Pixar's film addresses Western angst and the pain of abandonment. It could be about mobile.
Toy Story 3 opens this week, and it's supposed to be an absolute corker. I can't wait.
In my opinion Pixar's Toy Story and Wall-E are two of the greatest films ever made – and I speak as an insufferable movie snob who always seeks out arty foreign films above Hollywood shovelware.
From the critiques I've read so far, the threequel does Pixar's usual job of integrating adult themes into the action without alienating the kids
I expect I'll blub throughout.
The scene in Toy Story 2 in which Jessie is abandoned by her child-turned-adolescent owner is second only to the end of the Railway Children for reducing me to a lachrymose puddle.
Article continues belowAdvertisement
The obvious reading of this scene is that it's about a child's fear of abandonment by his/her parent, but I always saw it as reflecting something far more terrifying: it's about being a parent, and watching helpless as your child stops needing you and then leaves forever.
Stop me before I lose it here.
A British critic had the same epiphany recently, but I was a parent before him and it always seemed obvious to me.
All the Toy Story films are basically about the pain of abandonment. I reckon they touch a nerve with us because Western capitalism depends on in-built obsolescence – and deep down we all know that buying stuff cannot make us truly happy.
This is why seeing Woody and Buzz struggle to stay relevant touches us profoundly.
Now, is there any market more focused on obsolescence than mobile? I think not. This week, a report by phone comparison website rightmobilephone said 67 per cent of us envy our friends' phones, while 47 per cent regret our choice of handset within a month of purchase.
A month? I wish.
How many of you out there are happy with your phones? Face it, you hate your iPhone 3G S because it's not an iPhone 4.
And if you own an iPhone 4, you're bored with it already aren't you?
The academic Barry Schwarz put his finger on it when he talked about the 'paradox of choice'. He says that more options give us more chances to make a mistake and regret the choice we do make.
When this happens we can't blame anyone else but ourselves, so the upshot is self-loathing and loneliness.
So there you go. That Xperia X10's timescape interface is not just annoying, it's contributing to your profound existential angst.
And what is ME doing about it? Writing excitedly about AR, LBS, MEMS displays, gyroscopes and all those other futuristic goodies.
Essentially, reader, we're making you unhappy.
Sorry.
Wanna buy an ad?
