on fish and somehow a kids movie)
"secret crime family of disabled people" is my new squad name
Unironically would watch that if it was a TV show series
The disabled Mafia
Would me and my weak core and adhd be let in
@@AlejandroKaplan-hr1vi You’re part of the family
@@radiokitty9007 awesome just don’t ask me to write anything down (thanks body) you won’t be able to read it
Cars 2 is such a weird movie because they opened Pandora's box by revealing that the Cars universe is messed-up, but they didn't seem to notice the implications at all.
They could've gotten away with it, as it's for kids, fictional and you have to pick your battles that being said this movie is apparently the worst Pixar movie ever made I haven't watched or seen anything about this outside of this video but when the internet agrees yah know its bad
i suppose that's the frequent complication when trying to anthrophomorphise every-day objects. you want to keep concepts from the real wolrd to make writing easier, but when you put those concepts on what is essentially people it gets sketchy real fast. the main issue with stories that anthropomorphise every-day appliances like cars and toasters, is that, here in the real world, their value is based on functionality. a toy can still be played with even if it's technically broken, but you can't "use" a broken table or a lamp with exposed wiring
thus, when we create wolds where every-day objects are alive we create wolds where someone's value to society is explicitly based on their functionality. and from there we get all sorts of messed up implications
@@zilesis1i mean i feel like they did this with toys aswell in toy story, no? The lil penguin almost gets sold because he has a dysfunction
@@zilesis1i think on one hand thats a complication, but on the other hand its an oportunity to adress themes such as ableism in a creative way. Cars 2 could have adressed ableism, they had a good setup for it, but instead they validates it by not only refusing to adress it but also villanize it.
Idk this is a ramble, my point is just that anthropomorphising objects can create positive discussion about ableism rather than inherently being ableist. That is if the movie bothers adressing the implications in a respectful way.
Idk what this comment is im just rambling sry😅
@@lucyandecember2843 Eh. I feel that you could just as easily say that the toys still had value. Though I do think there is something wrong with the story/characters’ morals. It could have gone in a perfectly fine direction where Woody and the penguin could have very easily been portrayed as a “I love playing with you anyway” type beat. They just didn’t, probably bc this movie was made at a time where people didn’t really think about those things, and bc they didn’t consider the implications of them being real and how people can draw correlations to real world issues.
Honestly, the bit about using the villain having a personal tow truck as an example of laziness and extravagance to be particularly insulting as having help or aids around should not be seen as lazy. I am a part time dog walker/pet sitter. I am essentially a servant in this job. Most of my clients are rich, but some are disabled. They say don't get a dog if you can't take care of it, and that includes exercise. Well, one of my disabled clients has said she would have chosen a less active breed of dog had she known she'd get in a car wreck. Honestly, hiring someone to do a job for you IS getting it done and being responsible. Whether it's outsourcing a job because you can afford to, or because you want to, or because you have to, all are valid. In my other job, I'm a pastry chef. I chose both my jobs because all i want is flexibility. I am chronically fatigued and talking exhausts me, so i bake and prepare food part time (getting to listen to podcasts about monster lore and true crime because i work in an underground kitchen that was once literal servants quarters) and i walk dogs part time. Both jobs don't even equal full time because I'm gifted in coordinating and multitasking, but it's because i do what would be seen as servant work for the rich that I'm allowed this and still able afford to live. Now, i believe in Universal Basic Income, so that working isn't connected to survival. However, i would still do both of these jobs if i had that because walking dogs helps with my depression, and i take real pride in my pastries and find the work fun and rewarding. Jobs that aid others or just do jobs for them are valid and good and people shouldn't be ashamed of them.
Incredible take. Thank you for sharing your experience with us.
Even as a kid, I thought it was super problematic that the lemons were depicted as villains
i thought lemons were a type of car before this vid, now i know why they called them that 💀
Fr
Even if it was problematic I doubt any kids were actually thinking about this including you. Unless you mean like teenager or something.
@@TJ-hg6op You'd be surprised just how much watching something as a kid, even if you don't fully understand it at the time, can affect you in the future.
@@TJ-hg6op Your reaction to someone sharing their personal feelings on something is to say "I don't believe that's how you felt." Please think about that. Please think about any instance of your choosing that you may have expressed a feeling or opinion to someone, then imagine that they turned to you and said "That's not how you feel. People don't feel that way about things."
It's not that kids don't notice and learn things from the world around them, it's just folks that don't listen or think about other people that don't notice and learn things.
I remember sitting with my dad and sister as we tried to figure out what the different elements of the cars universe were allegories for. Eg: paint jobs being clothing, tires being shoes, Mia and Tia flashing their headlights at Lightning being actual flashing, and eventually when we came to Lemons I realised "oh shit that me".
Also the "good disabled" car at the start angers me so much because the writers clearly realised what they were doing but didn't care enough to change the plot so they added a car to be like "Mater's not ableist, he has a disabled friend his economy directly benefits from the I'll health of!"
Oh I agree there was definetly some level of awareness to the implications.
Plus it feels like they had to have put in extra effort for that plot point to even exist. They could've just kept the villian as the CEO of a big oil company doing malicious things for profit. That would've been alright, there was no need for ablist aspects to be added to it.
How did a whole group of writers think that was a good idea? Not a single person went "Hey, guys, this is kind of a fucked up idea. Let's not do that" ??
Because, as we all know, minorities that have been made victims of systemic oppression must be wholly complacent! They must smile and accept the world they inhabit! Remember, attempting to secure a brighter future for yourself and your fellows means you're just trying to rock the boat on a non-issue! Didn't you see the words the slave owners put on the paper? That means you're not oppressed, silly-head! Just grin and bear it and accept that life is needlessly difficult for you in a way that 90% of the population doesn't even have to think about, let alone understand or empathize with!
America! 😃
(Actually who am I kidding, that's everywhere at least a little bit)
When someone says "It's a kids movie" to excuse problems, I'm always baffled at the stupidity. A movie aimed at an impressionable audience who may not be as good at recognizing problems has a responsibility to be extra careful, not a blank check to be as shitty as it wants.
I think it among other things implies said people think kids when consuming media do it on such a simple level they can't possibly learn any lessons from it. When the whole points of children's media has been for centuries to pass on some lesson or another, be it spelled out, or not. Kids are very perceptive and are akin to sponges when it comes to picking up lessons. Only thing is, they pick up more on the done than said. It's why "don't do as I do but as I say" fails. Because kids pick up more on the done, rather than the said. And just because they can't explain it after doesn't mean it didn't happen. Heck, most adults can't explain the inner workings of how media they consume reinforces their attitudes and views either because most adults are in my experience in some level of ignorant bliss denial about how much hate they actually have locked up in their minds from the environment. Which doesn't require them to think to do, as they merely do it as a part of their normal daily activities. That, and media literacy is not the strong suite of many.
In addition, I feel a lot of people are perhaps even a bit scared to admit just how good kids are at picking up on this sort of stuff because it would mean they have to go through the process of examining their own actions, words, etc. That denial coming crashing down can sure be scary. Especially as the other side has a lot of not so nice realizations about one's self, as well as a whole host of anxiety inducing thoughts. But ignorance is certainly not bliss, as it's harmful to not come to terms with the hate and prejudice one carries because then one will always continue to contribute to the suffering of other people. Either by ignoring a problem, or contributing to said problem. Usually both. Reality is reality, and it's better to just get on with it than play excuse games and hide-and-seek to maintain some silly, ignorant facade as it comes with the price tag of suffering caused.
