THE ARTISTIC FOUNDATIONS

Best movie I was shown involuntarily by a
teacher, having never heard of it before.

It’s difficult to describe.

Hushpuppy is an 6 year old little girl
who lives with her father in an isolated
bayou area known as “The Bathtub.” It is
clear that she is entirely accustomed to
a rather wild lifestyle.

Hushpuppy is shown to have a strict,
considerably abusive father, Wink, who is
implied to be sick. He is Hushpuppy’s only
parent and the key figure in her life. Wink
may seem to take the concept of tough love
too far, but it is shown throughout the
movie to be his way of protecting her.

As issues concerning the Bathtub continue
to arise such as the flood, a herd of
imaginary beasts modeled after
the extinct ox-like aurochs is periodically
shown to be progressively advancing towards
Hushpuppy and the Bathtub.

What makes the film so beautiful and
impacting is seeing Hushpuppy, her little
6-year old self, grow and become the powerful,
intelligent girl she is at the end of the film.
Her father may seem abusive towards her, but it
is apparent that it is his method of teaching his
daughter how to survive in the Bathtub. It is
this coming-of-age, in which Hushpuppy learns to
be like her father that leads her to make the
decisions that affect her towards the end of the
film.

Notice every time Hushpuppy and her father appear
under the aid of normal society, we sense a
feeling of resentment to it, to them in it as it
clear to us that they do not belong there, but in
the Bathtub, the home where they belong.

A scene that is truly magical is the encounter
between Hushpuppy and the auroch especially
because of how strong Hushpuppy seems despite
facing a creature so much greater in size. It
had been implied throughout the film that the
auroch mirrored each other in their trials, and
so in the moment that they meet, it is amazing
to see how they do seem to equivalent to each
other.