Beasts of the Southern Wild 20 mark question
20 mark question with reference to the contemporary American film, ‘Beasts of the Southern wild’:
‘To what extend do the films you have studied engage with the political/philosophical concerns of the early 21stCentury.‘
In this essay I will be discussing how the contemporary American film ‘Beasts of the Southern wild’ engages with political and philosophical concerns of the 21st century.
Firstly, one philosophical concern of the 21st century, that is more prominent in social terms, is the idea of gender and strength. For example in arm-wrestling sequence, when Hushpuppy is repeatedly defined in a masculine way, saying to herself through the dialogue ‘I’m the man’ as wink promises her she will become ‘King of the Bathtub’. As Hushpuppy and wink arm-wrestling the camera uses a wide angle shot, at the low level of Hushpuppy’s eyeline, fitting both characters into frame, to suggest how they are alike and compares their strength in physicality as well as using a closeup of Hushpuppy to represent how she has the stronger mental strength over Wink. This could be seen from one perspective as critiquing dominant values of gender by showing a female, like Hushpuppy, as strong, however on the other hand demonstrating stereotypical ideology about how to be strong is to be the ideal archetypal male, presented as powerful, tough and lacking any emotions or weaknesses. The social concept of strength is also presented clearly in the ‘Beast it’ scene as Wink shows Hushpuppy how to tear apart crabs in order to feast on them, taking a rough and feral approach to his parenting. The use of cuts between the camera tracking/ circling around the table to still shots of the group from Hushpuppy’s point of view, creates a jarring and unsettling atmosphere, displaying Wink’s unorthodox parenting style and morals. This links to the idea of strength and gender to create meaning as it acts as an initiation and rite of passage for Hushpuppy to becoming an independent and powerful ‘man’ of the Bathtub showing the extents of her physical strength, giving the impression of a tribal or cultural tradition.
Next, one political concern of the 21st century that we might see in the film Beasts of the Southern wild is the ongoing criticism of modernised America. For example in opening sequence, through mise en scene, we see how Wink’s boat is welded out of flat bed and an old pick-up truck, a clear symbol of his dismissal of conventional cultures and the advancements of modern society. This shows how the Bathtub has a sense of hedonism and freedom to live life how they want, a concept foreign to American capitalist ideology in a materialised world of success, money and possessions, where something such as a car would be of greater value than happiness. This is a common ideology we see opposed in the Bathtub through celebrations, parties and alcohol. Within Hushpuppy’s voice over, she refers to mainland America as the ‘Dry world’ suggesting it is viewed as boring, ordinary and insignificant from a six year old’s point of view, overall relating to how the dominant parade and jazz culture presents the Bathtub as incompatible with American capitalist views, representing them as restricting and unequal. Another example of this is in the hospital scene where, politically, the modern American government is heavily criticises for being cruel and violent as the authority government workers are seen forcefully taking the Bathtub dwellers from the comfort and safety of their homes. A negotiated reading of this would present the healthcare workers as trying their best to help the dwellers, however villainising the government workers to be portrayed as the enemy, which can be seen in a number of ways. Firstly, in terms of representation, the workers are presented as white American males, linking to idealised gender and ethnicity of the typical American citizen, suggesting how the morals of society are not developing equally alongside the rest of society, thus linking back to the idea of gender. As well as this, the use of the low angle shot from Hushpuppy’s POV shows how they appear unfamiliar and intimidating, at the same time creating meaning towards the ongoing class divide, viewing them as higher up in status and importance. This stresses the Libertarian values, including abolishment of capitalism in which the communities would rather live on a ‘barter system’, as well as the values of Bathtub’s personal autonomy of wanting to live their lives without interference from the state.
Lastly, I believe that the film engages with the political issues of the 21st century as it heavily criticises urbanisation for being responsible for issues around climate change, ultimately resulting in Hurricane Katrina. Firstly, in the opening sequence, within Hushpuppy’s voiceover, she refers to America as having ‘fish stuck in plastic wrappers’, accusing the US to be guilty and responsible for the mass causes of climate change, like plastic wrappers polluting the ocean, then flooding into the Bathtub as the water levels rise. Hushpuppy also later goes on to call America ‘ugly’ as she looks at the looming oil refineries beyond the levee emitting fossil fuels and smoke. This creates meaning as it presents the urbanised and advanced state of America as inauthentic and ugly, referring to its industry and technology. Another example of this is through the use of mise en scene during the hospital sequence. In this we are shown an extreme close up of a polystyrene plate from Hushpuppy’s low eye line, inferring her heightened interest, curiosity and confusion of the object. The significance of this is to display the manmade and manufactured goods to the spectator, emphasising how they are bad for the environment and cheap, thus implying how the US would rather trade and profit from goods than express concern about what impacts it has on the environment. This contrasts the natural world in which Hushpuppy centres herself around, therefore putting the blame on civilisation, suggesting it’s also their responsibility to act upon this and change what they’ve done wrong.
Emma Coe Film Studies 