How Lightyear is a bit of Buzzkill

Not so much a movie. More an Executive Away Day Exercise.

Lightyear is the movie that Andy from Toy Story watched in 1995.

Lightyear is the movie that made Andy want a Buzz Lightyear. That’s what we’re told at the beginning of Pixar’s latest release, Lightyear.

Except it isn’t.

It’s not a question of technology and special effects. 1995 was the year of the original Toy Story movie. Although the animation holds up okay, it would be perverse to insist on the same kind of animation 27 years later.

It’s not even a question of retro-fitting morality. In 1995, there was zero chance that Buzz Lightyear’s friend was married to someone of the same gender, and had kids and grand kids like it was no big deal. It would have been. So there’s that.

So, before Lightyear has even got going, it’s undermining its own premise.

I’m Not Buying It

The biggest problem with the movie is this: there is no way that this movie would have made Andy want a Buzz Lightyear. That is because this Buzz Lightyear isn’t a hero.

In fact, the main purpose of the plot, which is constantly restated, is to show that Buzz Lightyear needs to learn to accept help. And he has to keep relearning that lesson throughout the movie. Again and again.

I have no problem with a movie for children – or adults, for that matter – which shows that you can’t do it all on your own. Learn to accept help. Team work makes the dream work. What’s not to like?

There are any number of movies, like Dodgeball, in which a rag tag bunch of unlikely underdogs get together and win the tournament, save the day or get the bad guy.

Lightyear could even have been that movie in which Buzz, along with his best friend’s grand-daughter, an ex-con, useless Australian bloke and a robot cat work together to defeat the baddie.

Imagine There’s No Baddies

Sadly, it can’t be that movie either, because there wasn’t really a baddie. Not a proper one. I won’t spoil it by saying more.

But what this means is this: if you don’t have a dragon, you don’t need a dragon slayer. There are no true heroes without true villains. If it’s all about team work, the only enemy is one member of that team trying to do it all on their own. That’s not an exciting animated family movie. That’s an Executive Away Day Presentation.

When you’re a nine-year old boy, and you see Luke Skywalker blow up the Death Star, it’s pretty amazing. There’s a hero being heroic. But Luke didn’t start the movie as any kind of hero. He was a petulant teenager looking for adventure.

Buzz doesn’t go on that kind of journey. He should have done.

Parallel Universe

And he could have done. Buzz is really funny in Toy Story as an overly earnest boy-scout. And when he meets another Buzz fresh out of the box in Toy Story 2, he is confronted with how he used to be. It’s funny. Funny is good.

The Buzz Lightyear in this movie is a flawed quasi-hero who needs to accept help at the beginning and the end. It’s not much fun. Kids like Andy want to be Luke Skywalker. The dads wanted to be Han Solo. We all want to be Indiana Jones, John McLane and James Bond. We want to be heroes.

Again, it’s okay to do a film about the limits of human heroes who are flawed, selfish and unreliable. Maybe there are Marvel or DC movies about that. (I don’t know. I’ve not watched any.)

But please don’t make Lightyear a ‘don’t be a hero’ movie.

And if you do, don’t claim that this is the movie that made Andy fall in love with Buzz Lightyear. What’s Andy going to say as he runs out of the movie theatre all excited? “That was amazing! Wasn’t it brilliant when Buzz accepted help?”

Andy needs help. We all do. But Andy wants a hero to believe in, a hero to be like and a hero to save him.

Fortunately there is one. He’s Jesus (obviously). He is the one who slays the dragon and kills the Death Star. And he is the one who comes out the other side, offering us a place on his horse so that we can all ride off into the sunset – with Woody, obviously.

If you want a funny movie to watch as a family, I’d recommend The Mitchells vs The Machines, which was consistently funnier, more interesting and more satisfying. And there’s a hint of lesbianism at the very end if that’s super-important to you.

Or try The Kid Who Would Be King, which is Joe Cornish’s movie about the legend of King Arthur - which is about heroism and teamwork.

For more discussion of Lightyear from me and a Reformed Mythologist, Nate Morgan Locke, listen to Popcorn Parenting (which contains spoilers about the villain).

And I wrote more about Lightyear - calling into question the use of gender more widely - over at Premier Christianity here.