The Incredibles

On Sun, 26 Jun 2005 23:08:51 -0400, Dennis Francis Heffernan
<hefferman RemoveThis @comcast.net> wrote:

>David Johnston wrote:
>
>> Well, I finally watched it. The thing I noted is how Mrs. Parr seemed
>> to be speaking some kind of fighter-jockese as she approached
>> Nomanisan Island. It set me to thinking that, given how the law
>> abiding supers all appeared to be more or less "wards of the state",
>> to the point where the United States was covering all of their legal
>> bill, could that be because they were all military reservists, moved
>> in peacetime to the authority of the NSA? The secret I.D.s in that
>> context take on a different texture. They have secret I.D.s not
>> because they risk being arrested...but because although it is no
>> secret that the United States has nuclear missile silos, for example,
>> it is a secret where they are.
>
> No, because if they were actually working for the government they couldn't be
>sued in the first place. They'd be indemnified.

Being a military reservist isn't exactly being "employed" by the
government, at least when you haven't actually been called to duty.
At the same time however, that the government is the one who is
actually paying to defend against the lawsuits suggests that they are
under the government's umbrella somehow without being covered by
Sovereign Immunity. Of course Sovereign Immunity can be waived by the
governments and there are laws which already waive it for certain
torts.

> Of course, it's my (non-lawyer) understanding that they should have been
>protected by good-samaritan laws in any event.
>

The first Good Samaritan law in the United States was passed in 1959
(in California, of course). Given that the heros went out of business
in the early 60s in The Incredibles timeline, and of course that a
specific Good Samaritan law would have to be passed to cover
superheroes, who do a bit more than simply providing first aid, that
isn't a big snag. Presumably at the end of The Incredibles, the
problem has been dealt with by passing just such a law to protect
superheroes, although of course it would not cover gross
irresponsibility (such as Syndrome tossing the tanker truck over his
shoulder) just as a medical professional giving first aid for an
abdomenal wound wouldn't be protected from a lawsuit for amputating
the victim's leg.
 >> Stay informed about: The Incredibles 

Dennis Francis Heffernan <hefferman DeleteThis @comcast.net>
wrote on Sun, 26 Jun 2005 23:08:51 -0400:
> David Johnston wrote:
>> Well, I finally watched it. The thing I noted is how Mrs. Parr seemed
>> to be speaking some kind of fighter-jockese as she approached
>> Nomanisan Island. It set me to thinking that, given how the law
>> abiding supers all appeared to be more or less "wards of the state",
>> to the point where the United States was covering all of their legal
>> bill, could that be because they were all military reservists, moved
>> in peacetime to the authority of the NSA? The secret I.D.s in that
>> context take on a different texture. They have secret I.D.s not
>> because they risk being arrested...but because although it is no
>> secret that the United States has nuclear missile silos, for example,
>> it is a secret where they are.
> No, because if they were actually working for the government they couldn't be
> sued in the first place. They'd be indemnified.
> Of course, it's my (non-lawyer) understanding that they should have been
> protected by good-samaritan laws in any event.

The DVD extras make it fairly clear that they've all been essentially
drafted. Superheroes have to register with the NSA (National Superhero
Agency, no relation to No Such Agency which wasn't known in the '60s
when the film is roughly set), and anyone who doesn't register is a
supervillain.

While individual superheroes can't be sued as such, the government
*can* be sued for the actions of its agents. Even if they would win,
the heroes would have to unmask and endanger the lives of themselves and
their families, which is why they went into the hero relocation program.

Elasti-Girl's just had flight training (and in the DVD extras, you'll
see that her part there was going to be played by another character who
wouldn't survive the crash); maybe on the military dime, maybe not.

The DVD is essential if you want to use it as any kind of background
material, especially reading and playing the audio clips in the NSA
dossiers.

--
<a href="http://kuoi.asui.uidaho.edu/~kamikaze/"> Mark Hughes </a>
"Punch, he kills and looks to me... I cannot help you, Punch; you are
half-crazed." "No, no, no, Punch is fully crazed. He is a sociopath. He can
do anything because he feels nothing. Mr. Punch is a winner." -Colin Miller
 >> Stay informed about: The Incredibles 

Mark 'Kamikaze' Hughes wrote
"The DVD is essential if you want to use it as any kind of background
material, especially reading and playing the audio clips in the NSA
dossiers. "

Personaly I found the DVD worth it just for Jack Jack atack. It was
hillarious.
 >> Stay informed about: The Incredibles 

Mark 'Kamikaze' Hughes wrote:

> The DVD extras make it fairly clear that they've all been essentially
> drafted.

I didn't watch all the extras but I did see the "government files" thing, and
I think it's ambiguous at best on that point.

> While individual superheroes can't be sued as such, the government
> *can* be sued for the actions of its agents.

It was my understanding that it is virtually impossible to sue the government
in these types of cases. If, for instance, the police are executing a
no-knock search warrant on my neighbor, read the address wrong and
accidentally break down my door instead, I've got about a zero chance of
getting the city to pay for the damage.

--
Dennis F. Heffernan CoH: Venture (Virtue) hefferman.DeleteThis@comcast.net
#include <disclaim.h> MS Messenger: Venture

"And I say now these kittens, they do not get trained/As we did in the days
when Victoria reigned!" -- T.S. Eliot, "Gus, the Theatre Cat"
 >> Stay informed about: The Incredibles 

On Fri, 01 Jul 2005 04:58:00 -0400, Dennis Francis Heffernan
<hefferman.TakeThisOut@comcast.net> wrote:

>Mark 'Kamikaze' Hughes wrote:
>
>> The DVD extras make it fairly clear that they've all been essentially
>> drafted.
>
> I didn't watch all the extras but I did see the "government files" thing, and
>I think it's ambiguous at best on that point.
>
>> While individual superheroes can't be sued as such, the government
>> *can* be sued for the actions of its agents.
>
> It was my understanding that it is virtually impossible to sue the government
>in these types of cases. If, for instance, the police are executing a
>no-knock search warrant on my neighbor, read the address wrong and
>accidentally break down my door instead, I've got about a zero chance of
>getting the city to pay for the damage.

If on the other hand the cops bust into your place by mistake and put
you into the hospital through an excess of enthusiasm, you've got a
pretty good chance of filing a lawsuit that will do some damage. It
depends on the local sovereign immunity waivers though.
 >> Stay informed about: The Incredibles 

Has anyone played the Incredibles console game? Does it introduce new
supervillains?
 >> Stay informed about: The Incredibles