The following contains:
a) maybe some spoilers for Beasts of the Southern Wild
b) no sarcasm whatsoever. I am not even kidding. None. And this statement is not sarcastic either.
Thank you, to the girls behind me tonight at Beasts of the Southern Wild.
I’ve seen it three times now, but this time, I got it. Because of you, and your talking. Your vociferous disgust at bag worms, dead coyotes, dirty people. Your insistence that Hushpuppy was “so cute.” Your squeals and moans and upturned noses. Your cooing and crooning and condescension.
You didn’t get it. But I finally did.
Hushpuppy, the bagworms, the dead coyote, the dying father…All the same thing. I know she says it, over and over: everything is connected. Yes. Intellectually, yes. I got it. Interconnected web of existence. Check.
But listening to the three of you miss the point so incredibly drove it dead home to me. I may have nodded along and agreed with the surface of the film, the first two times. Third time’s a charm. Your visceral disgust meant my visceral understanding.
So thank you, for that miracle of juxtaposition.
Lara Elena Donnelly 