The Southern Beasts and the Southern Wild

Maybe it’s me, but I’ve noticed that indie films are starting to get big. From movies like my personal favorite, Whale Rider, to recent hit sensation, Moonrise Kingdom, indie directors aim for something Hollywood cannot and that, my friends, is artistic license. Transforming simple plot lines to exotic adventures is what many indie films do best. Of course though, there are those few exceptions (like Joel Schumacher’s Twelve) that fail to capture anything imaginative and interesting. But for the most part, indie films are rather refreshing.

When my high school friend called me up for a movie, our plan was rather surprisingly deep and meaningful for a Tuesday evening. Now, enter the little engine that could, Beasts of the Southern Wild, directed by Benh Zeitlin. Quickly skimming over the synopsis when ‘multitasking’ during work, I honestly did not know what I was getting myself into as I stepped into the movie theatre.

The film starts with a young six year old girl, Hushpuppy (Quvenzhané Wallis) living with her alcoholic father, Wink (Dwight Henry). Located in the South, there is a group of people who have built themselves a utopia called the ‘Bathtub.’ Imagine people living in tree houses with bottles of beer free to everyone. “Everyday is a holiday,” Hushpuppy says as she lights her sticks of fireworks up and runs through the streets with her father behind her. Their utopia comes to a sudden crash when a hurricane is announced and most everyone starts evacuating to the city for safety. Wink can’t think of even leaving their home, much less the Bathtub. Instead, he and Hushpuppy remain in their small hut, waiting for the storm to pass. When the hurricane blows over, they go out to see who has survived and with their neighbors, they start to build their homes once more.

The storyline is fairly simple, I must admit. The setting is current. The characters are believable and overall, the narration from a six year old’s point of view is suitable and intriguing. Yet, there are certain parts of the film that really capture the audience.

The relationship between Wink and Hushpuppy is undeniably frustrating. Wink is an alcoholic. It takes only seconds for him to snap. He’s impulsive. He’s on the edge of dangerous. He is a single father who doesn’t know how to raise a child, that much is obvious. Zeitlin has managed to develop his character so well though, that we want to love him despite his idea of tough love. Throughout the film, we learn that he is the kind of father that would do anything for his kid. “My only purpose in life is to teach her how to make it,” Wink says in regards to Hushpuppy. How does that work? Why do humans have such personalities that contradict values and traditions? What are our values? Safety? Family? Then wonder, how far will we go to protect those values?

Wink tells Hushpuppy that she will one day be king of the Bathtub, but then, that leaves us wondering whether that prediction will come true or not. So tell me, is it okay to teach your child that they can do anything they want to in life when it simply isn’t true? Should we tell them dreams aren’t real and only figments of our imagination?

And that brings me to my next point. Imagination. I love creativity and being one of those outside thinkers, I encourage people to teach in different ways and learn in ways that help them. (Maybe me having a learning difference may have something to do with this... anyways, continuing on...) What I appreciate about the film is Hushpuppy’s imagination. She dreams of big beasts that come storming through the fields whenever a big event is about to occur. She hopes for her mother coming back to the family. She sees the big contrast between the small life in the Bathtub and what we call, ‘the real world,’ the ‘civilized world.’ She has so many ideas and thoughts that go through her head, whether it be triggered by something someone says or does and it brings a surreal element to the film. It leads to questions like, What is real? What is fake? Do people see these monsters as we see them? When people die, are they really dead or are they waiting for us in a lighthouse cafe somewhere beyond the horizon?

The film is guided by Hushpuppy’s narration. Her small voice becomes another contradiction to the big screen, but it makes an even bigger statement. “I see that I am a little piece of a big, big universe and that makes it right,” she says and it makes me wonder, when did the world become such a small place? And when did people start having the right to say, ‘It’s a small world after all’? Is that just another lessons we have been brainwashed with? It’s rare when a film is able to convey these messages to its audience. We can only seem to find this sort of innocence in books, but somehow the film, Beasts of the Southern Wild manages to pull it off.

So if you were sitting there in Professor Fred Wilcox’s personal essay class thinking, “What in the world is going on?”, then I would highly recommend this small indie film to you. All those questions about ‘What is love,’ ‘What is fear,’ and ‘What world do I live in’ will be answered. Maybe Professor Wilcox was onto something when he said children are wiser than grownups. Think about that next time you’re talking to a kid. Despite all your schooling, you’ll see that that kids know how to tell truth. And in this world, all we want to know is the truth... right?

This film is rated PG 13. Despite the fact it features and revolves around a six year old, it is probably not suitable to show a six year old, just saying. Directed by Benh Zeitlin, starring Quvenzhané Wallis, Dwight Henry, Levy Easterly. Beasts of the Southern Wild is now playing in theatres.