The Human Brain: An Underdog Story, Told Through A Bug's Life

Stories come in hundreds of shapes and sizes. They follow good guys and bad guys, likely heroes and unlikely heroes, humans and animals. The storylines range from the most generic to the most unique and complex. There’s been variations of every kind of story that the mind can think of, but arguably no basis for a story is as popular as the underdog story— that of the poor, unlikely hero who has to combat the evils that are much larger than themselves. In modern movies, this includes the Rocky movies to the Star Wars movies and hundreds in between. Why do people love underdog stories so much? The 1998 Pixar film A Bug’s Life proves humans innately love rooting for underdogs because subconsciously they believe that doing so makes them more unique and interesting than others.

In order to understand how A Bug’s Life proves this idea, one must first understand why people take such interest in underdog stories. In University of California Professor Abby Prestin’s research paper titled The Pursuit of Hopefulness: Operationalizing Hope in Entertainment Media Narratives, she found, “…those in the underdog condition felt more hopeful and reported greater motivation to pursue their own goals…” The  people watching the underdog stories felt more optimistic and capable of following their own motivations. It made them feel sanguine, but more importantly, individually capable and assured. Watching and rooting for someone that realistically shouldn’t win, but does win, makes them feel more unique and positive, partially due to the inspirational factor, but also as a boost for their own perseverance. They were able to stick with these underdogs in spite of the invariable realistic chances of them actually winning. It’s the rewarding feeling that the viewer gets that makes them motivated and like their own person, not the result itself.

This begs the question: How does the movie A Bug’s Life represent this idea? It all hinges on the main character, Flick. Similarly to the rest of the ants in the story, he is an underdog. He and the ants are much weaker than the grasshoppers, and seem incapable of defeating them. However, what makes Flick different is how he’s perceived by the other ants. He’s seen as an ant that’s even more incapable than the rest, as an inventor who only makes situations worse, and an idiot. When he sets out to find aid, it’s in order to get rid of him, not because they believe in him. He’s an individual within an ant colony, insects that supposedly lack individuality. He is, in essence, an underdog, within the underdogs, and when the ants, against all odds, defeated the grasshoppers, their victory can be attributed to him. He remained willing to fight and believe in the underdogs the whole way, unlike the ants who refuse to believe that they can defeat the grasshoppers. As such, he was the unique, while the rest of the ants were ordinary and members of the hive mind. Just as how to the viewer, they are unique, as they remain rooting for the underdogs, and are rewarded by a sense of individuality when they win.

To be entirely certain of this idea that people want to see an underdog tale, one needs to look no further than professional sports. Underdogs have existed in every competitive sports scene, one example as recent as March Madness of 2014. According to Forbes, the Brigham Young University did a research study on how underdog competition affects the viewership of basketball during March Madness. What they found is that a finals game that featured a expectation defying team, or “Cinderella Team,” would get around 35% more viewers than if the match was between to notoriously equal teams. This proves that more viewers would watch the finals if the match was statistically meant to be a stomp, regardless of if their team was in it or not. Viewers are more excited to watch if there is a chance that an underdog team could take the win. This also lines up with the idea that viewers want to root for an underdog team, for the same reasons as before. If the team that shouldn’t win does win, and the view was rooting for this team, then the viewer will get the same sense of morality and individuality as is seen with the example of movies.

It may seem odd to most people at first, to consider that A Bug’s Life is making a statement about the psychology of human beings, but when one stops to consider the facts, it becomes surprisingly evident. A Bug’s Life is a movie all about setting oneself apart from others, to be an individual and not just a part of the hive mind. So it would not be surprising if the creators intentionally made a main character that would insight these feelings in the viewer. When underdog stories are made and read, watched, listened to, and so on, the character isn’t the only one who feels like an underdog, the viewer is as well. A Bug’s Life embodies this idea, and as such makes it the perfect movie for explaining these underdog effects.

Works Cited

Becher, Jonathan. "Do Underdogs Boost March Madness Ratings?" Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 31 Mar. 2014. Web. 12 Oct. 2016.

Prestin, Abby. "The Pursuit of Hopefulness: Operationalizing Hope in Entertainment Media Narratives." Media Psychology 16 March, 2013: 318-46.

A Bug's Life. Dir. John Lasseter and Andrew Stanton. By Andrew Stanton, Donald McEnery, and Bob Shaw. Pixar, 1998.