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How Saving Zoe Adresses Online Sexual Exploitation

11/30/2020

By Zoe Leininger

Film is a medium that is able to address social issues in ways that are engaging to audiences. Based of the 2007 novel by Alyson Noel, Saving Zoe is a film that tackles the scarce talked about issue of sex trafficking. The presence of online sexual exploitation makes the film extremely relevant, even years after the book it is based on was published. The producers of the film, sisters Vanessa and Laura Marano and their mother Ellen Marano, partnered with an organization called Equality Now to be able to tell the story and market it correctly. Although it is a fictional piece the film resonated with survivors of sexual exploitation when it was shown to them and is successful in raising awareness about this issue that is often kept quiet (Equality Now). The premise of the film and the way the mystery is revealed gives a lot of insight into the way sex traffiicking and its victims are percieved.
Saving Zoe is a crime drama centering around a highschool freshman named Echo (Laura Marano) who is investigating the circumstances around her older sister, Zoe’s (Vanessa Marano), death. The death was ruled a murder when Zoe’s body was found in her boyfriend’s car after she had borrowed it to go to a modling photoshoot with a man who claimed to be a photographer. The case was closed after ruling that this man is the one who murdered her. After finding Zoe’s diary Echo finds out things about Zoe that make her think that there is more to her murder than everyone thinks. She sets out on a mission to find out who her sister really was and what really happened in the days leading up to her death.
The plot focuses on the relationship of the two sisters and how Echo deals with the grief and trauma of what happened. The actresses’ portrayal of the girls is poignant and relatable because they are sisters themselves. In an interview with Hollywood Life they talk about how cathartic it was, having had a lot of loss in their lives, to work on a film together that is primarily about grief and the process of working through it (Hollywood Life). That personal emotional connection is very evident in the performances.

Zoe (Vanessa Marano) and Echo (Laura Marano) get ready for school

The storyline of the film draws parallels between the character’s lives by playing around with reality and time as Echo learns more about her sister’s murder. A scene in the beginning shows us the two girls in the bathroom getting ready for school. Zoe is putting on makeup as Echo watches her and then tentatively does her own, trying to emulate her sister. Zoe gives her advice, saying to use two sprays of perfume. They ride on the same bus to school, sitting apart from each other. They walk down the hall of the school together, Zoe smiling at everyone and Echo more somber. Right after Echo remarks “you never let anything get to you” she is stopped by someone who offers condolences about Zoe and the image we see of Zoe fades away. The Zoe we get to see is one who lives only in Echo’s mind and is the image that she has of her older sister who she gradually finds out she didn’t know as well as she had thought. She goes into Zoe’s room and sees her sitting on her bed and calls her stupid for believing that the man who killed her was a photographer and tells her that she “got what she wanted” because now she is famous.
As she reads the diary we are shown flashbacks of the events in Zoe’s life that she is finding out about. In these flashbacks we see Zoe drinking at a pool party when she is supposed to be looking for a summer job. In a reversal of the presence of Zoe in Echo’s life after she is dead, we see a phantom Echo standing and watching the events of Zoe’s secret life. This visual representation of the two separate timelines that make up the film (Zoe’s murder and Echo’s investigation) show not only how little the two really knew each other but also how much Zoe’s death hurt Echo and how much she looked up to her sister and was convinced there was more to her death than just being stupid about meeting a stranger.

Echo imagines Zoe walking with her down the hallways

As Echo tries to find out more about her sister, she slowly becomes more like her in her looks and actions. She uses a line from the diary to talk to a boy she likes. She dresses in Zoe’s clothes to get into a party with Zoe’s friends. The physical differences between them become less as she starts curling her hair and using more sultry makeup. Her friends are disturbed by it a little, but we quickly see that this is an act to get her closer to the people she suspects are responsible for what happened to Zoe.
When her digging reveals that Zoe had been drugged and raped on film and the meeting with the “photographer” was an attempt to get the video erased Echo has to find a way to make everyone aware of what the circumstances behind her murder really were. In a scene where her family meet with a therapist to talk about Zoe’s death Echo breaks down. She screams at them for not noticing what she didn’t notice until she read the diary. She states that Zoe wasn’t naive and there must have been more to it, a direct opposite to the accusation she makes earlier that she got what she wanted.

