Ka-chow!

Growing up, my idol was Superman. He was the ultimate Hero according to me! How couldn’t he be? He can fly, x-ray vision, laser from his eye, unimaginable strength, stop bullets and missiles…I mean he is flawless.

I notice that kids nowadays follow different kind of heroes. Spider-man, batman and superman are still pretty popular but there is a whole set of heroes that are just like regular people. To name a few, Lightning McQueen, Diego from Go Diego Go, Dora the explorer, Kung Fu Panda…

I am going to focus on Lightning McQueen here. Well, he is the one I know most about but above all reasons I am truly amazed how these two little kids I know, adore McQueen! The first time I watched the movie Cars, I fell asleep on the couch and instead of blaming my habit of falling asleep on the couch, I blamed it on the movie and critiqued it as a boring movie by Pixar. My wife fell asleep as well so I was pretty darn sure that it was because the movie was boring.

Couple years or so later, I come in close contact with McQueen and it has made me come to the conclusion that it was my habit of falling asleep on the couch and not the movie Cars. Ok, before I am critiqued as crazy let me elaborate. Two boys, a 3ish yr old and a 1.5ish yr old gave me an entirely different perspective about McQueen and his friends. To them he is the true hero. And I keep thinking how a talking car could take such a prime spot on a kid’s mind? A place I thought was for superman! Now…the entertainment world, media world and every kid’s shoes and clothes factory in china has ensured McQueen’s popularity. However, I give credit to the kids of this generation to pick a regular dude who was an arrogant jerk but realized what he was and “fixed” his attitude. By doing so, McQueen has gone on to replace the much sort after place in a kid’s heart and mind. Kids probably relate to him more than they do with superman.

So McQueen thought he was unbeatable; nothing would ever happen to him. In fact he doesn’t even “wear” headlights. He says race cars don’t need headlights because the tracks are always lit. Much like how a lot of people felt prior to the financial meltdown! :) McQueen didn’t believe in team work. He felt he was so good and didn’t need anybody. If my memory serves right, McQueen fired 3 crew chiefs. However, all that changes when he is stuck in this supposedly godforsaken town radiator springs! Without going into too much details, McQueen comes out a changed person, uh, car from this experience.

The final race is really cool! The creators of the movie get so much done in that race. McQueen realizes how beatable he is. He realizes that he does need a team. Guido’s fastest pit stop is one of my favorite scenes in the movie. McQueen realizes it is not always about winning the race. !!!SPOILER ALERT!!! By pushing Mr. The King across the line McQueen drove the point to the kids that you can be a winner without finishing first. We live in a competitive and cynical world. We doubt our own abilities everyday. We doubt others abilities even more. As a kid, I could never imagine superman coming third in a race. Impossible! But the two boys I know and all the McQueen fans out there love McQueen and relate to him because he is just like every body else. He wants to win, needs help to win and sometimes feels good about something in spite of not winning.

I encourage anyone who hasn’t watched the movie to rent it tonight and watch it. And in some cases I might be able arrange a viewing of cars with one of biggest McQueen fans.

With that said…I am going to leave you with some quotes from the movie.

“Well, you know, race cars don't need headlights, because the track is always lit.”

“Ah. This grumpy old race car I know once told me something: it's just an empty cup.”

“Float like a Cadillac, sting like a Beemer.” I am going to give McQueen a pass for "re-wording" Ali’s line!

“Luigi follow only the Ferraris.”