Left to our own devices

Toy Story 5 is an interesting case study. I haven’t watched the movie, but I’ve been researching its reception. On the surface the message seems to center around a paradigm shift – children struggling with screen time. Woody and Buzz are being ignored in favor of an iPad for kids.

Initially the marketing pushed this interpretation, focusing on unsettling aspects of the “Lilypad” tablet in the trailer. But then they started walking back that impression in interviews, noting that Lilypad was not the villain. The movie ultimately has a nuanced view that these devices aren’t going away.

The real problem is that the main character doesn’t have friends to play with. The story pivots from a paradigm shift to the common scenario of how to make friends and influence people, albeit with the added wrinkle that every potential friend is staring at a screen

By having a nuanced view of a polarizing topic, the movie risked pushing one audience away who might worry the movie would moralize at them, and disappointing the audience that did show up wanting the “easy” but unrealistic solution to ban all devices. But it seems like the movie delivers on the core promise to be a Toy Story movie that provides a Toy Story experience. So while the critiques often expresses disappointment the movie didn’t go far enough to denounce devices, that disappointment didn’t hurt the bottom line.

Which means that the movie worked well as a platform to generate discussion about the topic. By not picking a hardline stance and relying on their existing cultural capital, the movie creates space for discussion to occur.

How do children learn to make friends these days? Honestly, how do adults do it these days?