Special

Oh, I'm real. Real enough to defeat you! And I did it without your precious gifts, your oh-so-special powers. I'll give them heroics. I'll give them the most spectacular heroics the world has ever seen! And when I'm old and I've had my fun, I'll sell my inventions so that everyone can have powers. Everyone can be Super! And when everyone's Super...no one will be.

Anyone recognize this quote? It is spoken by the villain Syndrome in "The Incredibles." There is another point in the movie where Helen Parr says "Everyone's special, Dash" to which Dash replies "which is another way of saying no one is."

As you all probably know by now, I'm kind of a freak who likes to write about the weird parallels I see in movies and shows. It's interesting to me. It's pretty obvious what they're saying in "The Incredibles." When everyone is special, no one is. It reminds me of shows like X-Men where everyone in the show has a super power, so no one really stands out as being special. Sure, if you are more interested in one power than the others, it gives the illusion that the character with that power stands out, but really, they are all on equal ground. It also means that the characters on one side of the conflict have no advantage against the characters on the other side. Still using X-Men as an example, Professor Xavier and his mutants are on equal footing with Magneto and his mutants because they all have powers.

Lately, I've been watching "Avatar: The Last Airbender." Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Toph function as a unit trying to end the war. Aang is the Avatar, Katara is a master waterbender, Toph is a master earthbender, and Sokka...well, he's not really anything. What happens in a situation like this? All the members of the "unit" have powers that make them "special" except for one. Another example would be in the television series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Everyone in the "unit" has special supernatural attributes except for Xander. Some would say, poor Sokka and Xander! They are just normal...and kind of useless against powerful enemies.

But, I disagree. Sokka and Xander may not have special "powers" like bending or slaying, but to me, it seems like they have more heart as a result. They are both ready and willing for a fight, even though they are risking more, and more at risk, for what they believe. They are fighting for the greater good even though they are at a huge disadvantage. Not only do they both keep their respective group together as a team, but they are able to step up and save the world in their own way. Basically, the fact that Sokka and Xander don't have abilities actually makes them different from everyone else, which actually makes them stand out from everyone else, which actually makes them the special ones.