You know what else was a kids movie? UP.
My teacher showed it to us when it came onto dvd.
Guess who had to explain infertility and death to a bunch of fourth graders?
@@therealopaartist HAHAHAHAHA! Love this comment 😁
I don't know. While it's true that it's good that we need to be careful of what we show to younger audiences, it's also important to remember that they see things more simply. The kids I've met and known typically see things in a black-and-white kind of view and often do not try to go too deep into things.
Just to be clear, I'm not a fan of "It's just a kids movie" at all. But at the same time, we shouldn't expect them to comprehend things like adults do.
I can see the Rusteze product being a strong metaphor America's obsession with dental cosmetics, which is frequently tied to classism.
Dental work is expensive and often not covered by health insurance, some have coined the term "luxury bones" to refer to teeth based on this weird and horrible oversight. And often one of the first things people do upon coming into a more comfortable income is "fix their teeth," usually getting important work on cavities, but also braces, veneers, whitening to get them to that celebrity perfect standard, that will keep them from being profiled as poor.
And there are so many over the counter products that prey on this class indicator, along with sometimes even people's genuine health problems related to their dental care, fancy toothpastes that claim to reverse cavities and perfect everything, the myth that whiter always means healthier (it definitely doesn't, and whitening can cause serious enamel damage actually!).
And meanwhile, the classism in dental care access often leads to people having to ignore their genuinely debilitating health issues like infections, impactions, and misalignments and pains that affect their ability to work, eat, sleep, even risk serious health issues.
And there's the imagery of rust and tooth decay aligning well, it happens gradually and degrades a very commonly seen and profiled part of the face.
And of course, the tone of the second movie even as a kid, felt so off and icky to me. I didn't get it at the time, but yeah villainising the disabled/undesirables of the society like that, mocking them, even having a slur for them in universe just feels so gross. They're just silly little cars and all, but thinking about the symbolism makes the writing feel really messed up. Another fantastic video, thankyou so much!! I love hearing your analysis of disability representation and learning more about the community.
My dad is a British dentist and he basically said that the stereotype of British teeth being bad is just Americans admitting how vain they are.
I don't mean to undermine your interpretation but I thought rusteeze was meant to be a metaphor for hemmoroid cream, cus its specifically for rear ends
It should be noted that at the end of the first movie, McQueen was offered a sponsorship from DinoCo, which he turned down. This was painted as a selfless act resulting from his character development, remaining loyal to the company that had helped get his racing career going instead of dumping them for a more prestigious sponsor. If we assume Rust-Eze to be exploiting old cars' insecurities for a quick buck, it casts a whole new light on that.
And that rusty cars jaw does fall off, so…
To paraphrase Strong Female Protagonist, "A hero is someone who works to restore the status quo. A villain works to destroy it. We don't have a word in fiction for someone who works to change it."
I wonder if part of the reason for the persistence of the disabled villain is that the things real disabled people advocate for require rethinking how we structure society - how we value/measure work, how we provide healthcare, etc. - so much that people can't clearly differentiate between wanting to change/fix things and wanting to "destroy the foundations of civilization" (see every absurd anti-trans statement for the same phenomenon).
Such an oversimplification. There's BIG segment of fiction about heroes fighting against the system.
Revolutionists perhaps🤔
Rebel
Destroying the status quo really comes down to changing it. Like unless the villain is destroying the whole world.
What about the lion king 1994?🤔
As a kid I used to love both of these films, especially the second one, because of the spies. I felt bad for the disfunctional guy at the begining and I cringed at the Matter behaviours, but I didn't notice how screwed up this universe is until somebody pointed out the eugenics in the second movie. Just, hating the bad guys was convinient, becuase spies needed somebody to fight with, right? Thank you for making these and helping me notice and overcome my ableism.
Ironically, the horrible depiction of minorities as evil is also something that is commonly used in spy movies like the old James Bonds
Yeah me too I didn't realize how really bad the second movie was.
I still find it fascinating that Cars 2 and Robots have like the opposite message.
Wow, I never thought about that, cars 2 is pretty messed up in comparison
They're also complete opposites when it comes to their worldbuilding. The Cars series has zero consistent rules and so many questions are unanswered when it comes to their existence and everyday life. How are they sentient, can they procreate, why do the minivans in the first movie lock their doors, why are there famous worldwide landmarks from the human world throughout the second movie, do the cow cars make milk for the "humanoid" ones, etc. Robots on the other hand is very creative and rational with its logic. From the moment the movie starts you get a feel of what their world is like and how robots have families. They have their own class system, economy, transportation, so on and so forth. Goes to show how much thought John Lassiter put into the Cars franchise, and that he was in it for the money rather than the need to tell a good story
@@jaredarenas7542 just goes to show that cars should really only be objects in the background of a storyline, instead of sentient and center focus
Translation: Megamind and Captain Underpants have the opposite message. Need I explain?
The fact that they could have possibly made the villains be people who want to discontinue or destroy cars who are ‘discontinued’ INSTEAD of the cars being denied access to repairs and basic decency is wild 14:59
That would just be the plot of Robots… hence the thematic duality of the two films that nobody talks about for some reason. Those two go together like oil and water but in a good way.
@@thevioletbee58792005’s Robots my beloved.
And this is why Robots is a better metaphor for the underprivileged and disabled then the whole cars series because the people behind the movie actually thought about the message
@@DemiSemme Both. I love their videos
Robots was more about class inequality than Cars 2, although the Lemon cars could be considered destitute.
@@corntastrophy Not really it was more about having right to being repaired a.k.a. right to being healed and other problem was how big companies can force their will on others
I remember watching this film with my mom some years ago. She loves cars, so she recognized the makes of the lemons and thought the whole thing was hysterical. I think that might be what Pixar wanted to accomplish: a nod and a wink to real world car enthusiasts. But when she and I talked about the deeper implications of this in a world where cars are people, she agreed with me that it was pretty messed up. Pixar either didn’t think this through or they didn’t care. Great video as always!
The Cars series has probably one of the least thought through worlds I've ever seen, them not seeing the rampant ableism in this movie isn't surprising
I remember the copium the disney theorists had to justify the cars' world existing as part of the Pixar theory.
For real and nowadays I see people put them in "best movie rankings" (those 15sec ones on Tik Tok) next to stuff like Wall-E and How To Drain Your Dragon. It's the Shark Tale nostalgia all over again
This is one of the reasons I only watch the first movie. Even in the first movie I constantly have questions, like, can cars only have certain jobs if they were born that type of car? And it just gets more confusing the deeper you get into the films/ shorts/ shows.
I think the biggest issue is that they keep forgetting that they're making a world of cars™, not humans. It wasn't very bad in the first one, but the others actually have no business being Cars movies.
@@Chillipeffer Well they had to be in cars in the 2nd one otherwise the violence in that would get the movie rated R
I think a way to fix the ableism in this movie is that 1. make it clear that the lemon cars aren't bad guys, and 2. actually have it where Mater is one of the few cars who doesn't treat them poorly.
