Don’t Be Incrediboy

The Incredibles is such a fun movie.

Yet I found Incrediboy’s character, Syndrome, quite sad.

He’s a splash of pride and idolatry. He doesn’t naturally possess the super hero gene. But he wants it so bad that he turns his childhood trauma into what ultimate destroys the city and its real super heroes.

I don’t think Incrediboy is an allegory of one real person. I think part of him lives in us all. It’s easy to compare ourselves with others, hearing that soft whisper, “I wish I had their gifts.” It’s simpler to imitate those we look up to to the degree that we appease the little Mayor Humdinger voice in our heads. It’s devastating to invest your life in cultivating someone else’s traits within yourself.

The better path is to discover those dormant traits already allocated to you. Excavate them. Sharpen them. Breath life back into them. Get that middle-aged belly back into that suit God made for you and you alone.