The Incredibles is one of Pixar’s greatest films. The fact that they’ve only now made a sequel to it 14 years later (and that it did so well at the box office) is proof that people have a deep and abiding love for this kids film about a family of animated superheroes. Maybe it’s how real the people and their problems feel. They struggle with meaningless jobs, keeping a family together, and finding their place in the world.
But the biggest struggle in the movie revolves around Mr. Incredible himself: it’s the problem of what to do when society forces him to hide who he is. His superpowers are an important part of who he is, much like the unique genius we each have inside of us as well. But what happens when we suppress what makes us incredible? This conflict is the heart of the movie, and Bob’s development through the story shows us how genius should be used correctly.
Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl- The Consequences of Hiding Your Genius
When we first meet Bob Parr/Mr. Incredible he is in the prime of his life. He catches criminals, saves lives, and helps old ladies with cats stuck in trees. He loves what he does, and although he is a little reckless and almost misses his own wedding, he is admired by everyone and does a lot of good in his city.
Flash forward fifteen years and all of that is gone. With new laws and the demands of society, Bob is working a soulless office job and hiding who he is. His powers – his genius for heroics – has been smothered for a long time. There is a painful irony to his insurance work: it’s not supposed to help people, and he has to hide the good he does there too. By doing all of this and forcing himself to fit the role society has made for him, Bob is constantly frustrated, humiliated, and miserable.
None of this ends when he returns home. His wife Helen, once the dynamic and flexible Elastigirl, is now a nagging and rigid mother. She has embraced the role of homemaker and finds great meaning in it, but is blind to her husband’s pain and demands conformity from their children. And the kids feel it. Violet is reclusive and frustrated by the impossible thing her mom is asking, saying, “We act normal, mom! I want to be normal!” Dash, held back in sports, feels the same way and acts out because of it.
Inside she is desperate to keep her family safe and together, but Helen is too focused on that to see how these expectations are harming all of them. So Dash pranks his teachers. Violet hides from others and is cripplingly shy. And Bob starts going behind her back to try and relive the glory days… putting him and his family in serious danger.
We cannot hide who we are from the world. We can’t suppress our genius without consequences. Inevitably it will cause us pain, which will spill out of ourselves in any number of destructive ways. Trying to hide your genius and smother the genius in others can only bring pain misery to everyone around you. Which is why Bob lies to Helen and hides what he is doing from her. He knows she won’t approve, but he can’t bear to live her way anymore. So he returns to superheroics.
Mr. Incredible and Syndrome- The Danger of Selfish Genius
But there is a problem with Bob’s new work… And it’s not just that it turns out he’s working for a supervillain. It’s that being Mr. Incredible has become a selfish use of his powers. Rewind for a moment and consider the “good old days” he is trying to return to, and how he thinks of them. When you really look it’s kind of unsettling.
On the way to his own wedding, he stops to fight crime. He basks in the praise of the cops and old woman he helps, but insists that “I’m only here to help.” Throughout the day he postpones the event and is almost late for it. He gets a thrill out of the secret relationship he has with Elastigirl. Immediately after saving a suicidal man he quips that the guy needs counseling. And finally, he has only disdain for his biggest fan and insists that he works alone. On their own, these are the cliches ordinary superhero movies make, but in The Incredibles these moments actually mean something: Mr. Incredible helps people because he loves the glory.
In fact, if he’s willing to be late to his own wedding and unwilling to even consider sharing the spotlight with a sidekick, he might even be addicted to it. And when those days are gone and past he keeps getting his high with weekly vigilantism, and a shrine to his old life back at home filled with pictures and clippings showing the glory he used to have. When he takes this mysterious new job it is this selfishness that drives him on, not the desire to use his powers for good.
In an ironic twist, Syndrome embodies this same selfishness, even though it is what drove him to become a bitter, angry supervillain. A literal genius, Syndrome used his intelligence to make and sell weapons to warring countries, heedless of the untold deaths he caused. He baits and murders numerous old superheroes to create a murderous robot and declares that only after he’s had his “fun” will he sell his inventions to the world so that “when everyone’s super no one will be.” His plan would turn him into the last living superhero, all at the low cost of countless lives. All for a simple reason: he wants the glory and fame Mr. Incredible had.
The selfishness of both Mr. Incredible and Syndrome and ultimately all types of selfishness comes from a deep brokenness that neither is willing to address. They both crave recognition, fame, glory, and the thrill of heroics, and fail to understand what truly matters in their lives. We see where using their genius and power for selfish reasons leads both of them. Mr. Incredible is tricked, hunted, captured, and led to believe that his whole family has been murdered. Only then, at his lowest point, does he realize how wrong he was to hide his problems and desires from his wife and kids. When he finally reunites with them, he admits the mistake to them and vows to be better:
“I’m sorry. I’ve been a lousy father, blind to what I have. So obsessed with being undervalued that I undervalued all of you. So caught up in the past that I… You are my greatest adventure, and I almost missed it.”
Syndrome never learns his lesson, and after losing control of his robot and having his assets seized by the government he tries to steal Jack-Jack, his enemy’s son, to pass his hate and greed on to him. His cape is what kills him in the end- a symbol for the massive ego he died for.
The Incredibles- The Power of Genius For Others
Since hiding genius and using it selfishly both create pain and suffering, there is only one way left: to use it to help others. Hiding genius comes from fear- the fear of being different, of being persecuted, and of yourself. Selfish genius comes from greed- the broken desires inside our hearts which need to be healed, not indulged. But using genius to help others is an idea built on love: love for ourselves, love for the people in our lives, and a deep love for life.
This is what the Parr family discovers when they finally come together and use their powers to protect each other and their city. Bob gives up his greed, Helen lets the family use their genius, Dash learns to accept some limitations and discipline, and Violet becomes more confident in herself. Not only do these things make them individually better, it brings them closer together than they ever were at the beginning. Working together as a team they defeat the robot and Syndrome, and finally find the peace, happiness, and potential they’d been looking for.
Using genius for the good of others is what we should strive to do in our own lives, and try to encourage in our children and students. Everyone has enormous potential for good, especially in their area of genius. There are so many outlets for it, too. Volunteering, public service, and entrepreneurship are big ways to help others, but every day of our lives is filled with small ones that are arguably more important. Whatever genius we have with people, ideas, or things can be used to do good in our everyday lives. If we can nurture that potential we will find life as a whole more meaningful.
In our hearts, we all want to be incredible heroes. If we use our genius to help others we can be.