Echo appears in Zoe's diary scene

The slowly revealed horrors around how Zoe was exploited and blackmailed show the way that victims of sexual crimes are often blamed in some way for making wrong choices. In one of Zoe’s flashback scenes as she is in the middle of trying to get the video of her rape off of the internet she says that if we learn from our mistakes then they can’t hurt us. What Echo learns is that Zoe’s death wasn’t from a mistake. It wasn’t her ambition to be a model or even the sexual pictures that she posted to the internet previously that led her into a dangerous situation. It was a friend who betrayed her to terrible people who make a business out of exploiting young girls.
This film takes on issues of sisterhood, grief, and sexual exploitation while offering a gripping murder mystery. While the plot of the film is a murder mystery and the topic of sexual trafficking isn’t revealed until late into the film, it highlights the problems with how the issue is treated in society. The Marano women had been working on developing the book into a film for over ten years (Hollywood Life) and the end product is well worth the time put into it.

Laura and Vanessa Marano. “Saving Zoe and Equality Now”. Equality Now, 2019.
Stagnitta, Ali. “Laura and Vanessa Marano Educate Fans in ‘Haunting’ Story of Grief and Sexual Exploitatation, ‘Saving Zoe’”. Hollywood Life. 18 July, 2019. https://hollywoodlife.com/2019/07/18/laura-marano-vanessa-marano-saving-zoe-interview/

Fire Force - A Review

11/27/2020

The world of Fire Force changes forever when a supernatural phenomenon called “Spontaneous Human Combustion” begins to happen to random people. Similar to a plague, citizens are set ablaze and turned into aggressive creatures called “Infernals”. However, there are people who, instead of turning into mindless fire zombies, are able to manipulate the flame instead and preserve their human form. To combat the powerful infernals, humans began creating special fire forces composed of the pyrokinetic individuals gifted with the power of flame.

Fire Force, or Enen no Shobutai (炎炎ノ消防隊), is a Japanese animation series directed by Yuki Yase. It tells the tale of a young boy named Shinra, a pyrokinetic just recruited by Special Fire Force Company 8. Shinra earns the nickname “Devil’s Footprints” since he has the ability to ignite his feet at will. This technique allows him to dash or fly, using flame the same way a rocket does. As the plot goes on, Shinra quickly discovers that he has a lot to learn when the flames which come from his feet cannot always defeat the enemy.
Fire Force was adapted from the manga Fire Force by Atsushi Ōkubo and produced by the studio David Production in November 2018. It was aired on Funimation in July 2019. The second season of Fire Force has already begun airing, re-igniting the fan’s passion for the show.

The story follows the classic structure of a shonen anime (anime targeted for boys), but also brings in a lot of fresh aspects. For example, like many other shonen anime, the main character lost his entire family at a young age and is doomed to a tragic backstory. However, as the plot continues, the audience learns that his brother, previously presumed dead, is actually alive and well. The only problem is that his brother is working for a hidden but powerful faction whose goal is a mystery to be discovered.

Fire Force’s animation quality is extremely good and is a step up in quality compared to the other shows released during its time. The battles, instead of being filled with mindless cuts and explosions, are more like harmonious dances bathed in flame. Even the setting of each scene is a work of art. Almost every frame in an episode could be used as a wallpaper.

The character designs are also a great example of high-quality animation, as each individual character has a place to shine in the show. Although the characters have unique looks, they also have unique personalities, quirks, and abilities. Each pyrokinetic uses flame a different way, so each character has a different fighting style that suits them. For example, the main character Shinra is only able to produce fire from his feet. However, his peer Arthur is able to condense the flame into a sword similar to a lightsaber from Star Wars. Arthur is an interesting character who is extremely powerful in the correct circumstances. If he can envision himself as a knight, he is able to fight on par with the most powerful enemies. However, if that image in his head cracks or breaks, then he loses all self-confidence and suddenly becomes weak.

