Season 1, Episode 7: Cars

November 14, 2021

Cars is a movie about a race car named Lightning Mcqueen learning not to be egotistical and finding his family unit. During his trip to a racing championship called the Piston Cup, he accidentally destroys the roads of a small town called Radiator Springs. A judge named Doc Huson punishes Lightning Mcqueen by forcing him to fix up the road. Cars is not the worst movie because it is not as awful as Dear Evan Hansen or Maf's SuperMarioLogan Movie, but it is a bad movie.

There is more enjoyment in making fun of the illogic worldbuilding than watching the movie. The writers fail to establish how a society full of automobiles works. A population of cars could only last for one generation because they cannot reproduce. Cars do not have sperm or an egg. If there is no sperm, the zygote cannot combine both chromospheres to produce a baby. Asexual reproduction is not an option because cars do not have the DNA to duplicate and divide into two organisms. Unlike starfish, cars cannot regenerate and create a new body from a cut body part. There is no proof that machines build cars because there is no modern technology that can produce sentient creatures. The jury system is illogical because Lighting Mcqueen's trial should be dismissed. First, Mater cannot be a lawyer for Lighting Mcqueen because he does not have a law degree. Second, the jury has a bias against Lighting Mcqueen because he damages their property. Tractors are the automobile version of cows, but the idea makes no sense. Tractors do not have udders to produce milk, and they cannot be a meat source since tractors have the same parts as cars. Buildings and highroads should not exist because cars do not have any hands to do construction.

The characters are very unoriginal, and the two examples are Lighting Mcqueen and Doc Huson. Many movie protagonists have the same character arc as Lighting Mcqueen. Characters like Woody and Booster Gold learn to stop being egotistical and start caring about others before Lighting Mcqueen. Cars fail to subvert the character arc. Doc Huson is an uninspired old car trope which makes his twist predictable. He treats Lightning Mcqueen poorly because Lightning Mcqueen reminds him of his glory days and his tragic downfall.

Cars is boring because there is a lot of filler. Life is A Highway scene is Mack driving Lightning Mcqueen to the Piston Cup. The point of the scene is to play a song and show interstate. The tractor tipping scene fails to establish the friendship of Lighting Mcqueen and Mater because it starts after Lighting Mcqueen shows affection to the townsfolk. The development happens too quickly because it happens in one moment instead of gradually building it up during the movie.

The best part of Cars is its ending. Chick Hicks pushes Dinoco and causes him to crash, which is a perfect example of how Lighting Mcqueen stops being egotistical and cares for others. Lighting Mcqueen sacrifices his win to help Dinoco finish the race. The moment shows Lighting Mcqueen helps Dinoco not be forgotten for being a crash victim like Doc Huson.

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