A Bolt of Inspiration

Chuck and family find layers of meaning in Bolt.

By Chuck Nice

I often blog about kids movies because I have children and they force me to take them to see every Pixar creation that gets green lighted. Our last viewing trek was to see Bolt starring John Travolta and Miley Cyrus. Of course these movies are morally heavy handed and with good reason - they're trying to teach children a lesson. The lessons are always universally acceptable, as not to be offensive. It's hard to disapprove of someone telling your child to believe in her self or not to lie or cheat or steal, unless you're a grifter who is training your offspring in the ways of the con. Hey, there's a sucker born every minute. This movie has a very simple message: If you believe that you're a super hero, then you can truly be a super hero. I rather think that if you can shoot laser beams from your eyes and fly, then you're truly a super hero but what do I know? Bolt is a dog that is unaware that his life as a super dog is really a carefully orchestrated television show designed to make him think that his incredible powers are authentic, so that he might deliver a believable performance. It's kind of like the Truman Show with CGI. While under the impression that his beloved owner has been abducted by his arch villain, he leaves the protective surroundings of the television set to carry out a rescue, but instead finds that he himself may be in need of saving. I don't think I'm playing spoiler by telling you that during his journey he discovers that the true hero is the person (or dog) that rises above his limitations to triumph over any obstacle.

Immediately after seeing these types of films I always ask my daughter what she has learned and we discuss the many wise insights that she bestows upon me (I'm not being facetious, she really teaches me crap). After seeing Bolt my daughter gave me a couple of gems to ponder, but it was my wife that made me think long and hard about what she had learned from the movie. She was able to glean that the Republican Party made a fatal mistake by believing that women would accept Sara Palin as a suitable equal to Hillary Clinton just because she was a woman. My response was "what the f**k", but after hearing her explanation I think she may be on to something. After Bolt's disappearance the studio quickly moved to replace him with a look alike. The new Bolt was a dead ringer with one exception... he couldn't act. No one at the studio ever considered Bolt's years of on set experience or acting chops when they moved to replace him. My wife's theory is that the Republicans went in search of a Hillary look-a-like, but female voters were more interested in having a qualified representative more than just any politician with ovaries. Now I'm not offering any opinion on whether or not Sara Palin is qualified to hold the highest office in the land -- I'll leave that up to the experts at Fox News. Nor am I trying to make this blog political -- that would just be silly. I am, however, fascinated by the fact that this election was so important to women that my wife is gleaning political messages from a Disney Pixar animated film.

Regardless of the outcome, our last election was historic on so many levels. We now have the first African American President -- and if he had not won we would have had our first female Vice President. Either way it's a good thing that the nation is open to allowing different types of people to sit at the table of political power. I'm actually looking forward to our first female Asian commander and chief... preferably one that was gay.