In the bathroom scene instead of Mater being incredibly rude towards the cars, have where he's actually quite polite to them and there could even be a moment where he corrects himself and apologizes when he uses the word lemon. Later on when Holley is electrocuting that one car for information, instead of Finn being the one who stops her, its Mater who's disgusted with what she done. Later on when Mater infiltrates the meeting, he realizes that the lemons aren't bad guys, in fact they hate what they are doing, but they believe that they have no choice since the leader says its the only way for them to get the help they need, when the leader tells the lemons to kill Lightning the cars are visibly uncomfortable but believing that they had no choice they go though with the plan, with Mater trying to convince them throughout the third act that this isn't right, which causes them to feel even more conflicted. Eventually it's revealed that Axlerod was the one behind the plan, with the added part that he was gonna blame the lemon cars for what happened, which angers the cars who realized that they were used and turn against him
While its not perfect I do this will not only make the lemon cars more sympathetic characters, but it could even be a way to condemn those who take advantage of people who are desperate for any help
oh wow i've never watched Cars 2 but it's wild that they dropped the ball THAT hard on it?? especially weird because i Have watched Cars 3 and it was an unexpectedly poignant narrative that very VERY openly explored privilege and directly incorporated the leading Latina voice actress' personal experience into the story, and that made me frankly OBSESSED with it; so to know these two movies exist alongside each other without any thought given to how the themes very openly clash is. giving me a whiplash.
Never saw the third film (I think I was too old by then), but I think they were pulling a Shrek forever after and trying to scrub the existence of the second film and its necessity to watch it. I think schaffrillas even called I a feature length episode of maters animated TV series (which I did watch a few episodes of and can confirm it feels more like that than a cars movie, the show was alright btw)
@@juliethepositive748 as someone who's seen the third cars film, they straight up just never acknowledge the second one. Not even as a passing reference, or a background gag. The film's emotional backbone is rather dependent on your knowledge of the first one but 2 is just ignored lmao
@@gazingshimmers the only half reference is Jeff, but you don't need to watch Cars 2 to understand who he is. He's a racer, same as the others
Oakwyrm, I never noticed Rusteeze as a medicated product. Holy shit, that is soooo fucked up. You explained this really well, people are going to accuse you of ruining the movie or being too sensitive, but you hit the nail on the head with this one. Don't listen to any of the disheartened people, because you aren't the problem for pointing out flaws that already existed.
I feel like the second movie pointing a spotlight on the messed up ways lemons are treated could be really cool. But then the makers just decided to make it a spy movie that doesn't care about the morals it's putting forward.
Hey. I have a question regarding media consumption.
Let’s say you find out that one of your favorite pieces of media (whether a movie or TV show) plays into problematic (ableist) tropes. It's not that the creator of said media is problematic or that their work is *overtly* problematic. Those scenarios are very clear and black and white, IMO. But if a creator’s work happens to have a few questionable elements, I feel that’s more of a gray situation.
How do you personally deal with it? Do you acknowledge that the piece of media you enjoy has some harmful elements and focus on the stuff that isn't offensive? If it's an older movie, do you accept it as a product of its time? Or do you try and avoid consuming it?
Am I a bad person for enjoying problematic media?
@@jackcapellini113 I'm not OP but i like answering questions lmao (edited to fix formatting. i straight up forgot how to bold text in youtube comments XD)
*How I personally deal with it* : As a fan of children's cartoons, I'm not unaccustomed to neurodivergent traits being attached to "weird" characters. And certain show's fascination with gross-out/toilet humor, especially when the main characters are younger, has never sat well with me. However, these tropes and jokes have been around for decades and are likely not changing any time soon. How I react depends on a few factors.
*Do you acknowledge that the piece of media you enjoy has some harmful elements and focus on the stuff that isn't offensive?* : It depends on how heavily the story leans on those tropes. If a character with an implied disability (physical or mental) has a couple slip-ups or awkward scenes in a season, it's whatever, that's what worn out producers think is funny. But if they spend the whole show being talked over and tormented for the sake of a punchline, I won't be able to sit through it. I don't really 'let it slide' in lesser doses though. If it's bad enough in certain episodes of an otherwise decent series- I'll make sure to give a heads up for those specific segments to whoever I recommend it to.
*If it's an older movie, do you accept it as a product of its time?* : Well, yeah. But I can usually suss out the difference between "They didn't have better language for this at the time" versus "Oh wow this director actually hated us". Trust me when I say there's a very distinct tonal difference- but of course people's threshholds for what they can let slide are different.
*Or do you try and avoid consuming it?* : I don't really watch new shows as they come out! Idk why, when Steven Universe ended I pretty much stopped paying attention to cable TV. If it's a show or movie I've already watched, though, I usually skip the cringier parts on subsequent watches. XD
*Am I a bad person for enjoying problematic media?* : I feel like that's a question to ask yourself, not trashrat9365 from the youtube comment section. When in doubt, take some time to self-reflect or talk to someone you trust. When I'm not fully vibing with a series I otherwise enjoy, I'll step away for a few days and see if I still want to get into it again after that. It's weirdly effective!
14:50 “we’re not part of a secret union of crime families” oh thank GOD I thought I was the only disabled person who wasn’t rich and evil and wore a monocle
Yeah personally I AM rich and evil and I wear a monocle but not all of us do
@@michaelio6548 glad to know there’s at least one of you out there. Keep up the good work being a cartoon villain.
@@jax_firestorm9689 I commit arson as an autistic person and I related to this! /j
Don't forget the evil little cat that sits on my lap that I pet while I twirl my disabled mustache
@@Anuyushi Is it a black cat? /j
Ok but fr, why do black cats get dissed so hard?
Every time I see a reference to Pixar's Cars, my mind immediately goes to Blue Sky's Robots, where instances of. I guess... Robot ableism? Are frequently shown only in villainous characters. Who end up bonked at best and dying from their own tools of mass destruction at worst. Which is good, I think we should toss billionaires exploiting and killing people into pits of fire.
Not saying the movie is perfect, it definitely has issue, but I think it handled even this better than Cars. Epic.
Im pretty sure Oakwyrm made a video about that movie aswell and how it handled its themes, i didn't watch it tho since i haven't watched robots😅
@@lucyandecember2843 Really? Holy Hell, I'm embarrassed to have missed it. I'll go check. (You should absolutely watch the movie, though, as far as I'm concerned it is in Blue Sky's top three best films.)
@@lucyandecember2843Robots is a very fun and at times surprisingly insightful movie. It's not perfect but I definitely recommend watching it!
people: you can't have a gay character in a kids movie, that's spreading a wrong message! you're tainting their innocence
meanwhile children's movies: **casually displays ableism, sexism, unhealthy relationships, bullying, etc and passes it off as a joke or a norm**
The irony
The hypocrisy
for real though, it rlly is like ppl just want control
Most accurate thing I’ve heard all day 💀 the hypocrisy makes my blood boil
"Well, back in my day-" *Raises cane as my half-fossilized legs crumble*
The rust remover seems closer to a pain reliever like how real world NASCAR drivers sell migraine medicine which is still pretty dang predatory
Meanwhile your life sucks if you happen to be born a train
The Railway Series in a nutshell.
@@NitroIndigothat's worse, those guys are technically slaves
@@NitroIndigo+ Not entirely correct. The life of being built as a machine, is due to the cruelty of closed rail lines and dismantling half a total of steam powered machines.
The case of engine scrapping, showcase how dieselization felt to be superior, however it didn't last that long, as electric engines became a lot more faster, and steam/diesel are now on the same page.
Reminds me of that anime where a train saves a bear from a shop. The train brought freedom to the bear, but can never escape the rail.
@@slimetank394 What anime is this?
My oldest sister has brittle bones "disease" and has never been able to walk in her whole life. She has never been able to have even a single day when people just stare at her like she isn't even human and there's been plenty of times ignorant people have said some really insensitive stuff to her or my family and refused to back down or apologize. One time we were going to go out for dinner for my birthday and the woman who was supposed to show us to our table said "so that's 5 people and a wheelchair then?" And when we dared correcting her saying there are 6 people, one of whom uses a wheelchair she got really defensive and started insulting us and she even told her manager we were attacking her for "no reason". We had enough and ended up going somewhere else but I'll never forget that night. Some people are honestly disgusting and need to grow up
I was never a fan of the Cars movies due to never really being a cars person, and this is even more reason to not watch these movies.
3:11 I have had the issue of applying real world issues to ficitional species not working annoy me in several movies. the most recent was Elementals. The message was good, but not liking the fire people because they will literly set anything flamable they touch on fire and the fire people not liking the water people because they can seriously injure (and maybe even kill if it wasn't a kids movie) without even trying, the racism doesn't work as well.
oh yeah, i didn't actually watch elementals but i know many examples of the same stuff (zootopia being the most obvious one)
if they wanted to portray an anti-racist message, MAYBE they shouldn't use bio-essentialism in their examples, it happens too often and it's just a big yikes
@@mycelium_mossI can’t really understand all this stuff about taking this stuff all too seriously. Like I understand why some people were mad at zootopia since they portrayed some as predators and some as prey. But for elemental it shows stuff as more equal. And if the takeaway from the movie you get is “oh no they hurt eachother.” You probably either didn’t watch the movie or didn’t really understand it much. And it shouldn’t even be taken literally, since it’s just a representation of racism with some supernatural stuff. Like yeah, they could have portrayed it better with just humans, but that would be not boring or fun.
ah to be fair i think elemental had more allegories to immigration/culture clash (etc) than actual racism... there's a moment of fire people definitely being discriminated against, and it's when they see the flower that explicitly works well in every condition, even fire, but they still didn't allow fire into the exhibit. most people in element city are well-meaning when it comes to fire people (like wade and his family), they just don't understand the extent of the struggle sometimes. ember takes on so much baggage it's no wonder she sees wade as literally untouchable at first due to their different elements. imo it works decently enough
Hey. I have a question regarding media consumption.
Let’s say you find out that one of your favorite pieces of media (whether a movie or TV show) plays into problematic (ableist) tropes. It's not that the creator of said media is problematic or that their work is *overtly* problematic. Those scenarios are very clear and black and white, IMO. But if a creator’s work happens to have a few questionable elements, I feel that’s more of a gray situation.
How do you personally deal with it? Do you acknowledge that the piece of media you enjoy has some harmful elements and focus on the stuff that isn't offensive? If it's an older movie, do you accept it as a product of its time? Or do you try and avoid consuming it?
tbf, elemental's themes go more towards cultural differences between different people if anything, and in the actual movie itself they touch and it's fine
I always interpreted the rusty cars as “lepers”, with how they are affected by rust and how McQueen treats being touched by them
That's a bit weird because Mater is a rusty old car and Lightning doesn't react worse towards him.
I had simply assumed that rust was age-related, as it is with real-life cars.
So a major contributing factor to the plot in Cars 1 is that Lightning doesn't have headlights, which is similar to humans having bad low-light vision. He also doesn't have rear view mirrors, which is the car equivalent to peripheral vision. That combination mirrors a lot of visually impaired humans, which I think is kind of interesting.
no its simply like that because he's a race car and race cars do not require lights or rearview mirrors, at least in NASCAR which is what the piston cup races are inspired by. I swear to god it is not as deep as you think.
@@yeoldeseawitchit’s not intentional, that’s not what they were saying. They were saying they just found it interesting that in human terms, Lightning’s basically partially blind.
I keep thinking that the third cars movie is the second one and that this one just doesn’t exist and I honestly don’t remember anything about it other than Mater becomes a spy
I've never seen it
To be honest, I never considered Cars 2 canon, my personal headcanon is that Cars 2 was just a weird dream Mater had sometime between the events of Cars 1 and 3. Infact, there are signs that Pixar doesn’t seem to consider it canon either
I only remembered the first scene with Finn McMissile doing all these car chase scenes. Cars 2 is actually the first Cars movie I watched, unfortunately. When i watched it, i didn't even know what it's about, and all i can recall beside the first few minutes of the movie is when Mater entered an all fancy toilet stall and it kepts spraying him. I kinda want to rewatch this movie to see how bad and messed up it is since kid me clearly did not see that
@@kademcarthur5362 The Scrapy-Doo treatment
I really liked cars 1, so cars 2 was a big let down to me, and i can add this to the list as to why
I thought cars 1 was boring and cars 2 was my favorite
@@FosukeLordOfError you are allowed your opinion even if it's bad
@@khanolval9848 I mean the two movies are really tonally different so it’s not surprising people wouldn’t like both movies. I enjoy parody more then I enjoy the cars. So a plot similar to the man who knew too little is right up my ally.
@@FosukeLordOfErroryeah, when I first saw cars 2 I didn't expect to see the cars getting killed, it was definitely a shock, I love the movie now and I love the lemon syndicate as villains.
Personally Cars 1 was a movie I couldn’t watch because I got soooo much secondhand embarrassment from it. Like the amount of bullshit Lightning says in that movie, and the amount of dumbass decisions he makes except for the end of it made it almost unwatchable. Cars 2 on the other hand was my favourite because of the whole spy thing plus the mounds of iconic quotes I still say to this day (I’m autistic, you can imagine how it was when I was younger).
this caught my attention IMMEDIATELY.
Me too.
Why
Go outside
I think you really make a good point about the hints of ableism in the first movie. It's easy to miss with the trash fire that the second movie is. I also was intrigued by the point that the demonization of disabled people was meant to divert attention from those who profit from fossil fuel use. Honestly, it's great to hear another disabled person bring this up. When I brought this up in my conservative-ass family, they thought I was reading too much into it and am too easily offended.
For anyone who wants more content on this, Jack Saint also did an excellent video on this topic called "Oops, Disney's Cars Did Eugenics."
I always love to see your videos, nobody really talks about topics like this, and when they do, it's never from experience. So thank you! ❤❤
People do not deserve harassment for talking about disability representation in media.
Any media aimed at kids should be talked about on how it handles disability.
Hey. I have a question regarding media consumption.
Let’s say you find out that one of your favorite pieces of media (whether a movie or TV show) plays into problematic (ableist) tropes. It's not that the creator of said media is problematic or that their work is *overtly* problematic. Those scenarios are very clear and black and white, IMO. But if a creator’s work happens to have a few questionable elements, I feel that’s more of a gray situation.
How do you personally deal with it? Do you acknowledge that the piece of media you enjoy has some harmful elements and focus on the stuff that isn't offensive? If it's an older movie, do you accept it as a product of its time? Or do you try and avoid consuming it?
@@jackcapellini113 I will be still aware of the problematic tropes. Like in Star Wars, some ableist tropes are in the series.
@@skalessibbons7349 Is it possible to acknowledge the faults of a piece of media while still enjoying it? That’s typically what I do. I acknowledge whatever the problem is and move on enjoying the film. And if I ever decide to write my own stories, I’ll make sure to be mindful about certain harmful tropes and not include them.
@@jackcapellini113 I find it depends on whether or not I can separate the faults from the enjoyment. Sometimes I can acknowledge it and still find an enjoyable product after all is said and done, or at least see the story through to the end. (Sometimes this acknowledgment takes the form of me mentally discussing it... with myself... but that's just because I'm weird.)
