Movie Rental Review: UP

My family likes to have heated debates around the dinner table.  One subject that often comes up is, “Which is the best Pixar film?”  We spend a fair amount of time debating this topic because choosing a favorite Pixar film is more difficult than picking a favorite Shakespeare play or episode of The Simpsons (because as brilliant as those writers are, they have come up with some duds in their time).  After watching UP, I think we have a new contender for Best (Animated) Movie Ever.  Warning: Spoilers follow in the trailer and in the rest of the review.

The Feminist in Me Says… Upon meeting the exotic bird for the first time, Russell takes a liking to it and names it “Kevin,” but is then surprised to learn that Kevin is a female bird.  He continues to call the bird “Kevin.”  Clearly, Russell is the product of a sexist society in which male is designated as the “norm” and female is designated as “other,” and he can only relate to Kevin’s experience by continuing to call her by a male name.  And Kevin the female bird has only one role in the story: to be victimized by men and rescued by other men, having no agency of her own.

Just kidding.

On a more serious note, some people I talked to were bothered by the scene where Carl finally reads through the rest of Ellie’s scrapbook.  As a young girl, Ellie saved the last few pages of her scrapbook for pictures of all the adventures she wanted to have as an adult.  After she passes, Carl looks at the back of the scrapbook and discovers that Ellie collected pictures of their life together.  She writes to him, “Thanks for the adventure.  Now go have a new one.”  Even though Ellie and Carl never made it to Paradise Falls, she considered her life with him to be an adventure.  I suppose this could be interpreted as anti-feminist since Ellie never had a “real” adventure, but that interpretation seems to entirely miss the point of the story: sometimes life doesn’t work out exactly the way we planned it, but can be just as wonderful when we spend it with someone we love.  After all, from the lovely, understated opening sequence, we can tell that Carl is perfectly happy and content with his life with Ellie – his desire to take her to Paradise Falls seems more motivated by his need to give her what she wants.  At the end, he finds confirmation that she was just as happy with him as he with her, that she died with no regrets.  It’s a beautiful, grown-up story.

If there’s anything in the movie that bugs me as a feminist, and that just plain confuses me, it’s the scene near the end where Russell receives his newest badge at the Wilderness Explorer ceremony.  I’m not made of stone – I was very moved when Carl showed up to be Russell’s de facto father figure.  I, unlike others I have spoken to, did not take this as a sign that Russell’s mother was neglectful or that his mother’s presence in his life meant nothing to him (yes, I have seen that interpretation, believe it or not).  No, what bothers me is that the Wilderness Explorers seems to be a very sexist organization.  Only the boys’ fathers can stand up with their sons at their badge ceremonies, apparently.  Do the Wilderness Explorers make announcements at the beginning of their badge ceremonies?  “Fathers onstage with their sons; siblings, pets, and parents with vaginas must wait in the audience.”  Why couldn’t Russell’s mother have stood with him onstage, while Carl waited in the audience to cheer him on?  He could have given Russell the Ellie pin once the ceremony was over.  The scene would’ve had the same meaning, without giving the impression that the Wilderness Explorers specialize in creating very uncomfortable situations.  “Oh…Russell…we’d like to give you this pin except you have no dad here…so, no loving paternal figure showed up for you?  Boy, this is awkward.”  What do they do with the kids whose fathers have died?  The Wilderness Explorers: The Fatherless Need Not Apply.

The Comedian in Me Says… There is plenty of humor in this movie, though it takes a backseat to the thoughtful character development and organic storytelling.  The funniest character by far is Dug, but I love all of the talking dogs.  Talking dogs that are obsessed with food, squirrels, and approval from humans will never not be funny.  Giving the evil, menacing, Doberman Alpha dog a Chipmunk-like voice is just the icing on the hilarious cake.

The Funny Feminist Decides… Could the same story have been told with an elderly female character who travels to fulfill her late husband’s wishes, and is befriended by an overeager Girl Scout?  Sure.  However, the writers’ choice to tell a story about an elderly man befriending a young boy does not make the film anti-feminist.  It’s not feminist, either – but it is a wonderful, wonderful movie, and the fact that it doesn’t tell a story about a relationship between a woman and a girl does not detract from its quality.  Still, I wouldn’t mind if Pixar made a movie with a female protagonist at some point in the future.  The female perspective is really lacking in SQUIRREL!