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Spy Kids
by
Jonathan S. Walker
Spy Kids
takes the James Bond-type spy films and turns them upside down.
It reverses the thematic elements that they use: individualism over
the group, deception over trust, courage over doubt, and sex over
relationship. As a result, Spy Kids entertains both children
and adults with its creativity and wholesome ideas.
Gregorio and
Ingrid Cortez (Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino) were international
spies who fell in love and married. They left the spy business in
favor of raising a family. Ten years later, they are drawn back
in. The evil mastermind Fegan Floop (Alan Cumming)-the host of a
children's television show-has a diabolical plan which will undermine
the nations of the world (superlative adjectives are essential in
discussing the spy genre-you can never have too many of them). For
all their good intentions, the Cortezes are a little rusty and Floop
captures them immediately. Their kids, Carmen and Juni (Alexa Vega
and Daryl Sabara) stumble into the knowledge of their parents' former
life and come to the rescue.
At the beginning
of the film, Ingrid tells her children a fantastical story of two
spies who fell in love. Through the story, she sets the framework
for the film's theme. "They fell in love and they decided that together
they would embark on the most dangerous mission of all time": Marriage.
In Ingrid's
(autobiographical) story, the spies accept the "mission" with both
eyes open. "Marriage is a mission so complex that only the most
courageous-and slightly insane-need apply. There is such an amazing
series of obstacles one has to navigate to keep a marriage together,
much less a family, that it even frightened" this hardened international
spy. As she points out, a marriage starts out with the "two most
dangerous and trusting words you can say to anyone:'I do.'" Carmen
protests the end of the story, "No 'happily ever after?'" Ingrid
understands marriage and simply replies, "Well, I said they were
better off."
In the last
line of the film, Carmen tells us what we should take away from
the film, "Spy work, that's easy, keeping a family together, that's
difficult. And that's a mission worth fighting for." Fighting for
the success of their family is exactly what the Cortezes do and
in doing so they undertake a great adventure.
Spy Kids
is not just a kids' fantasy, it's an adults' tongue-in-cheek look
at the absurdity of the James Bond-style of action-adventure. The
spy genre is overblown ridiculousness. The best portrayal of Spy
Kids' theme comes in direct contrast to the traditional spy
genre of films. Kids becomes a response to the James Bond
films, not just a satirical look at them. Bond films are amoral
and anti-family: the individual comes above all, success (not means)
is paramount, and relationships are a form of deception without
emotional fulfilment.
Individual
vs. Group
While the spy genre is about going it alone and overcoming the odds,
Spy Kids is about pulling together as a family. At the
beginning, Carmen complains about having to be responsible for Juni.
After all, "I shouldn't have to be responsible for anybody but myself."
Carmen breaks away from the selfishness, though. She learns to help
Juni and accept help from him. She gives him encouragement when
he needs it most. "Don't listen to her; you're not worthless-you're
strong." Then, when he's emboldened too much and punches a concrete
wall, she says with sensitivity, "You're not that strong,
Juni."
Secrets
and Lies vs. Truth and Trust
When you're an international spy, you live and die by the
secrets you keep from others and mete out lies to support you in
your intrigue. Living in a family is different. Ingrid understands
that hiding things from your family jeopardizes the integrity of
the group. Without being able to confide in each other, members
cannot provide support and people can needlessly stumble into pitfalls.
Childless
World of Childish Adults
The James Bond genre is nothing more than fantasies in the unchecked
mind of a teenage boy. The gadgets, the sexual charge, the action
without impunity, the praise of antisocial behavior all represent
the immature mind. Spy Kids makes the opposite assertion:
that children can act maturely. They can make a difference. The
weak and scared Juni saves Floop from being a person he does not
want to be. He also wisely tells Floop what his children's show
lacks: children.
Floop sees
Carmen and Juni as the Cortez's only two weaknesses. By the end
of the adventure, Gregorio sees things differently, "We didn't do
one thing right. We did two things right." In the light of worldly
failures, nothing warms a parent's heart like the glow of raising
children right.
As adults,
we can continue playing the childish game of thinking that we can
affect the world with our savage individualism and dynamic personalities
or we can really change the world by making a difference in a child's
life. After all, it's a bit of an exaggeration (as it was in the
film), but "once they're programmed, nothing on earth can stop them."
...Better make certain they're "programmed" to do what is right.
Courage
in the Face of Physical Danger
When doom is imminent, a spy cooly calculates escape. Ingrid identifies
how courage can be a daily trait. Real courage is needed in doing
the little things day after day, year after year, for a lifetime
to keep a marriage (and family) together. Being needed by his parents
and support from his sister cure Juni's warts more than overcoming
the challenge of international espionage. Carmen comes to understand
how much her family can mean to her when her mother asks her whether
she wants to be "free from your family." She says, "Not anymore."
Sometimes, we
view protecting our family as a defensive operation. We think about
the many things that "invade" or "attack" the peace in our homes:
media, materialism, peer pressure, demands on our time, or any number
of a thousand other things. But, like good espionage, keeping a
family together is an offensive strategy. Family home evening, scripture
reading and prayer, quality family time, and actively building relationships
of trust are only done by decisive action.
Keeping your
family together is a "mission worth fighting for," just ask the
Cortezes.
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