In response to my recent postings about the lack of any positive insurance role models in pop culture, blog reader Doug pointed out the popular 2004 animated film, "The Incredibles," where "the main character's soul-sucking job is…an insurance adjuster!" When you learn more about this negative portrayal, it gets even worse for the industry.
Indeed, the only reason Mr. Incredible was driven out of a life of crime-fighting in the first place was all the lawsuits filed by those he saved! (Damn those greedy plaintiff lawyers! LOL!)
Get a load of the plot summary posted on IMDb, the Internet Movie Database:
"Mr. Incredible is a superhero; or he used to be, until a surge of lawsuits against superheroes submitted by the people they've saved forced the government to hide them in witness protection programs so they could lead normal, anonymous lives."
(When I told my wife, Cheryl, about Mr. Incredible and friends being driven out of the do-gooding business by litigation, she pointed out a marketing opportunity for the industry! Who would like to be the first to market professional liability insurance for superheroes???)
"Now known exclusively by his secret identity, Bob Parr…he works as an insurance claims specialist, and he's fed up with his pushy boss and his immoral profession…"
("Immoral" profession, huh? And of course his claims manager boss is "pushy." Are there any other kind??? LOL!)
"Mr. Incredible, relocated into an insurance job, still continues in his superhero ways, albeit in a more subtle manner (finding loopholes for his customers). Of course, he is eventually caught, resulting in a lecture by his boss. During the lecture, Bob becomes so infuriated that he throws his boss through a wall (in fact, several of them) and is obviously fired."
(I guess Mr. Incredible won't have any employment practices claim for wrongful termination, huh?)
On a more serious note, this highly popular movie perpetuates all the negative stereotypes about insurance claims people, instead of showing all the good the vast majority of adjusters and claims managers do every day to make people whole again.
I think it's time that we had an insurance superhero, don't you??? A super-claims adjuster, who can swoop into disaster zones to save the lives, homes and businesses of policyholders would be a good place to start, wouldn't you think???
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