The bait & switch of Cars 3 is making you think it's about Lightning getting his groove back when really it's about Cruz getting her chance.
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Replying to @fozmeadows
Cruz starts out as Lightning's trainer, and you think she's there as a foil for him: young & perky & clueless vs the Old Veteran.
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Replying to @fozmeadows
But it's eventually revealed that Cruz has always wanted to be a racer. She had a chance, but backed out due to feeling she didn't belong.
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Replying to @fozmeadows
The dialogue used here is very deliberate: Cruz felt she didn't sound like the other cars; didn't look like them, and so she didn't belong.
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Replying to @fozmeadows
She asks Lightning how he felt at his first race; if he doubted her could do it. And he tells her it never occurred to him that he couldn't.
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Replying to @fozmeadows
Cruz says her parents told her "dream small, or not at all". Which is heartbreaking even without the rest of the context. But just -
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Replying to @fozmeadows
- the fact that the film takes the time to contrast Cruz's self-doubt, the way *others* doubt her, with Lightning's confidence & belonging -
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Replying to @fozmeadows
- is, I think, really fucking important. As the introduction of an older female racer, who talks about having to fight to race b/c gender.
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Replying to @fozmeadows
Which, look. It's one of those points that has my inner worldbuilder yelling BUT THEY'RE CARS, but the whole fucking premise is an analogue.
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Replying to @fozmeadows
And when you get to the end, to Lightning's big race - spoilers here, obvs - & he sees Cruz dismissed, he *gives her his place in the race*.
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Cruz beats the douchebro rookie who's been making Lightning feel shit, and gets accepted as an awesome racer by her new peers.
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Replying to @fozmeadows
The whole film is about legacy; about what it means to be valued for who you are, how you matter beyond appearances & the superficial.
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Replying to @fozmeadows
Lightning is dismissed for being too old & hurt; Cruz is dismissed for the thinly veiled Cars-verse version of being Latina in a SWM sport.
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