Other times, I find my mind too readily circles back to the faults for one reason or another. In that situation I generally no longer engage with that piece of media, but that's mostly because for *me* that specific media happens to no longer be enjoyable because to me the faults overshadow the enjoyable portions.
As a kid, I thought the lemons were all just supposed to be old people since, well, old cars. I never picked up on the ableism in the movies... and dang, is it rampant.
Thank you for your informative video!
It’s pretty much a combination of ableism and ageism.
@@arandomidiot1593And the third A…Antisemitism.
Good video. it is good you pointed out 'comedy' can be problematic thinking in disguise. It is sad that so much of what we laugh at is people 'lower' than us.
My brother and I used to love these films when we where younger and I did legit use to perfer the second film to the first when I was little mostly because I thought the spy cars were cool I dunno up until like legit a couple years I had no taste.
You're not the only one. I used to like this movie when i was younger and watched it with my brother, idk how many times. And i used to simp Finn McMissile😐
@@cerpiper same Fin and Holley were my first fictional crushes
i mean, the first movie is still pretty cute to this day, the madness can be found in the second one
Don't feel bad because these funking idiots think rusty cars are problematic.
Uh, content warning for venting about medical issues and ableism?? This review sparked one hell of a fire in me listening.
The job thing hit me hard. I'm not able to work full-time, and my current part time job is hell on my body and my boss is extremely ableist and claims she's worked with autistic kids (keynote, KIDS, at a daycare center that didn't specialize with special needs kids) and ergo every issue I have is me 'imagining' it, or 'exaggerating' and she frequently makes comments about "adding that to your long list of issues" because God forbid that any condition, no matter how 'mild' a disability seems, actually is disabling and not some quirky, slightly inconvenient thing.
I fully informed her that I am not able to go to the hospital (working class, we can't even afford to drive down to the beach for a weekend to put our finances into perspective) and she sTILL INSISTS on me going to get stuff checked out "If its really as bad as you're saying." Of course someone who regularly flies down to Florida, goes to see operas and ballets (Genuinely something she does, she's rich) would say that. I bring up the issue that I don't even get paid a living wage ($100 every two weeks, not counting the insanely inconsistent tip money I get at the end of the night, which often than not is between $7 and $10) and she insists on me working more days, even though day 2 out of 3 working, my back is *busted.*
I've also pulled so many back and neck muscles with this job that it sent me to the ER because I was having stroke-like symptoms (whole side of my face went numb) and instead of acknowledging that heyy, my disability is a major factor in addition to the work being overwhelmingly physical, that, "Oh you just overdid yourself" and told me to my face that she "knew" I was just having an anxiety attack and that's why my face went numb.
I also have issues with my reproductive organs (not yet diagnosed, my first and only trip to a gyno was traumatizing despite my files and I informing them that I was a survivor of assault) and she also piles this into the "WOW you can't have ALL these issues" and it makes me want to curb-stomp her into the concrete, and she insists that "its impossible to overdose on tylenol" when I told her I already took the max limit for my last time of the month and my intense cramping did NOT let up.
its impossible for me to find work since I can't even drive. I try places like indeed to find work before I gotten this job, and the only other job I can feasibly get is not only a really exhausting full time one I've had before, but the reason why I quit in the first place is still very much a present issue over there. It just feels hopeless. I know that in the future I'm going to be homeless because there's no way I can keep up with anything, and if homelessness won't kill me, my body going 'screw you' and being in a country with one of the worst health care systems ever will.
most people are like that. everytime i tell someone that i'm autistic, i get the same reaction "you don't seem like it" or "i'd never guessed". it's something you ignore after a certain time and i'm getting by in my day-to-day life, but it still sucks. health care isn't the easiest thing in germany, but it's better than what i've heard about the US. i should stop it there and not start ranting about how the privatisation of hospitals has made things worse for everyone. because i just was reminded what a shithole this world is and how much worse most people have it. it's one thing to know it on a large scale and a different one to read stories like yours. thank you for sharing. may you always find shelter in a storm and water in the desert. may the ground rise to meet your step and may the stars protect you. i wish you all the good in the world. don't lose hope now, for every day might see your fate change for the better. and when the last visitor comes greet them with a smile.
Look at the friggin title and the rest of the channel before complaining
@@hollowwoods7130Bro, what?? This is a channel often centered around disabilities. This is completely on par.
To OP, I’m sorry you’re having to deal with this. I’ve been there. I hope things get better for you soon.
@@hollowwoods7130 If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all
@@hollowwoods7130 What??? That was so rude. What are you talking about??
I used to like the film because I like spy movies but as I got older I started to realise how yikes it actually was.
One of the parts of growing up is realizing that your favorite childhood movie or TV show wasn't that good. Unfortunately the internet hasn't listened to this.
yet another good example of why your channel is important. one might look at the title of this video and in a knee-jerk reaction think it ridiculous, its cars its fundamentally ridiculous, but if one gives what you're saying a shot.. holy shit you're right, the cars sequel really had a secret crime syndicate of disabled vehicles including the good ol trope of ignoring every good point the villain has because god forbid a kids movie have moral ambiguity.
I said it before in a previous comment but im glad you arent scared to call disabled characters disabled, its a level of honesty people really need. its too easy to get swept up in a fantasy setting and forget that just because a character doesnt display trope-y disability doesnt mean they cant be called disabled. like of course a living car so rusted that its falling apart is disabled it makes so much sense once its pointed out
Congratulations, you've given Schaff ANOTHER reason to have this as his most hated Pixar movie
is it me or does the axel villain look and sound like a car version of elon musk, like I can't be the only one seeing this right
oh yeah no literally there's a bullet point in my notes that says "Axlerod is giving major Elon Musk vibes. Truly rancid."
@@Oakwyrmget a real job, calling out kids movies for having fucking rusty cars doesn't count. Do you feel like you've contributed to society? Do you feel like your support of fucking children getting life changing cross sex surgery, but not supporting children being able to drink, get tattoos and get a driving licence, is a bit inconsistent?
Can u do nimona since its the best animated movie so far this year and deals with incredibly heavy topics, plus you know queer men, and the fact nimona shapeshifting is an allegory for genderfluid, oh! And one of the good guys is missing an arm, that isn't "fixed" by the end, and has a scar on his face.
I believe the creator of the graphic novel confirmed that Nimona is genderfluid, although this was some time before the movie released, but it would presumably be the same for the movie as well.
@@StormgemThunder omg! That makes this so much better because he is canonically gender fluid. I just thought that was a head cannon for her character, that the film hinted at
@@khanolval9848Nope! It's canon! Also, Nimona is based on ND Stevenson's journey figuring out his gender through Nimona. ND Stevenson is a Trans Masculine Non-binary creator. So yes, definitely a Trans allegory! Nimona even has the Trans flag above her in one shot as she talks about her experience shape-shifting. But yes, Nimona is intentionally written as a Trans character!
@@arabellasterwerf7980all of this is really cool to know
@@khanolval9848 Agreed!!
“It’s just a kids movie” it’s the most annoying thing to hear. It completely justifies the ignorance some people have when putting messages in media and also means that media for family or a younger demographic isn’t taken seriously, even with heavy themes, because it’s “just for kids”
Ohhhh, I totally get why trans people can feature in films but rusty cars can't. Thanks for clearing that up for me 👏
@@InferiorRaven77 I don’t fully understand your comment could you elaborate?
