The Incredibles' Costumer

December 21, 2004 6:44 PM

The real-life Edna Mode - If you aspire to cartoonish superhero proportions, where your massive muscles and barrel chest allow you to leap computer-generated buildings with single, animated bounds, you should take a lesson from Mr. Incredible: Sew your underwear to your shirt. Salon link; advertising supported free access
posted by GriffX (15 comments total)

Neat article. I almost wish it had been longer-- I'm already looking forward to the bonus material on the Incredibles DVD. I'll sew my underwear to my shirt tomorrow.
posted by Faint of Butt at 6:50 PM on December 21, 2004

The real real Edna Mode
posted by Plutor at 7:01 PM on December 21, 2004

Thank you, Plutor. I was about to say, Heyyy.. that's not the real Edna Mode...
posted by cavalier at 7:18 PM on December 21, 2004

Truly amazing animation. Unfortunately, the moral fabric of the film has some holes: We should embrace our human differences, except in the case of evildoers, who are not like us? Our family must fight evil to remain close-knit?
Now who, in the real world, has all the technological advantages--the weapons, the security, the armour, the planes, rockets and robots, and would bomb and bully and torture the world into submission?
And who, in the real world, are the Incredibles--those fighting with only their hearts and their hopes and their god-given powers?
Pixar has flipped the real world on its ass to make this beautiful, clever piece of propaganda.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 10:21 PM on December 21, 2004

I don't think you're looking at it quite right, WGP. For the second time today, I'll quote another, more famous superhero: "With great power comes great responsibility." We are, all of us, obligated to use our abilities and resources for good, and the more resources at ones disposal, the more vital that duty becomes. So, in answer to your rhetorical questions, the weapons, planes, rockets et al. sadly seem to belong only to the evildoers, who range across the spectrum from Al Qaeda to the Bush administration, while the hearts and hopes which may save the world belong to the loyal, patriotic, peace-loving liberals of the planet.
posted by Faint of Butt at 10:28 PM on December 21, 2004

She think's she's edith head
But you might know she's not
The accent in her speech
She didn't have growing up

She think's she's edith head
Or helen girlie brown
Or some other cultural figure
We don't know a lot about

It's been years since I moved away
But at christmas I come home
And I saw her reflection
In the window of a store

She was talking to herself
Not too simple and not too kind
I walked on by, it was complicated
And it stuck in my mind

She think's she's edith head
But you might know she's not
The accent in her speech
She didn't have growing up
posted by ticopelp at 10:54 PM on December 21, 2004

Thank you for the They Might Be Giants, ticopelp.
posted by Faint of Butt at 10:59 PM on December 21, 2004

Helen Gurley Brown

But the Freudian slip is appreciated.
posted by briank at 3:43 AM on December 22, 2004

Thank you, briank, for getting that "kiss this guy" moment straight in my brain.

Also, I hate Salon's advertising model. It's been a long time since I've read more than the first two lead-in paragraphs of a Salon story. I respect their need to pay for bandwidth and whatnot, but.. er.. the whole thing just turns me off.
posted by Plutor at 4:40 AM on December 22, 2004

I heard Brad Bird on Talk of the Nation last week. Edna Mode is not necessarily Edith Head. He said that in each country he visits to promote the movie there are interviewers absolutely certain that they know the inspiration for Edna. In Japan it's some male designer. In France it's Coco Chanel. In the US it's either Edith Head or the actress Linda Hunt (That's who I originally thought of). There are others, and each person that brings a theary to him can identify a "tell" that proves that it's their person, not the others. It was a good interview give it a listen.
posted by putzface_dickman at 6:29 AM on December 22, 2004

I cut and pasted the lyrics, but I wouldn't put a "Helen Girlie Brown" past TMBG, honestly.
posted by ticopelp at 6:32 AM on December 22, 2004

putzface, thanks for that link. I, too, thought it was Linda Hunt - with Anna Wintour's hair and Tennesee Williams' glasses... Obviously, I spent way too much time thinking about it, when I should have just been watching the movie...
posted by JollyWanker at 7:45 AM on December 22, 2004

Yeah, FOB, I felt the same way, I was just getting into it when it suddenly crashed to a halt. Seemed like there was plenty more to say for those geeky enough to care about the algorithms necessary to make cloth not fold into itself. But I guess Salon wanted to keep it "general-interest." Too bad.

weapons-grade pandemonium, dunno if you saw this thread, probably a better repository for content-based thoughts (and still a week left to leave 'em there!).
posted by soyjoy at 8:05 AM on December 22, 2004

Edith Head? Coco Chanel?

And here I thought she was just a not-quite-stereotypical "designer" with a great house. Go figure.
posted by codger at 10:45 AM on December 22, 2004

State & Main: "Who designed these costumes? It looks like Edith Head puked, and that puke designed the costumes!"

By unloading this not particularly funny movie quote here, I'm hoping to get it out of my head.
posted by of strange foe at 11:06 AM on December 22, 2004