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In the film Beasts of the Southern Wild by Benh Zeitlin, the lines of fantasy and realism are often blurred in the eyes of the protagonist, a little girl nicknamed Hushpuppy. This work alludes to marginalized communities struggles due to poverty and climate change and suggests ways to overcome them. The film presents itself as if seen by a child, which ultimately helps to imagine that despite those challenges, there still is a future.
Some of the first events that the protagonist faces are related to her family. As the narrative uncovers, her father is ill and is nearly gone from existence, and her mother is presumably dead (Zeitlin, 2012). Hushpuppy attempts to handle the grave reality by coming up with alternative visions of the world. For instance, when Hushpuppy remembers her mother, there is an image of floating particles, splashes, or other glimmering specks in the air (Zeitlin, 2012). At the movies end, she describes everything that made me fly around in invisible pieces& I see that Im a little piece of a big, big universe (Zeitlin, 2012). Seeing the specks allows Hushpuppy to imagine the world as an interdependent, fragile web of living things and herself as a part of it never alone (Abbasi, 2018). Perhaps, this approach allows her to think that her family is still connected to her or envision a better future.
The community Hushpuppy grows up in is ragged, poorly educated, yet insistently self-reliant. As Abbasi (2018) argues, Beasts of the Southern Wild presents people who strive to be happy regardless of their circumstances and rely on each other to pull through. The interdependence that Hushpuppy talks about is visible here as well much like the particles that make up a whole, the people in the community stick and persevere together as much as they can. Hushpuppys invisible pieces speech supports collaboration and interconnectedness, inspiring the disregarded populations to integrate with others to create a better future.
Overall, Hushpuppys imagination plays an essential role in interpreting the impending dangers of climate change. The children in the film learn that melting ice caps will result in a flood that will inevitably engulf the island. The teacher also tells them about aurochs, ancient primitive creatures that presumably ate human children back in the day since all of them are made of meat (Zeitlin, 2012). In Hushpuppys imagination, the aurochs will free themselves once the ice melts and eat everyone in their way (Zeitlin, 2012). In reality, the aurochs symbolize the devastating consequences of the melting ice caps on her community (Abbasi, 2018). Essentially, the aurochs as a metaphor help the audience understand that the people in the marginalized communities are treated as sub-human, something for the beasts to consume.
Real life and Hushpuppys fantasy continue to mix throughout the narrative. As the temperatures increase and the ice starts to melt, the creatures unthaw and attack the Bathtub, an event coupled with an enormous hurricane (Zeitlin, 2012). Unlike some of the animals that Hushpuppy could listen to, it appears that they cannot be communicated with, which again helps share with the audience how blindly and unselectively cruel climate change impacts may be. However, when Aurochs kneel before the girl, it shows the viewers that there is still hope for the communities who face their fears. The alternative future for marginalized communities thus lies in learning to adapt and taking control of the situation.
In conclusion, Beasts of the Southern Wild shows the struggles that many vulnerable areas are experiencing in the growing presence of climate change through the eyes of a little girl. Aurochs in the movies symbolize the suffering many populations experience from catastrophic events. Thus, when Hushpuppy confronts the imaginary aurochs, it symbolizes tackling the real climatic catastrophes. Through Hushpuppys observations of all things being connected, the audience may see the value of supporting each other and preserving hope. Moreover, magical realism helps the viewers see the importance of adapting, controlling the situation, and collaborating with others to create alternative futures for marginalized communities.
References
Abbasi, R. (2018). Beasts of the Southern Wild. APERCU: Literature & Cultural Diversity. Web.
Zeitlin, B. (2012). Beasts of the Southern Wild [Adventure, Drama, Fantasy]. Cinereach, Department of Motion Pictures, Court 13 Pictures.
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