2:52 I believe a big criticism of this could be changed by viewing it as more of an “anti aging cream” rather than acne or something. It still applies for the predatory effect, but it does change the context
As someone who grew up with a grandma on QVC and got all kinds of weird “medical” magazines? Rust-eze is more of a commentary on that.
They have a big star who was probably never sick, or had wrinkles, show how good they look now that they use this. And a certain part of America falls for it hook line and sinker.
Selling snake oil is such a common market, most people don’t bat an eye at it. As long as it’s not hurting anyone in any place other than they’re wallet.
I saw Cars as a kid and… yeah. Recognized these guys right away. Lol. I see them less now, but they’re still everywhere.
I think the scene was trying to set up the class commentary, and in these communities? A snake oil spokesperson is probably the best place to start if you want to show that disconnect.
I definitely don’t agree with the practice, but I’m also not surprised the Rust-eze guys are the type you’d go out on the back porch and have a beer with. Maybe even say “oh you got me good you no good cheater! Pass the beer” it’s a weird culture. I don’t pretend to understand it all the time.
No one actually cares about your life story.
As a kid I never remembered the plot and erased the movie from my memory
Literally same.
Yeah so we can all agree this RUclips video I'd shit, right?
Hello, Oakwyrm! I came to your channel because of tma videos but stayed for disability reviews. There are no people in my life who are disabled, so it wasn't a thing that I really thought about. But your videos about disability tropes really helped me to see another point of view, get rid of stereotypes that I had and be more mindful about things that I say. Thank you so much for your work!
There are probably are disabled people in your life it just depends on how it's defined- many people just think physical disabilities & some intellectual/ developmental disabilities but it also includes learning disabilities, chronic illnesses or medical conditions like diabetes, migraines etc.
This now provokes a thought about Mator being a child and seeing other cars regularly make fun of dysfunctional cars and openly use slurs as "normal" or "just a joke" and it... breaks my heart.
I remember one of the scenes where one of the cars leaked, and, yeah, the joke was that it pissed itself. It's not even a bit funny when you think it at the light of disabled person being mocked for not having control over their body functions.
You really convinced by this shit?
I have always considered rusting as the Cars universe equivalent for leprosy. If that is a case with the Cars movies, the context and the jokes of the scenes featuring rusting cars are much worse. At least Aardman Animation acknowledged the problematic aspect with the leprosy joke in the trailer for The Pirates! and rewrote the joke for the finished movie.
This video had me wondering if their universe has beauty salons with those rust removal lasers that actually *do* produce the instant gratification implied in the Rust-Eze commercial.
If there was a cure for most disabilities, you think people wouldn't want it. Like why the fuck is this ableist and why the fuck are we inventing words like ableist. I think people need to learn what grass is not what funking "atrocities" the car movie encourages. Like actually grow tge fuck up.
Mater was so fucking annoying in this movie, i find it hard to believe that they expected us to empathize with him. throughout the entire movie, he kept messing things up, almost on purpose, and being rude or obnoxious. that sequence where he is tied to that bell tower thing and starts agonizing about how stupid he is legit made me laugh, i dont know how that was supposed to be an emotional revelation where we feel bad for him. Lightning was justified in getting annoyed with Mater, and Mater needed some real character development.
also, i know you mostly talk about movies and shows but I'd love it if you could do a video on the Six of Crows duology. the protagonist is disabled, multiple characters are heavily implied to be neurodivergent (Wylan is dyslexic and Jesper is ADHD-coded), and three of the characters are queer as well. i personally found all the characters to be realistic, well-rounded and capable in their own ways, so I'd love to hear your thoughts on it!
cool. anyways, i have a mater pillow.
@@lemonballs mater body pillow?
To be fair, the only time Mater screwed up big time was when he chose to use the fountain on stage to rinse his mouth. The rest was sort of understandable due to the facts that he had never been outside Radiator Springs before, and that Finn and Holley believed he was a spy even though he said multiple times that he was just a tow truck. Additionally, if Holley hadn't contacted Mater during the race in Japan, Mater wouldn't have been confused and wouldn't have said all that stuff while McQueen was racing.
I think the point of Mater's character in the movie is that despite his flaws, he still had his wits that could help others, which was what Finn meant when he said "Spy or not, you're still the most clever and honest chap we ever met." In fact, if it weren't for Mater's mechanical expertise, Finn and Holley wouldn't have had a lead in the mission.
Lastly, a majority of this movie happened all because Redline (the real American Spy) passed key information to Mater, who had no idea what was going on in the bathroom.
Even as a child this movie made me so uncomfortable.
I saw it once as an adult to see if it was really as bad as I remembered. It was even worse. The "lemons" are both rich and powerful *and* too weak and poor to effectively fight their marginalisation. Total conspiracy thinking
It's always wild when someone just describes the plot of cars 2. Jack Saint did a fantastic video on Cars 2 as well, about an hour of tackling it from every angle you can, bringing up a lot of good points most people usually don't when discussing Cars 2.
OMFG GO OUTSIDE ONCE IN A WHILE
@@InferiorRaven77, chill out.
You probably won’t see this… but would you want to talk about disability rep in My Little Pony? They do it really well with some characters, but I think with other characters it could have been done better. Some of the first ones that come to my mind:
1. There is a character named Kerfuffle from one of the specials that has a prosthetic leg(or pegged leg, I can’t remember) and her disability is never addressed or brought to your attention. The main characters interact with her throughout the special, and he just exists as a disabled person without her disability even being mentioned.
2. There’s a background character in one of the episodes that briefly interacts with the main cast, and he uses a wheelchair. Again, it’s not addressed or mentioned at all, and the characters just respect him as they would anyone else.
3. One of the main characters(not the main six characters, but an “adopted” sister of one of those six) named Scootaloo is a pegasus who can’t fly due to her underdeveloped wings. Since she is young, she thinks she’s a late bloomer and works hard to try to learn. Throughout the series, she realizes that she never will be able to fly(meaning that she won’t be able to control the weather like the rest of the pegasi, and she can’t access the city of the pegasi-located in the clouds-without being carried by another pegasus or taking some other form of accessible aerial transport there). She accepts this about herself after feeling insecure about it for a long time due to other people teasing her about it. In the last episode, we see how she looks as an adult; wings are still tiny and underdeveloped, and she still can’t fly. She was never “fixed” and I think that’s such a good thing for representation.
4. This is the one that I think could be handled a lot better, but I want to hear your perspective as a physically disabled person(I’m an able-bodied person). In the My Little Pony Movie, the main antagonist (named Tempest Shadow) is a unicorn whose horn was cut off in an encounter with a monster… and that’s the basis of her villain origin story. She tries to make a deal so her horn can be healed, but she fails, and at the end of the movie, she doesn’t end up being healed and learns to accept her disability. I don’t really know what to think about this one.
I think there are some other examples of representation in this show, but these are the first ones I could think of. There is also a lot of unconfirmed mental disability representation as well as physical disability representation(for example, there are quite a few probably autistic characters in different places on the spectrum, many of which are in the main character group, and there’s a character that seems to have Down syndrome), but that list could go on for a long while. These are the first examples of physical disability rep that I could think of
It felt weird watching the bad guys be often old cars, my family has always driven a very old car and we love it and care for it even when it costs a lot to keep it running. Because of it's age no new parts are being made. And all the other points in this video
As a mechanical engineer, I can see where you're coming from. We're dealing with a world of sapient machines that can have parts replaced at will - McQueen himself had his painted-on headlights (like real-life NASCAR cars) replaced with real ones. By all logic, it should be possible to engineer replacement parts which don't have the crippling design flaws that these cars are living with, and actually produce them for all the cars who'd need them.
