lookin' for a way to get real gone

Watching Pixar’s Cars as an adult, over ten years after it came out, I find myself asking, “Is this really who I’m supposed to root for?” I had managed to convince myself that it has less to do with Lightning McQueen, and more to do with my love for a good underdog story. That it wasn’t distaste for the character, as much as it was distaste for the safe bet as a whole. Cars 3 almost proved this. I loved Cruz Ramirez, and was rooting for her from the moment she first appeared on screen, yet I loved Jackson Storm, the favorite, and projected winner, almost as much. So why was it that I found Lightning’s character dissatisfying? 

personally i found mcqueen to be the MOST satisfying character cause he was the most realistic - the others like jackson storm and cruz seem a bit too perfect.

everything just clicks together and works for them. they were the fastest racers all along and when cruz got the chance, she was able to just … race in one of the biggest racing events and win like no big deal. sure, she faced the pressure of her parents telling her to dream small but it still fell into place so perfectly for her. (can’t be a racer? becomes a trainer - trains famous racer - becomes a racer anyway- wins immediately).

but for lightning - things didn’t come so easy. his obsession with racing leads him to extremes. chasing after a single goal for so long. completely isolating himself from social circles. not even eating breakfast in the morning.

he was swept up by the limelight and the fame got to his head - like it would for any person in his situation. the film shows the process of him dealing with the crushing weight of his own ego - insulting his sponsors, firing his crew chiefs so many times, blowing out his tires cause he didn’t listen to his team, thinking he won but embarrassing himself when it was just a tie, etc.

yes, he requires OTHER people such as a love interest (sally) and famous ex racer (doc) in order to make him realise he shouldn’t be a jerk. you could say that makes him shallow - why doesn’t he just improve on his own? but i don’t think that would be a fair evaluation.

from what we can see, he is completely isolated most of his career (and life?). even when he gets the chance to create meaningful relationships, he still pushes people away. whether that’s a defence mechanism or simply ignorant of him is a different question.

but the point is - actually LISTENING to others and considering their feeling is a HUGE step for mcqueen. it takes a lot of effort and mindpower to unlearn selfishness. i don’t think his efforts should be diminished just because the change was ignited by other people and not himself.

yes, lightning has made heaps of mistakes- and continues to do so. but that’s exactly why i root for him. instead of being a character with stagnant growth who learns one life lesson and never makes a mistake again - mcqueen is constantly evolving over his life as new and confronting challenges are thrown his way.

in the second film, the corrupt gang members of rich oil companies were out to KILL him. and lightning took the risk of taking mater with him across the world. what did mater do? make every situation worse.

i would say it’s reasonable for lightning to be mad at him. i don’t think you can dismiss maters careless mistakes while only pointing out mcqueens. yes, it takes all of RS (mostly sally) to convince lightning to apologise but that’s more realistic - when you’re so caught up in the rush, sometimes you need the perspective of others to put you in place. i don’t think it diminishes his effort.

in cars 3, you could say that he still hasn’t grown. because he’s still a jerk - but i would say that it was necessary for him to have a dismissive attitude towards cruz in order to illustrate the extent of his frustration and the difficulty of his circumstance. things can’t be all flowers and rainbows all the time - especially with the magnitude of his situation. worst crash of the century and the months of hospital recovery with severe depression.

mcqueen wants to be taken seriously. he wants his racing ability to be taken seriously. he is absolutely terrified that the racing world will move and treat him like they treated doc.

yet all cruz does is poke fun at him, call him an old man, makes him race super slow and gives him junior level advice that is sometimes just weird.

so yes, he snaps.

was it fair for cruz? no. was it justified? no. but was it understandable- i would say, yes.

he snaps at her not because he hates her - but because he hates himself in that moment. it’s the pent up frustration at the demise of his career. and he knows this - because he apologises.

i, and many people - relate to mcqueen. his frustration, his pain, his loss, his mistakes, his growth. the way he constantly learns to be better and unlearns his flaws. he is realistic. and that’s what i love.

on a side note - (this is just a personal opinion - i know many people have disagreed with me about this in the past) - but i don’t mind that he initially dismissed cruz’s racing abilities, (of course he shouldn’t have been rude) - but he had no reason to acknowledge them. she is supposed to be helping HIM after a traumatic accident - one of the worst in racing history. not the other way around.

i feel like there is too much emphasis on what mcqueen is REQUIRED to do for her - when, quite frankly - he doesn’t owe her anything. that fact that he gave her the opportunity of a lifetime and allowed her to basically take over the end of his career is enough of a favour, if you ask me.

and the fact that the whole film was leading up to HIS final race when it suddenly became all about HER- (this random character that hadn’t been introduced before in the franchise) was kinda frustrating for me. i wanted to see the culmination of decades of passion and hard work for mcqueen but it was all replaced with someone else who was in the right place at the right time.

My friend @alolan-weavile just showed me this pic and my mind is COMPLETELY BLOWN because he pointed out that Chick’s tires don’t say Lightyear, they say CHICK HICKS. Even in his RSN intro when he says “I’m your former–and forever–Piston Cup Champion, Chick Hicks!” he pauses before his name to turn his tires out and ostentatiously show the audience that his own name is on his freakin’ shoes.

I’ve seen this movie?????? how many times???????? And never noticed????? Wtf. This is like the one thing 2020 has gifted me and it’s Chick Hicks’s shoes.

*Real Gone comes on shuffle*

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