Running Head: DISCOURSE COMMUNITY ETHNOGRAPHY ON THE INCREDIBLES

Discourse Community Ethnography on The Incredibles

Erin M. Portillo

University of Texas at El Paso

Rhetoric & Composition 1301

Professor Hernandez
 DISCOURSE COMMUNITY ETHNOGRAPHY ON THE INCREDIBLES

Introduction

A discourse community entails shared values and goals amongst a community of people

and the communication of those goals. According to Swales, a discourse community fulfills six

characteristics to allow for the intercommunication and ultimately, accomplishment of the goal

(Swales, pg 215). The movie The Incredibles follows a family of superheroes forced into

retirement by the government now navigating two lifestyles and how their superhero community

lends a hand to achieve the ultimate goal of saving lives and battling evil.

Characteristic One

To draw upon the characteristics of a discourse community, it’s important to first meet

the family. Bob (Mr. Incredible) and Helen (Elastigirl) Parr are parents to Violet, Dash, and

Jack-Jack who are aware of their parents’ retired superhero status. The first characteristic The

Incredibles holds to be a discourse community is having a broadly agreed set of public goals.

Although Bob and Helen are retired superheroes, they still come out of retirement to fight crime

and save lives from fires or an upset former apprentice who has built an Omnidroid to destroy

the city of Metroville where he was rejected as an amateur superhero. Mr. Incredible and

Elastigirl also belong to a community of various superheroes who value the well-being of the

people of Metroville.

Characteristic Two

Another characteristic Swales uses to describe a discourse community is the mechanisms

of intercommunication which will vary accordingly (Swales, pg. 221). When Mr. Incredible

begins feeling antsy and wanting to get out of retirement, he receives a letter with hologram

abilities calling him on a secret mission. Without Helen knowing, Bob agrees to the mission and
 DISCOURSE COMMUNITY ETHNOGRAPHY ON THE INCREDIBLES

heads to costume designer Edna who designs a new costume for him. Helen becomes suspicious

and meets Edna who tells her about the new costumes she has designed for the entire Parr family

to use on the mission with Bob. Through Edna, families communicate about missions and

costume designs or upgrades that will assist the superheroes in both secret trainings and

missions. In this case, Edna was the middle point of communication. Edna also informs Helen

that she has inserted a tracking system in each of the suits which allows for a new form of

communication for the family as well as other “supers.”

Although some discourse communities may have very specific ways of communication,

communication as simple as face to face interaction or correspondence allows for sharing

thoughts on the end goal. It can be said that the lack of communication between Helen and Bob

and their kids about their superhero lifestyle causes Violet, Dash, and Jack-Jack to be kept out of

a community they have the right to belong to but because of the new mission, they are given a

chance to experience the community and work toward the goal of saving the city and fighting

crime along fellow superheroes.

Characteristic Three

Following another discourse community characteristic according to Swales, discourse

communities use participatory mechanisms to provide information or feedback (Swales, pg.

221). Like all superheroes, the Parr family has identical costumes made by Edna. Without these

costumes, their identities would be known to all in Metroville. When designing these costumes,

Edna has everyone go through a series of trainings to ensure all material is relevant and useful to

each superhero. When Bob goes to Edna for a new costume after his first has torn, he asks that

she include a cape for him. Edna declines because there had been too many deaths due to the

cape being caught in previous missions. The feedback provided in these training sessions allows
 DISCOURSE COMMUNITY ETHNOGRAPHY ON THE INCREDIBLES

Edna to make the necessary adjustments to the costumes so that Violet, for example, may

become invisible when needed without her costume still being seen. Exchanging this feedback or

information will allow for improvements in costumes and allow for everyone do their job

accordingly.

Characteristic Four

A fourth characteristic Swales uses to describe a discourse community is the utilization of

genres (Swales, pg. 221). At the beginning of the movie, newspapers, digital signs, and media

coverage are shown suing Mr. Incredible and other “Supers” for all collateral damages during

their crime fighting moments. The use of newspaper and other media is an example of genres

used for feedback in communities. In this case, the feedback on the superheroes and their

community is negative. This feedback is used to then ban superheroes from their crime fighting

because while saving the citizens of the Metroville, they are also causing significant amounts of

damage and costing the city millions of dollars in damages.

Characteristic Five

Throughout the movie, specific terms are used that the general community may not be

familiar with or use daily. With the Parr family in specific, they use terms to identify their super

powers when out in public. For example, Dash sneakily uses his power of speed in the classroom

and when his parents discuss his actions, Bob asks what he “clocked,” or how fast he was going.

Because the public is not aware of who Dash is or what he is capable of, the family must be

careful when referencing to any “abnormal” actions. Swales mentions the common use of lexis

in conversations between people of the same community and the lack of understanding from

those not familiar or involved with that community specifically (Swales, pg. 222).
 DISCOURSE COMMUNITY ETHNOGRAPHY ON THE INCREDIBLES

Characteristic Six

The last characteristic Swales uses to describe a discourse community is the threshold of

members with a suitable degree of relevant content and discoursal expertise (Swales, pg. 222).

Having novices and experts in each community is vital to the survival of any community. As

previously mentioned, Bob comes out of retirement to defeat the Omnidroid which was built by

Syndrome, once known as Incrediboy, a former super fan of Mr. Incredible. In this case, he was

the novice and Mr. Incredible was the expert, having been a superhero for quite some time then.

Swales notes that members may leave by death or less involuntary ways, in this case, Mr.

Incredible promptly rejects Incrediboy as part of the community, obviously not a voluntary

parting on Incrediboy’s behalf.

Conclusion

In depth analysis of the movie The Incredibles suggests that it is an example of a

discourse community because the community of superheroes and the Parr family follow the six

criteria of a discourse community as defined by John Swales. The primary goal of fighting crime

and saving lives set by the community is shared across the supers using lexis,

intercommunication capabilities, genres, and the guidance of experts in the community. The six

characteristics are found to be used broadly throughout the movie but follow the requirements of

discourse communities established by Swales.

 DISCOURSE COMMUNITY ETHNOGRAPHY ON THE INCREDIBLES

References

Producer, J.W., & Director, B.B.. (November 5, 2004). The Incredibles. United States: Buena

Vista Pictures

Swales, J. (2017). Genre Analysis. Retrieved 18 September 2017, from

https://icapwow.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/swales-the-concept-of-discourse-

community.pdf