Toys.

Toys. What do we do when we outgrow them? We throw them away.

Just watched Toy Story 4 and here are some thoughts I had.

Personally, I felt that Toy Story 4 highlights the prevalence of consumerism in world we live in today.

There are many subtleties in the movie that highlights the strangling hold of consumerism in our lives and how materialistic items end up being the collateral damage in our perusal of consumerism.

Woody got lucky because he got to enjoy the company of Andy and Bonnie simply because he was not a defect like Gabby Gabby.

But it comes full circle when Woody is passed over from one owner to another and eventually he is lost because he has lost his meaning in life.

His present meaning in life encompasses bringing Forky back to Bonnie knowing that he was no longer Bonnie’s favourite toy. This was the bitter truth.

The same fate befalls Gabby Gabby much quicker largely due to the fact that she was a defective toy from the start. She loses her meaning in life too.

The film draws a parallel in both characters’ endings and makes us question if we indirectly have resulted in their fates.

Forky’s existence makes us question how what we assume as trash (disposables) could actually be used as a toy. Forky’s fate was a no brainer – he was literally useless. Simply just trash and you know it , we know it, he knows it.

Forky completes the story by saying that our perusal of materialistic belongings results in the creation of trash.

It begs the question, how do you differentiate what is trash and what is not?

Just because Woody and other toys are visually more appealing doesn’t mean that everyone (or child) in this case will like them.

Take the case of Gabby Gabby, Harmony didn’t want her anymore so she had to look for another owner.

But what makes you think that every toy will end up having a second chance? They would be deemed as trash once they have fulfilled the temporary wants of human kind.

Contrary to what the story entails, second chances for toys hardly come by.

Who would want a used toy from god knows where it has been? Everyone wants it new. New clothes. New shoes. New toys. That’s the world we live in today.

Ultimately, the fate of these unwanted toys has always been the same tragic end.

When Woody said he was ‘lost’, his lifespan has come full circle and he has reached the end of his journey – he was no longer useful; he was sadly, what we deemed as trash.

It resonated further when Forky said he was Bonnie’s trash because that’s exactly what Woody was.

I suppose we can go on and say that I would want to help reduce consumerism by not buying things or start looking at second hand goods but I guess the whole story wraps up to the notion of responsibility.

We can try to change who we are to change the fates of these temporary materialistic wants.

We can even try to reduce the demand of these things to prevent similar fates from happening. But let it be known that we are only human and well, consumerism will always be problem we can never fully solve.

Perhaps one of the biggest reasons I absolutely adore such animated films is that they will always be timeless.

Watching Toy Story through the lens of my 6 year-old self would have said that Toy Story 4 is about friendship. Then again, the whole franchise has been about friendship. But my 23 year-old self begs to differ.

Toy Story is a children’s film that is supposed to have a happy ending.

But I really applaud the film at how it mimics the life cycle of toys as close to reality as possible. To be bought in the spur of the moment, to outgrow them and pass them on to someone else and eventually they end up as someone’s trash when they are no longer wanted.

The film balances the realities of toys without compromising its integrity as a children’s film.

Woody seemed to be happier being a lost toy but the sad reality is that it’s not something to rejoice about. But yet they narrated in way whereby they convinced the audience that he was indeed in a happier place.

Children’s films are supposed to have happy endings but as you grow up you start to understand that is not entirely the reality we live in today.

What changed? I suppose I did. I grew up.

Yet it’s films like this that make me think and reflect about meanings that are larger than life itself.