I know that this is strange that I am posting another review, that to during “Halloween Month.” However, there is an explanation for this. I am an assistant for an English 101 class at my old Community College twice a week at night, and one day we were watching a film. When I had informed the professor that I have a blog where I talk about films, she asked if I could review the film we watched in class since the students will be writing a Rhetorical Analysis paper on the film, and that way they can reference it in their paper, along with other critics who reviewed this film, like Roger Ebert. The title of this film is called “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” released in 2012.
Now, if you haven’t heard of it, don’t feel bad. I hadn’t heard of it until the professor had mentioned it to the students, so I decided to check out the film with the class. The basic story of this film is that it’s about Hushpuppy (Quvenzhané Wallis) and her father, Wink (Dwight Henry), and how they are surviving in their town called “The Bathtub,” which looks like a city post-Hurricane Katrina.
This is a directorial debut of Benh Zeitlin, who based this on a screenplay and stage play by his partner, Lucy Alibar. Here’s a trivia: they actually found post-Katrina locations in the damaged bayous of Louisiana, and made this movie on a small budget shooting it at this realistic and particularly detailed town. Everyone in the Bathtub knows one another, since this is a small place, and, if you can believe it, they all look around the age of the people who were hit with Katrina.
One night in class, the professor had told the students that one time, she had a student who was from Pakistan and told the entire class that they were spoiled since they had not believed that there were actually places like the Bathtub in this movie. I would have to agree with the student, because as a son of parents who are from Pakistan, I have gone back and seen the places there both alone and with my parents, so I can definitely relate to this film. Also, during the Winter session of 2010, when I was a student at my Community College, I went on a Study Abroad Program to Mexico, which also is a country that is strong in poverty. Little children would be coming up to us and asking if we wanted to buy some gum, which really made us sad. When those kids get older, they would be selling jewelry in a booth on the Zocalo. Whatever we try to do, we cannot seem to convince the people who can stop poverty make it stop, which is a sad fact of life. I would be really surprised if people think that there aren't places with extreme poverty because it shows that they were living under a rock and not going out to see the world. If they go out and see those places, then they would know and understand. Believe it or not, there are places like the Bathtub where people do not have all the resources that we have and have to really struggle to survive by scrounging up whatever they can to eat. Especially since the technology that we get shipped here are made by slave labors that are homeless and have no family or place to go. A lot of people aren't spoiled since they don't have the resources that we have, and this film clearly shows that.
After you see this movie, I would hope that all of your eyes will open up and you will know, if you have never known before, that there are places like the Bathtub that are really common amongst “Third-World Countries.” Not everyone has the resources that many people do since places can’t give the people clean water or neat clothes or even good food to eat. The world is a scary place that people should realize is not full of sunshine and rainbows, even though we are taught that from childhood. If only everyone had a clear vision and idea of that saying, then they would realize the true meaning behind it.
Wallis and Henry are actually really believable in their roles of Hushpuppy and Wink. They play a father and daughter who are struggling together to survive. The mother is absent for unknown reasons, but we as viewers can speculate that maybe she died in the Hurricane. That would be my best guess, but I’m not saying that I would know for sure. However, since Hushpuppy is all Wink has left, he is trying to do the best he can to take care of her, even though it may seem farfetched with the methods he uses. In the end, he does make her strong and stand up to certain things like finding out how to survive with making food and facing fears. Hushpuppy really grows in this movie and does show that there are kids her age that are strong kids that will learn how to take care of themselves if something bad were to happen. I really liked this relationship, although there were things about Wink that I didn’t like. For instance, he is an alcoholic, but that’s probably common amongst a lot of families.
Overall, this is a powerful movie with a very powerful message. Even though there are people that are telling the citizens of the Bathtub that they are not allowed to stay there and must evacuate, they don’t want to leave their home since they are comfortable where they’re at and feel like they don’t need help since they feel harmed or threatened.
I highly recommend everyone to see this movie. You will not be the same after seeing it. It will open your eyes up to a whole new part of the world that you probably didn’t know existed. Since I was already familiar that there are cities and towns with the citizens in poverty, it wasn’t new but still left a powerful impact after I finished it. This film will teach you that you need to survive and learn how to be strong individuals after you’ve seen it.
Roger Ebert admitted in his review, “I met Dwight Henry, who plays Wink. He owns his own pastry shop, and the casting people had to visit him in the middle of the night because he bakes all night. He said he's not interested in an acting career. His life is centered on his wife and five children. They are his bedrock, and that is the conviction he brings to the role of Hushpuppy's daddy. This movie is a fantasy in many ways, but the authenticity and directness of the untrained actors make it effortlessly convincing.” That’s actually nice since Dwight Henry probably knows all the headache of being an actor. Constantly traveling, not getting enough sleep, not seeing your family as much, offering roles that you don’t feel comfortable with, being chased by the media and paparazzi, etc. I don’t mind that he won’t become an actor.
Anyways, I hope everyone liked my review of the film. Stay tuned tomorrow when I pick back up on “Halloween Month.”
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