Speed Racer makes good art
FilmCritHulk wrote a great essay about Speed Racer as an artist. For this post to make sense, you should check out his essay first.
I’ll wait for you back here.
Ready?
Okay, so I agree with everything FilmCritHulk says, but the movie is about more than being an artist. Speed Racer is also about being “in the zone” and making good art.
“I don’t go to watch you race, I go to watch you make art.”
“Being in the zone” is that sense of flow where you’re completely immersed in what you’re doing. We see it at the beginning of the film, where Speed is in school but imagining himself on the race track. The classroom falls away, and it’s only him in a racecar. The same thing happens at the end of the film, too, when the track’s colors and lights swirl together, and the crowd fades away. Speed is focused on racing and nothing else.
In those moments of flow, nothing else matters to the artist. Doesn’t matter if you’ve had a bad day. Doesn’t matter if you’re tired or hungry. Doesn’t matter what time it is.
The only thing that matters is the art.
Speed Racer is about Speed being able to race (make his art) on his terms, but he also makes art as a way of coping.
Speed Racer is a movie about making good art.
This idea comes from Neil Gaiman’s 2012 keynote address at The University of Arts in Philadelphia. (It was also illustrated on Zen Pencils.)
Check out the links for the full idea, but the concept is pretty simple: when you’re having a rough time, make good art. It doesn’t matter how talented you are or what you make—just that you make art.
What does this mean for Speed?
When he feels…
- Sad about the loss of his brother
- Angry that Taejo used him and Racer X to win a race for a business deal
- Frustrated by the corruption in racing
He gets in his car and drives. He focuses on his art.
Speed Racer is about Speed being ready and able to race the way he wants to, and it’s also about how he focuses on racing as way to cope with whatever comes his way.