Jumping To Conclusions

I think the “Toy Story” movies are brilliant--touching, engaging, fiendishly clever. Two of my kids have been genuine “Toy Story” addicts and I have seen all three flicks now more than any ten other adults. Although, unlike some of the things that catch my kids’ attention, I think time spent keeping track of Andy’s Pixar crew has been well spent. But after several recent viewings of “Toy Story 3,” I realized something: Those guys always get in trouble, or more of it, because of misunderstandings and people jumping to conclusions. True, they always find a way to make friendship and self-discovery triumph over disaster, but it truly seems they could devote their time and resource efforts to other things if everybody just took a deep breath once in awhile. Think about it--Woody and Buzz have to go to Herculean efforts to escape Sid and return to Andy’s possession because everyone thinks Woody has lost it to jealousy. Woody and Jessie work against each other because they perceive incompatible goals, but it’s really the Prospector gumming up the toy works. The whole gang ends up in daycare hell because Andy’s mom mixed up trash bags and everyone thinks Woody’s bias makes him unreliable as an objective source. Now, all that madcap misdirection makes for great movies, but can be pretty stressful in everyday life. I for one wouldn’t mind seeing it go. In Michael Catchpool’s Where There’s A Bear, There’s Trouble, everybody wastes a lot of time assuming. Don’t we all?

http://www.amazon.com/Where-Theres-Bear-Trouble/dp/1589253892

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