Angels and Insects

In Angels and Insects, we see natural science as a metaphor for human behavior, specifically throughout the parallel of the ant farm. It is obvious that the Alabaster family shows as a model for a sort of “natural hierarchy” in the sense that they believe themselves to be pure bred. Edgar especially makes many references to his belief that human hierarchical tendencies are simply a consequence of being “well bred.” Although this is clearly a complicated theme because this belief implies that humans contain some natural sense of superiority to each other.

Another interesting moment I found which exhibits natural science as a human metaphor is when Matty is describing why she adores the ants so much. She says that admires the insects because they have altruistic and socialist tendencies. This is interesting first of all, because she is anthropomorphizing the inherent qualities of the ants, she is imposing human sentiment on a creature that likely has no awareness of these qualities. And secondly, she is using the ants as an ideal model for human behavior. It’s interesting that a creature so simple and seemingly insignificant can have a perfect, idealistic society.

I think the movie simultaneously uses nature as a metaphor to show both the natural tendencies and hierarchical motives of human beings, but also to critique the flaws of these tendencies. For example, incest is obviously immoral and unnatural, which is presented as something that is so abhorred in not only the human world but the animal world.

Anthropomorphism

“Anthropomorphism is any attribution of human characteristics (or characteristics assumed to belong only to humans) to animals, non-living things, phenomena, material states, objects or abstract concepts, such as organizations, governments, spirits or deities.” –Wikipedia Definition of Anthropomorphism

Obviously, our class thus far has largely focused on this concept of anthropomorphism and the projection of human traits onto animals. We first saw this in Painlevé’s documentaries, where he narrates the activities of the animals in human terms. Even the title, “The Love of the Octopus,” implies that there is something more to their mating process than simple biological urges. The idea that an octopus has a romantic sex life or is even capable of feeling an emotion, such as love, is definitely anthropomorphic.

Guest also portrays this possibility of animal emotion in “Best in Show.” What stuck out to me the most in the movie was when the dog owners acted like their pets had some strong desire to win the dog show. This is anthropomorphic in the respect that the dogs are consciously trying to win, that they feel a sense of competition. Although I think the most poignant example of anthropomorphism is the opening scene where the yuppie couple’s dog is in therapy. I found this the most absurd because the dog is literally being treated like their child in the sense that the pet has been “emotionally scarred.”

A last example, that we didn’t discuss in class but is an obvious example of anthropomorphism is Disney’s “The Lion King.” This was, hands down, my favorite movie as a kid and I think everyone is at least familiar with it. One anthropomorphic quality that I see present in this movie is that the lions essentially have a monarchy. If we reference back to the definition above, this would be an example of “governments.” And despite the fact that animals have natural hierarchies, the idea that they have an organized government system is merely an extension of this.

Finally, I think all these example show that anthropomorphism centers on the idea that animals are portrayed with more emotional capacity and agency than they do in real life. Although we respond to this in movies and books because it seems to be extensions of natural animals behavior which in turn causes us to identify with their behavior.

Cute or Anti-Cute?

To be honest I didn't really know what to expect from this reading based on the title, to read a chapter about "cuteness" seemed a little silly at first. However, the concepts of "cute" and "anti-cute" were a bit more complicated than one might think at first glance. The aesthetics, or maybe lack of aesthetics which render something as cute caught my interest right away. The idea that we are attracted to "the grotesque, the malformed" seems rather peculiar and bizarre (Harris, 3). But, in light of Harris' examples, especially of the dolls this started to make more sense. I decided to do a Google image search for one of these dolls, "So Shy Sherri," and she is everything Harris promises. Bizarre features and a dis-proportioned body make Sherri a tad bit creepy in my opinion.

This idea sparked me think of what I perceive as cute and I thought of a particular breed of dog which I've always found adorable, the Welsh Corgi. Its a tiny dog with a a huge snout, ears as big as its face and stubby legs.

Grotesque? I'd say yes. I found this animal to be cute because its physical appearance is a little bit odd and endearing. Harris states that we find this qualities cute because we have sympathy or pity for them, which is definitely true in this case.

I think that Harris best sums up the concepts of "cute" and "anti-cute" when he says that "Cuteness thus coexists in a dynamic relation with the perverse." He gives the example of the movie Child's Play as a manifestation of the anti-cute, but give "So Shy Sherri" a butcher knife and how different is she from Chuckie? The fact that the something perceived as cute can quickly become frightening sheds light on the relativity of these terms. We construct images which are viewed as cute and adorable although there is nothing inherently attractive about them. In the very last paragraph Harris describes the character of Gizmo from Gremlins as a "stylized representation of youth and innocence," which seems to raise the question of whether of adoration of the cute is a yearning back a simpler time. Do we project stereotypical images of cuteness on children because we want to preserve "cute" for as long as we can? God forbid we cross over into the realm of "anti-cute," just don't feed your Mogwai after midnight...