Monsters Inc explains the Politics of Fear

Monsters, Inc has long been looked at as one of Pixar’s finest films. It’s a movie that came out right in the middle of a key moment within American culture, it continued the run of breakout hits for the animation studio following their feature debut in 1995 with Toy Story, and it’s got ya boy Billy Crystal in arguably his most iconic non “When Harry Met Sally” role. And yet… Man, it’s so much more than that. Because the film came out right as the war on terror was starting, and because the film itself deals with themes of fear and fear mongering, Monsters Inc stands as a document of those things at a time when they were taking a new meaning within the American consciousness. Which is what this video is about! In this video essay I’ll talk about the ways that fear is used to generate power within the world of Monstropolis, how Waternoose is the type of person that has a penchant for exploiting that, then do the little B-side shuffle I’ve been known to do in videos by pivoting to talking about fear as a whole and how we can better equip ourselves to deal with it! Chapters: 00:00 - Intro 01:03 - Monsters Inc is peak 2001 06:49 - Monsters Inc and a fear based society 20:57 - Exploring Fear 32:47 - Conquering Fear 43:23 - Closing/Sign Off/Credits #videoessay #monstersinc #filmanalysis Support the channel: Patreon:   / nichecaesar   Channel Membership:    / @nichecaesar   Socials: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/nichecaesar.... Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/nichecaesar Media Obscura and Glaring Admissions (Podcast): https://pod.link/themediaobscura