Mad About Movies - Winter 2014.1: CARS

[DavidC]

THINK ABOUT THE PROTAGONIST OF THE MOVIE, LIGHTNING MCQEEN. IN TWO OR THREE SENTENCES, DESCRIBE HIS CHARACTER AT THE BEGINNING OF THE MOVIE. WHO IS HE? WHAT IS HE LIKE? WHAT ARE SOME GOOD THINGS AND SOME BAD THINGS ABOUT HIM?

NOW THINK ABOUT LIGHTNING MCQEEN AT THE END OF THE MOVIE. HAS HE CHANGED? IN TWO OR THREE SENTENCES, DESCRIBE HIS CHARACTER AT THE END OF THE MOVIE. HOW HAS HE CHANGED? WHAT HAS HE LEARNED? HAS HE IMPROVED? HOW? WHY?

FINALLY, THINK OF A SPECIFIC SCENE IN WHICH LIGHTING LEARNS SOMETHING THROUGH ACTION THAT CHANGES HIS CHARACTER. DESCRIBE THAT SCENE IN TWO OR THREE SENTENCES.

SEE YOU ON MONDAY!

[luis1980]

Lightning Mcqueen was an arrogant, cocky, selfish and individuliast person in the beginning of the story. He is a rookie in the car business and and he seems to be good at car racing for he is one of the favorites to win the Piston Cup.
At the end of movie he changed his character completely, because he started to care about people. So, that is why in the final lap of the race, when he was about to win the piston cup, he stopped almost over the finish line and came back to help the King after the mean and tricky Chick Hicks had hit him intentionally and made him run over. Thus, Mcqueen proved to everybody that he was a better person. Also, he learned from his mentor Hudson Hornet that a trophy was just a piece of old metal thing.
I think that a scene that made Mcqueen change his character was when he and Mater were returning from a farm and Mater said Mcqueen was his best friend, for Mcqueen did not have friends. From that moment on, Mcquuen decided to help everybody in Radiator Springs.

Luis Ferdinando.

[Yoonki0127]

In the beginning of the movie, he was very arrogant and dogmatic. At the same time, he was very confident. He had a power of execution. However, it was difficult to gain truth from colleagues.

At the end of the movie, he became a very thoughtful car. He loved his friends. He was aware of relationship with others.

There are many scenes which make him be changed. In those scenes, I think he was changed crucially when Mater told him he was the best friend.

Thank You~

[Amy1735]

Lightning McQueen, who was very talented but over confidence, arrogant and selfish, didn't understand how important the teamwork was. Meanwhile, however, had tried to hide his solitude by acting bigger than others.
As he accidentally stuck in the small town Radiator Springs, those friends (Mater, Sally, Doc Hudson…etc) not only had taught him the new lessons (ex. Tractor tipping - driving backwards from Mater, how to make a perfect curve from Doc. Hudson, learned about the value of trust from Sally…etc ), but also changed the insight and vision of his life.
After all, as he got back to the final race, he is still passionate on racing but moreover, he realized there are more important things than just win an empty cup.

[Esra1234]

- At the beginning,Lighting Mcqueen was arrogant, self-flattering rookie and fascinated by winning the race no matter of respect to his helper and sponser. Although, he had very high self-esteem and knew how to motivate himself positively to win.

- His attitude has changed positively after he met the cars in Radiator Spring; they touched his heart by their kindness and taught him the actual meaning of friendship and don't forget the love he fell in with.
Moreover, the painful memories of The King have taught him that cups is nothing.

- I think when Sally took him in a ride or tour and told him how the city used to be and sadly how became, so in the next day he had finished fixing the road early.

Thanks David you gave me a new perspective in watching movies that I'd not thought about before espcially this movie.

[Austin]

Mcqueen is a young, talented and breezy racer. However, he lost his chance to win at first time by his presumptuous and self-centered attitude. After that, he went through a small town accidentally. The people he met there gradually had positive influence on him. Mcqueen became more restrained and thoughtful. His mental foundation was getting stronger. The most important thing is that he's learned how to be considerate of others. In the final competition, Mcqueen abandoned his championship to rescue one of his competitor. He suddenly understood that the trophy and the fame are not everything,without those fake titles, he has nothing.

[Tony4571]

Lightning MCqueen, the protagonist, shows up in the beginning of the story so individualist, self-centered, arrogant and ungrateful to anyone who tries to be cooperative and helpful that he has no friends indeed, although he's also a kind of
funny and enthusiastic guy. As the story goes on, Macqueen finds himself in a deep trouble and unvonluntarily has to turn
to somebody else's advice and help. In the end, he finally discovers that friendship and love are more important than
fame and material goods and wealth. And he proves it when in the final lap of the car race, in order to rescue The King,
one of the competitors intentionally hit out of the competition by the mischievous Chick Hicks, he gives up winning the
cup. Besides, he ultimately comes back to Sally, the girl who had cared for him and with whom he fell in love.

For me this movie was of a great personal importance because it really touched my heart and caused me to reflect about
loving and helpful people that for a quite long time have been giving me some support and attention in dificult times of my life, to whom I certainly should have dedicated more attention and care. Yes, it was very good for me!!!

Nivaldo A. de Jesus

[ZHENYA0125]

Hi Everybody in this forum First of all, David, I'm really sorry for the delay with my comment. I just read all lovely posts . It seems there isn't anything new to add. However, I have to try to

Well, MCQUEEN, lucky, talented, charismatic and fanny racer, could be professional also if he would be more careful for his team and others around him. Because of McQueen childish egocentrism and enormous self-assurance he's lost his way to the winning (literally) and got "a heap of trouble" in a small city. Nobody (surprisingly for McQueen) knows in that forgotten by God and cars place, where he becomes a prisoner. he becomes a useless "sticker", car without headlights even, who can only destroy. However, after a few days fraught with events everything is changed. McQueen is changed, radiator's citizens are changed also. All of them are better now. Occasionally, red-colored racer brought new wave of life, he brought not only destroying but also fresh air to the Radiator-Spring.
According to the event which helps Mc Queen with starting to grow up and to understand what is valuable, among others one the most important moment is when he figured out (rudely intruding to the other's garage/ without any invitation)who was that old car Hudson. McQueen, who in the beginning of the story has only one value - to be on the top, is shocked with fact that Hudson was there (on the top) three times!!!.. and still that insular old car doesn't think it's a big reason to be happy or even proud. McQueen starts thinking then and finally ended up as a developed person with wide set of human values, including real friendship and love. Finally, he becomes even more popular as a humanist-racer

[kimo1985]

At the biting of the movie MCQUEEN appears as the rookie character who is real cocky and proud of himself thinking that he is the only person that matters, he didn't have any friends because he was so selfish. Also he was saying that he is a one man show.
At the end of the movie we can notice a huge diffrence in MCQUEEN personality, now he have a lot of friends who actully love him, and we can see that he learned that racing involves more than wining. He even gave up the cup to help another car.
A moment that helped MCQUEEN to change is when he learned the story of the DOC and know that the DOC has won in three piston cups also when he so the DOC driving fast in the desert and sliding through the curve with high speed.

[Francisco1975]

In the beginning of the movie one can notice the Mcqueen is kind of selfish and he doesnt really care about the others. He only thinks about his own plans and is too arrogant and sel centered to think about the others. The only thing he can see is his own success, his will to get to the top is so Strong that he could pass over anyone.
by the end of the story we can notice that something had changed in his personality. Mcqueen is now na autruistic character. His actions show that not only the individual success is importante. He realizes that helping the others is much mor rewarding than think only about oneself. I think it was a very nice example of how people can change through interactivity and by understanding his or her fellows.