Instead he seeks to lick his wounds by reproducing the logic of capitalism where lots-o’ stuff (and stuffing in Lotso’s case) equals lots-o’ power and value. However, Lotso’s response is not to “fight” the system that has so devalued his unique identity. Mechanical reproduction rendered the uniqueness of his identity secondary and unimportant compared to his function. His locus of identity and value, namely, being the girl’s favourite toy, was destroyed by mechanical reproduction which underpins modern capitalism. It is because of the cycle of mass production which drives (conspicuous) consumption which drives mass production, and so on, that “Lotso changed that day”. That is, the difference between being an object with a unique and authentic identity, and being that object’s indistinguishable copy. Lotso’s lot, so to speak, enters over this difference. Yet, this is the exact opposite of the little girl’s perspective who is more interested in a toy to hug than the particular toy called Lotso. Lotso sees his value as located in himself, not in his function as a huggable toy. The love affair is between him, the particular Lots-o-huggin bear called Lotso, and the little girl. In this scene, Lotso is shown to have been initially unaware of his replaceability. The irony, I think, is that his reaction sees him reproduce the social hierarchies that feed into the social structures that made him replaceable in the first place. The first of these, loss of authenticity, seems to be more a problem of identity than the environment, but what I’m going to try and demonstrate is how I see the film tying together the themes of loss of authenticity and the production of waste via the character of Lotso (who is a toy bear), and his psychological reaction to being replaced. What struck me, almost as forcefully as my hand smacking blood-thirsty mosquitoes from my legs, was the film’s preoccupation with some of the effects of mass production particularly, the loss of authenticity, and problems resulting from waste (incineration versus recycling). So began my first and as yet only taste of the adventures of Woody and Buzz in Toy Story 3. That was, however, until the call of a warm summer breeze and the company of good friends at the outdoor cinema trumped my prior reservations about the Toy Story franchise. Suffice to say, the Toy Story craze blissfully passed me by. Chaperoning an annoying younger sibling was the only socially redeemable excuse for going to watch that “doll film”, and being the youngest in my family meant that I had no excuse. In 1995 I was more eager to be seen putting lipstick on myself than on a Barbie. The first Toy Story film was released when I was a tween. This is the first of 3 posts that considers how this theme is worked out in the third instalment of the Toy Story saga. “ Reduce, reuse and recycle” seems to be at the heart of Toy Story 3 ‘s “environmental” theme.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |