Finally Facing The Primal Brain's Anthropomorphic Demons: "Cars II"

Left: Scary.


Ever since those Chevron ads first appeared on TV showing animated cars with big eyes, I've been nervous about animated cars with big eyes. The images have a hallucinogenic anthropomorphic quality that make me uneasy at some deep, primal level inside my medulla. It is just wrong! Deeply wrong! Thus, I avoided seeing "Cars I": it was just too much.

Left: Not so scary.


But what are fears if you don't face them? Thus, tonight, I went with several friends honoring Stacy's birthday to see "Cars II". My curiosity had been piqued by seeing an hour-long "Biography" TV show last week on the comic 'Larry the Cable Guy' (who voices 'Tow Mater' in the 'Cars' series).

Over the years, I had found 'Larry the Cable Guy' to be a bit offputting - his schtick is directed more to a Red State audience, and I'm definitely a Blue State person - but there never had been any question that he was a funny guy.

The movie was lots of fun. Because the animated eyes in Disney's 'Cars' series are smaller than the animated eyes in the old Chevron TV ads, and thus less hallucinogenic, I was able to swallow my unease, and enjoy myself.