When a Car is a Boy's Best Friend

One of the greatest things about Ian's enthusiasms is the way that he follows his heroes with his whole heart. When he was in Wall-E mode, the very thought of Wall-E would make him all warm and happy. And now that he's in Herbie mode, things are only more intense.

Whenever he watches any of those relics of the 70's, which of course we can download for no extra cost with our Netflix account - hence the high availility of the genre in our house - he pours himself into Herbie's cause. When Herbie does anything altruistic, as he often does, Ian grins in approval. When Herbie takes revenge on the bad guys, Ian wallows in pride for the protagonist. And in "Herbie Fully Loaded," when all of the VW's in San Francisco converge, without drivers, on the scene of Herbie's rescue of Mrs. Steinmetz from the evil property developer trying to tear down the firehouse where she lives (much reminiscent of the splendid convergence of all the balloons of Paris in "The Red Balloon"), Ian is practically in tears, beholding the solidarity of VW-Bug-Nation under Herbie's courageous leadership.

But the best profession of love emerged last night, in the car. We hadn't been doing anything Herbiesque that day - no movies, no playing with Herbie toy cars - but still his presence in Ian's inner life made its mark on the evening. Ian rather spontaneously speculated: "If Herbie was real, then he wouldbe one of my best friends."

(September 21, 2009)