Hell, Mater exhibited mechanical knowledge of his own - if he were so inclined, he could make a healthy living helping "dysfunctional cars" as you call them live normal lives instead of profiting off of them trying and failing to do so.
No
Yesss! Oakwyrm posted! I love your videos
@Oakwyrm actually love your videos and I’m some one who deals with autism just like you do and I love the cool community you were able to set up.
I feel like a better movie would've examined the lemons motivation and place in soceity, making Mater question his actions and the spy organization in general, given his wealth of experience with rusty cars. That could make for some cool conflict with the spy cars, who may or may not have troubles with killing many cars.
Making Miles Axelrod a rich guy exploiting lemons on a false idea of reclaimation, when he really only cares about his oil business, could be cool. Making the underlings sympathetic could make for some good drama. Especially with the actual murder the spies comit.
im not like mocking this video, but "Ableism in Cars 2" is a wild video title to stumble across
Not related to the point of ableism. I thought it was neat that Fillmore recognised the fake alternative fuel for what it was and enlisted help from Sarge to replace it with actual alternative fuel.
Rust- eaz is a medicated bumper cream.... It's hemroid cream . For the elderly. That's why they are falling apart , they are old. Presumably old rednecks
McQueen is mentioned a number of times in the 1st movie to not have actual headlights. They are stickers and his lack of night time vision dose cause problems afew times.
So I think it's supposed to show him being arrogant and ungrateful because he's embarrassed about being in commercials about butt cream rather than being grateful they decide to back a racer with bad eyesight.
I never really thought about the disability in cars 2. I got distracted by the spy stuff
I honestly don't even see anyone using the "It's just a kids movie" argument here. This is one of those few times where it is pretty universally understood that a movie is hot garbage. Most people just choose to ignore its existence, and that includes the writers of the third film.
There are three such main level comments here thus far, all of which have become threads. I would bet real [RUclips forbidden word] that there will be more.
Almost every movie / series analysis that Oakwyrm has made since he gained about 20k subs has had at least one comment to the tune of "OMG, it's not that deep!" and/or "It's. For. Kids. Get a life!" and/or "What are you smoking?!" And those are the politer wordings.
Some people can be pretty inane.
(edited after I checked how many there are 2023-0715 11:30 EEDT)
Thank you for putting subtitles on your videos. This makes it more accessible for me (who has troubles sometimes lining up the audio to actual thoughts) and my girlfriend who is deaf. I really appreciate it.
I relate to your point about injury due to someone else's carelessness presented as comedy. From my experience, a lot of kids just kind of accept that kind of thing as 'humor' because of how normalized it is, but over time, the bad taste left by those kinds of 'gags' starts setting in.
Some info on Otis for non Americans- Otis in CARS 2 is a reference to Otis Campbell the town drunk a recurring character from The Andy Griffith Show the running joke being After a binge, Otis will usually lock himself in the town jail until he is sober
Another example of a story where the villain has a point but the creators couldnt work in the right nuances so woops lets just make them do something irredeemably evil like blow others up.
OMFG GROW UP YOU LITTLE NONCE
This had to be said so badly and I am so glad you said it! Every point was spot on. Especially with how difficult it is to get work at the end. I'm physically disabled, and often use a wheelchair. And despite "non discrimination laws" I am discriminated because the laws really don't do anything unless they just come out in a public statement saying "we refuse to hire a person that uses a wheelchair". And because I COULD work one of these jobs if they would hire me, I'm not disabled enough to get benefits. It is eugenics in work today.
I just finished nimona and let me tell you I SOBBED
I think you'd have a field day making a video about this gorgeous movie, with the queerness(bez telling nimona to just be a girl and nimona insisting that she's just nimona SCREAMS trans)and what felt to me like nimona being super autistic (shape shifting can be interpreted as stimming 100%) and bez trying to get her to mask. also nobody really caring about Bez losing an arm apart from jokes felt weird.
anywho I could probably make my own video about it but I'd love to see your views on it
The fact cars/planes can get upgrades but lemons can’t for some reason? And they stop manufacturing parts just because
I can certainly sympathize with the "lemons" of Cars 2 and the discrimination/mistreatment they face, but I do believe that the villains did need to be stopped. The many problems the lemons face are used by the villains not as problems that need to be reversed/solved but as justification for their actions. None of the plans that are implemented make life any better for "lemons" around the world, they just make them very wealthy. I find a parallel between the plot of Cars 2 and the real life stories of the American mafia; immigrants coming to the U.S., be they Irish, Jewish, or Italian would face discrimination by the "natives" and be forced to live in substandard housing and recieve substandard services. This led to the rise in mafia families in New York and accross the country, leading to a few of these immigrant families becoming very wealthy, but rarely did they use their influence to make life better for other immigrant families, rather consolidating power for themselves. The mistreatment for the mafia isn't something to be stopped, but a justification for their actions.
Cars is possibly the most bizarre series of films I've ever seen in my life and I love analysing it for some reason.
when i watched cars 2 for the first time as a 9 year old the message that the movie seemed to be giving gave me a bad feeling in my stomach. i was just like, they can’t possibly be saying that the “lemon” cars are in the wrong for not wanting to be treated like shit, right?
No wonder why this sequel gets so many hate, even from the fans and non-fans of Cars too. Its ableist!
Oh no it's ableist. We should ban it right away. Guys guys ban it. Bro if your pro abortion you can't fucking call out kids movies for having rusty cars, it doesn't work like that. In fact if your pro abortion you should be pro murder too otherwise you're a hippocrit prove me wrong. It's a bit ageist of you if you support killing babies but not children.
Man, I am so glad that out of all the movies from my childhood, this was the one I remember next to nothing about. Literally, what were they thinking with this movie.
I use a cane and, with the news about increasing pain from peripheral neuropathy, I'm considering getting a wheelchair to assist with my day to day life. I'm only 24 and I actually look far younger, as such I tend to get unpleasant stares and rude comments about using a cane."freeloader", "leech" and "parasite" are thrown around a lot because I receive disability income... seeing this movie, not just as a travesty of filmmaking but as a very malicious allegory makes me inclined to rethink my views on the world and gives me genuine fear about the notion of using a wheelchair.
I feel like it'd be super easy to fix this movie, or at least fix it a little- by having mater at the end say something like "yknow, axelrod and his posse mayve been bad apples....but seein the way they all had to struggle made me think." Push for green fuel, Otis gets the aid he actually needs with no shame, etc. It definitely wouldn't be perfect but it'd at least be SOMETHING
I wish I could watch this video on how one of the worst pixar movies (never seen it, but the internet keeps saying it, so it must be true-) is ableist.
But it's literally 12 am.
Tag. It's no longer midnight.
@@normanclatcher obviously..?-
@@criidawgI'm not sure if you get these videos or not, but have you seen these clickbait videos where it says "THIS IS THE DEATH OF PIXAR" because Elemental didn't do well on its opening weekend or because they hated teenage girls or because that one Buzz Lightyear movie was bad. Like people need to realize that Pixar has always had bad or weaker movies (eg A Bug's Life, cars franchise, those sequel movies in the 2010s.) Plus people have been saying that Pixar was declining in the 2010s as well. I feel like people over exaggerate stuff on the internet.