The sound design of the series pairs very nicely with the animation. Every single burst of fire has a distinct sound, which changes based on the density and the impact of the flame. When the fire is shot forward like a laser, appropriate sounds are played at the same time. The sound effects and music paired with beautiful fighting sequences effectively immerses the audience within the scene.

Most anime TV shows only use one or two composers for music in order to keep the theme uniform. However, music from Fire Force is produced by various different artists such as Kenichiro Suehiro, Mrs. Green Apple, and Aimer. These Japanese artists are well known for their previous works from different animations.

Overall, Fire Force is a classic shonen anime that anyone can enjoy. The storyline is filled with adventure and excitement. The fight scenes are gorgeous, paired with breathtaking art, allowing the scene to pull the audience into the world of Fire Force. Now more than ever is a great time to watch the show, especially since the second season was just released.

Songs From the Second Floor: Exploring the Existential Pains of Being Human

11/23/2020

By Ravi Ahuja

A clerk latches on to the legs of the boss who has just fired him, dragging slowly along the floor. His former coworkers look on through cracked doors through the hallway as he screams “I’ve been here for 30 years!”.
A lost immigrant looks for a man outside an office building and is assaulted and stabbed by a gang of xenophobes as a crowd stands by looking on.
An unemployed furniture salesman is haunted by one of his dead creditors and a teenage boy hung by the Nazis.
Almost nothing connects these events except that they take place in the same bleak and cold city in Sweden. The only other connecting threads are the same feelings of alienation, absurdism, nihilism that pervade the entirety of Songs From the Second Floor. The first film in Roy Andersson’s so called “Living” trilogy, Songs From the Second Floor cares little about narrative structure or character development, focusing almost entirely on asking philosophical questions about what life is like for us humans who have to live it.

The furniture salesman (Lars Nordh, center) stops by a cafe after his business burns down

Watching this film is an experience similar to watching one of Charlie Kaufman’s later movies, especially Synecdoche, New York or I’m Thinking About Ending Things. Themes and concepts are introduced in bits and pieces through a combination of philosophical dialogue and surreal events. Although there is no one central message to the movie, the movie always seems to be portraying a very absurdist-existentialist view of life through one allegory or another, as if each scene or vignette is a variation upon the theme. A massive traffic jam lasting for days on end is described as “chaos… that just goes on without anyone being able to give a reasonable explanation”. The owner of a furniture store that has burned down says that he shouldn’t need paperwork to prove that a pile of ash was (and still is) a chippendale sofa. “A chippendale is a chippendale” he says, “even if it doesn’t say it on paper! You are who you are, whether or not someone takes note of it”. The ideas and dialogue in Songs From the Second Floor are much less cryptic than they are in Kaufman’s work, although no less substantive and open to interpretation.
Aside from the pervasive existentialist themes, there are also anti-capitalist ideas throughout, specifically critiquing society’s prioritization of money over art. The previously mentioned furniture salesman frequently visits his son in a mental institution, who he claims has gone insane from writing poetry. Every time he visits, he invariably ends up shouting at him and becoming agitated at his refusal to respond and behave rationally. Ironically enough, the salesman is often the one that gets restrained by the staff there, yelling to his son, “Life is a market! It’s all about buying things you can sell with an extra zero. Everyone in the world understands that but you!” even while he is being dragged away. Indeed, there is a feeling throughout the film that much of the hopelessness and absurdity we face in modern society comes from an obsession with money. A crowd of stockbrokers move slowly through the city in the background of several scenes, flagellating themselves as they march. At a high level board meeting, a crystal ball is passed around for the executives to peer into while they wait for someone to find some very specific papers detailing some arbitrary business numbers. As if in response to this bizarre capitalistic attitude, the “insane” poet is comforted by his brother, who tells him that even if it seems that no one cares about art anymore, there are still those that do, and their time will come again.

