Beasts of the Southern Wild

Finally saw this movie and I was blown away. I liked the magical realist aesthetic and world where supernatural events and ancient aurochs appear after the storm (allegory for Hurricane Katrina and the destructive impact on the environment of Louisiana?), and the young protagonist is played by an adorable, talented child. It's interesting how it's never revealed what happened to her mother, but the focus on her relationship with her father was, I suppose, another example of the coming of age story, where this child learns to be an adult by dealing with her father's death. Also, I liked how the residents of the small town in the bayou flee from the refugee center, where it seems like they're being forced against their will and treated like caged animals, although they were treating the protagonist's father.

I suppose part of the magic of this film is it does seem to come out of the imagination and perspective of Hushpuppy, who speaks to her dead and gone mother as well as animals, somehow remembers every single time she was lifted by another person (including her infant years, an example of magic realism), and refers to places as "Bathtubs" and otherwise weaves the adult world with her own fantasty and imagination. I suppose the film also had a lot to say about the environment regarding global warming, how we're destroying the planet and ourselves, and the propensity of humanity to oppress humanity (children bossed around and subject to abuse, the people of Hushpuppy's town pushed around by the government).

I particularly enjoyed the odd but touching scene aboard a ship with 'strippers' who act motherly and dance with the children who accompany Hushpuppy, especially the waitress who Hushpuppy asks to be her mother but ends up carrying her on her shoulder and dancing. Quite moving and adorable, though the sequence seems to have no connections to the 'real' world...magical realism! Oh, and they played some nice old-time jazz, "Until the Real Thing Comes Along," which was fun to hear.

What did you think of the film? What about it spoke to you? Surprisingly, race was a seemingly insignificant factor in the Bathtub. Do you think that reflects more of the white crew and writers and directors involved in the project, or something that seems more accurate in the worldview of a young girl? Also, it was difficult not to think of Biblical parallels in the Noah story with the flooded Bathtub, as well as the symbolic importance of water as a life-saving force, and a cause of death and destruction. Isn't the performance of the cast, mostly people with no experience in acting but from the communities portrayed in the film, profoundly real amidst the magical realism of Hushpuppy's world? The film's authenticity and message align well with the coming of age story, facing your fears, and Hushpuppy's (and her community's) connections to the land they call home, regardless of the extreme poverty they experience.

Still, part of me recalls Obama's harsh review of Black Orpheus for romanticizing the poverty of Afro-Brazilians from a favela to paint a magical world of vivid colors, bossa nova, samba, Carnival, and mythology.