The beginning scene would have been a good scene if it had been there to show that mator is a jack@$$ in need of character growth. Imagine if the point of the broken down cars as "villians" was that mator eventually realizes that he's part of the problem and should be treating them better. It would lead great into cars 3 where lightning mcqueen gets injured and is scared he won't be able to work anymore
My dyslexia went crazy and i thought i was clicking on a video essay about how cars2 is aetheist
I watched this thing with it in the background so I completely missed the fact they were disabled and it was fine. It works just as well, they could’ve kept the same plot removing the disabled part and it would’ve been fine.
It was interesting watching this vid because I always thought the allegory was an age one when I was younger, which was set when I learnt what a lemon party was not long after watching the second movie...
but watching this video, to me, showed how much overlap there is between ageism (specific to older people) and Ableism, aside from the obvious fact that many older people are disabled (ether because they were before aging and/or before being born, or because as all their body parts are aging they develop disabilities).
I love how that one car said Mater is the only one to treat them with any respect and then he just…exclusively calls them slurs throughout the movie.
tbf he's voiced by larry the cable guy
We calling l*mon a slur now. I get it I don't like them fruity trannies either but how am I supposed to ask for l*mon in my drink now. What a fucking tragedy.
Heres what I think they originally had in mind
Cars 2 is meant to be about lightning accepting Mater for who he is, because hes different from most people. Now what I think they had in mind was to draw a comparison between Mater and the villains. Theyre both outcasts of society, theyre not "normal" in their own ways.
I think thats what they were originally planning and thinking about when making movie, of course they failed miserably in every aspect of all of this and it still has disturbing subtext as a result of this failure, but I dont think they originally intended to be ableist.
I think they just wanted to show the villains and Mater arent tok different, and what seperates them is how they deal with their differences.
Ithink that was their original intentions, but it was lost due to how little effort they put into thinking it through.
I've always loved mater in Cars 2 as a disability metaphor, but honestly with the "Lemons" and stuff it's pretty ableist looking back on it
That shows that this could obviously be a lot worse. It could have gone with Mater being like "I used to be proud of my rust and dents, but now that I know how others with similar issues went, I think I ought to have it removed."
Yea... Holy shit. I never knew I needed a take on disability in the cars movies but- damn am I glad there is one. Thank you for your works
The only part that freaked me out as a kid from this movie was the cars that got fucking exploded. That was the reason the disabled cars were the bad guys to me, not any of the rest of the reasons the movie wanted us to be upset with them lol. Only the murder part. That said, I haven’t seen this movie since that first watch. It’s super weird that cars 2 is a spy movie and then cars 3 just goes right back to being a racing film more or less, and cars 4 being a retirement film is super odd to me as well.
This video is an absolute GEM. Cars 2 is a bit of a formative movie for me(never liked the first one but the amount of Real Actual Threat of (car)Death made this stick in my brain) and despite my love of the spy insanity I LOATHE the way the villains were written and their motivation. It’s crazy to me that I have to warn people about the massive ableist vein running through a movie about tow mater becoming a spy and nearly dying. Jack Saint covered this movie in a video as well- but I think your summation of the proceedings and problems and your disabled perspective make the reasons Why it sucks stick out so much better.
3:30 I think it was more likely meant to be something to help with hemeroids and considering old cars are ususally rusty, it makes sense.
cars 2 is just robots if we weren’t on the side of rodney and big weld
oh man
I always equated the rusteez thing to hemorrhoid cream or foot fungus ointment. Even with that logic that'd mean the cars are covered head to toe in sores like a leper. Thats unnerving and equating to seriously ill people coming to a Neosporin event thinking that it will cure their leprosy.
If I had a nickel for every time someone talks about the ableism in cars 2, I'd have 2 nickels.
It isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice.
not weird because writers either messed up big time or they thought what they wrote was reasonable
who else talked about it?
@@bluemoth6983 Jack Saint has been mentioned a few times in other comments. Apparently, the title of that video was something like, "Oops, did Cars 2 do an eugenics?"
Three times actually, because Tony Goldmark talked about it a little in his “One Movie Later” vlog on “Cars 3”.
I was thinking about the slur thing, it could be in reference to how people use the r-word in everyday life. Which that does suck btw but, it's the sad reality
fuck i'm so sorry
Jeez, I didn't see it like that before at all because I saw it through the lense of an adult who sees the car as a tool. But holy moly once you mentioned "in this movie they are sentient" I cringed at everything that happened in the movie. Can probably never watch that again
I think Lemon, in the Cars universe, is similar to the R slur, where people aren’t educated on the fact that is IS an ableist slur for so long that people in the community it’s meant to be against use it for people including those in their own community so the people that DO know it’s an ableist slur have to fight against a MASSIVE majority of people, including people in their own community because the slur has been so normalized.
I am honestly curious how in the world it went from an ableist slur to a normal insult. At least from what I have personally seen it used as(along with others) is that it is used for other non-disabled people who act nonsensical and abnormal. "You aren't disabled, don't make people think you are!" And on the same page, I have seen the rule of "don't ever say these things to people who actually have the respective disability, just don't. It's offensive if you do".
'Idiot' was formerly a technical term in legal and psychiatric contexts for some kinds of profound intellectual disability where the mental age is two years or less, and the person cannot guard themself against common physical dangers. Not sure but ı belive Moron was used for the same purpose too.Wouldnt they be ableist slurs too?
@@Yusufqxq They can be ableist when used in some contexts (such as towards someone who is disabled), but they don't carry the same weight.
this is like the robot racism problem. its a metaphor collapsing in on its self because the writers didnt think that hard about it but the slur thing was definitely to far.
Honestly the lack of clarity when it comes to Cars' reproduction makes this all extra confusing, like, if they still have to be designed from scratch like irl, does that make everyone a "designer baby" who's genetics were picked on purpose instead of organically mixed? Do Car parents put in an order for their kid to be made, or are they mass produced and then "sold" (do car parent have to PAY to acquire a child?)? What would happen to baby cars that aren't sold? There's no irl equivalent to the mass production of children with genetic disabilities so how do we even deal with that??
Anyway, great analysis as always!
I've never looked at it that way, but honestly, I respect your insight. It makes sense. It isn't just mumbo jumbo to have something to complain about. I don't think I'll be able to see Cars 2 the same way ever again.
i rewatched cars 2 yesterday and on the surface its a cool movie imo (i have cars brainrot so bias ig) but yeah since im older now there where multiple times where i kid you not, i paused and just “😮👀💀 Bruh”. like 1 you straigh up see dead cars on screen which is just mind blowing to me and 2 i finally had realized how fucked up the whole lemons being villainized was. it was one of those moments where i go “how the fuck did this pass to be shown to a kids audience” and my entire childhood being obsessed with this movie was just tarnished.
Something I realized is Mater possibly neurodivergent? In the second cars he gets mocked for being different and socially awkward, as a autistic/ADHD person I can’t help but relate to that.
I loved the first Cars (probably because I live in New Mexico near Route 66 and I’m a NASCAR fan), but I can’t stand the second one because of it felt like some odd mater fanfic meant to sell toys, also the mocking of “lemons” just seems off
Additionally as an Italian-American I find it interesting that they name a character “Guido” (which is a Ethnic Slur towards Italian males), on the otherhand I’d take the Cars characters like Luigi and Guido (two devoted Italian immigrants) over another stereotypical mafia character (don’t get me started on how much I hate Sharktale (which is a bunch of racial stereotypes put on fish and somehow a kids movie)