Cars 3 Trailer
I've been binge-watching the whole Cars series, including Planes (of course). This particular movie is speaking to me right now. I think it speaks to the life seasons and changes it's intended to, but during the pandemic it's especially poignant.
If you don't want spoilers, stop right here.
I'm on furlough, like so many. Actually, I'm luckier than many, since I'm on furlough rather than laid off! However, furlough is feeling a lot like other forms of unemployment to me right now, and that puts a whole other spin on this movie.
At the start, Lightning McQueen is the perennial winner and his long-term competitors have fun relationships with him that they all seem to really enjoy.
Enter Jackson Storm. He's a rookie and portrayed as young and arrogant, but with patterns of behavior that schmooz the press and others. Lightning starts to feel insecure, and he starts losing. Not only does this next-gen car beat him on the track, but it gets into his head and he starts seeing age as a disease.
Enter depression and spending days watching depressing footage in primer. This sounds suspiciously like obsessing over climbing pandemic rates and living in pajamas to me. At this point I'm totally relating to the movie, and it's only just beginning.
Lightning decides to fight back and win again. He gets a new sponsor who seems completely fanatical about Lightning in general, and supports the things Lightning wants. He gets a trainer, Cruz. She also is repetitively reminding him of his age, and he feels she is holding him back. He misses Doc Hudson, who trained him before, and wants to relive those days and come out on top again.
After learning that his new sponsor has "legacy" plans for him selling himself as a brand, he talks him into one last chance, but has to come in first to continue racing. Otherwise, he starts selling mud flaps.
During this time, checking in on LinkedIn, which is the ultimate social media for showing only the best of things, it's easy to feel underqualified as you sit on the couch, Even when the government is requiring people to stay home to stop the spread of COVID-19, I feel like I should be doing something more productive. The isolation is difficult in ways we never imagined. Things like being able to go grocery shopping and have everything in stock, or getting a hair cut, are no longer acceptable expectations. It really impacts the emotions of being still. And while there is nothing wrong with selling mud flaps, it's not my dream, nor Lightning's.
The bulk of the movie is spent with the outdoor training Lightning decides to take. It feels like a dreamy version of soul-searching to me, and it's definitely an uplifting part of the movie. I highly recommend it to all ages. My daughter has not watched it with me. It was a pandemic present I bought myself.
During the unusual training, Lightning decides to take on, we get to know Cruz before, who has never trained a car outside. Interesting, since the tracks are outside, but also understandable because of the technology that is winning so many races. We learn that she dreamed of being a racer all her life, and that she was discouraged from chasing that dream. The sponsor has assigned her as Lightning's chaperone on this adventure, so he gets quickly frustrated with her, even while he feels protective of her. She's a charming character, and adds great humor to the movie.
The best part begins when Lightning finds Doc Hudson's old teacher, bringing Cruz with him. They meet several racing legends, including the first female racer, who stole her first number to race. You can see Cruz catching the idea that females have just as much right to grasp things as males. Very few females have no experience with this old-fashioned idea resurfacing. They all consistently remind Lightning that he's old and slow, etc. They don't stop encouraging him, tho. They show him how to make the most of it, and he learns things about Doc Hudson that he never knew, which is a balm for the heart and a reminder that we never know all of a person.
Cruz starts paying a lot of attention and having a blast training alongside Lightning. He starts gaining speed and is ready to win at the last possible moment before heading to the race. Cruz, getting into her role as his competitor, beats him in that final practice race, is lost in the moment celebrating before going quiet and apologizing. The goal had been to prepare Lightning. He starts the last chance race feeling very unsure of himself as a result.
There are so many fun pieces that I want you to see for the first time yourself, so please watch the movie. Furlough and unemployment are great times to check out things you normally don't make time for. I think this one is worth it.
Lightning goes to his race and he's doing it. Cruz is cheering him on and fighting the sponsor for the first time, wanting to encourage Lightning through this big race. He dismisses her. Lightning hears it, and finally finds what I think he was looking for the whole time. He coaches Cruz to the win. Together, they win. Not separately, but together. Now that, is cool. And he's happy.
I don't know what will follow the pandemic for individuals. Most of the time, changes our family hasn't wanted have ended up improving our overall enjoyment of life and fulfillment. It's a life change. Losing a job or a family member always is. I would argue that with or without those changes, we are all losing something through this pandemic. We are losing normalcy, or security, or both. With resilience, we'll come out ahead.
I'm in this with you all, and I get excited every time I hear employment is increasing, whether from manager friends increasing payroll, or furloughed friends being called back, or hearing that salons can open, etc. I believe there will be waves, and that things will close down and open back up more than once, but I believe things will get better. Optimism is about believing the future will be better. You don't have to ignore the things you wish were different now in order to be optimistic.
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