A host of businessmen prepare to go on vacation

It would be a mistake to assume that this film is only concerned with philosophy however. There is a very important visual component that helps establish a certain mood and feeling in each scene. The sets are as meticulous as they are depressing, using a palette of sickly greys and greens and browns. There is a great deal of care in the framing and blocking of every character, door, and prop. Interiors are either cramped and claustrophobic or massive and empty. The camera moves only once in the entire film, a slow tracking dolly shot that still keeps the frame relatively static. Each scene is done in one take with no cuts, which combined with the consistently static wide shots makes them feel more like living paintings than film.
Although he is never explicitly mentioned in the film, the work of Peruvian poet César Vallejo is present throughout and highly influential, with Songs From the Second Floor even being described by IMDb as “A film poem inspired by... César Vallejo”. The movie opens to a quote by him, “Beloved are the ones who sit”, a quote which is then repeated several times in the film along with several of his quotes. Although the context of his quotes may change their meaning, they seem most often to be used in Songs From the Second Floor to celebrate the ordinary and the mundane, the everyday pains that humans face. Taking a certain sense of pride in experiences such as catching your finger in a door or having a torn shoe in the rain has a rebellious effect. By turning the sufferer into someone beloved, by experiencing a satisfaction in pain, life’s existential torture is transformed into an experience worth having.

A magician (Lucio Vucina) performs a trick on stage

Although it would be hard to interpret all of Songs From the Second Floor many vignettes, or analyze all of its themes, there are a number of recurring motifs worth mentioning. The passive act of observing and being observed is everywhere through this film, with characters occasionally glancing right into the camera. In one instance both the characters on screen even stop eating their dinner to stare right at it. Many scenes contain crowds of people who say and do nothing as they look on at horrifying acts of violence. The victim is often the only one speaking, crying out for help. The feeling is one of helplessness and isolation, as if one is being examined in a zoo exhibit.
Old age and time also continually recur as themes. Almost every character in this film is old, or at least middle-aged. The one child that is shown gets ritually sacrificed for the benefit of a crowd of seniors. A speechwriter talks about a general who is celebrating his 100th birthday, for which he has written a speech. “Life is time, and time is a stretch of road. That makes life a journey. Tradition is our map”, he tells his taxi driver. The general who has lived for so long and collected so much wisdom and experience is supposed to be a guiding force for those younger than him. In truth however, he is a senile old man trapped in his bed. Whatever wisdom he once had is now long gone. As sure as we are that our life is made stable and safe by our traditions, that we know what we’re doing, the reality that Songs From the Second Floor tries to convey is that we are on a journey with no map.
To be sure, this is another film that is not for everyone. Songs From the Second Floor is idiosyncratic and confusing at times. The pacing can feel slow for someone expecting a normal three act structure. It shows the ugliness and pain rampant in our lives, without the happiness that goes with it. It is however, more accessible than other highly conceptual movies due to its bite-sized vignette structure and short runtime. Someone seeking to begin exploring the world of “art films” would find a good starting place in this film.

I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore: A Review

11/20/2020

By Mason Leaver

I have a special love for movies that manages to transition from a fairly mundane premise to the most over-the-top, intense, thrilling results in just two hours. Movies like Good Time (2017), Fargo (1996), Green Room (2015), Nightcrawler (2014), No Country For Old Men (2007), etc. There’s something fascinating and a little bit terrifying about watching someone living in the normal, everyday world descend into chaos. One of the movies which most embodies this sort of “0 to 100” pacing, and the one which made me realize my love for this kind of a dark comedy thriller, is Macon Blair’s I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore. I Don’t… focuses on the simple story of a woman trying to get her stolen property back, but her search leads her into a violent and gritty struggle to survive.
I Don’t… begins by introducing us to Ruth, played by Melanie Lynskey. Ruth is someone that feels like she’s being trampled by the world. The meanness, the selfishness of the world, the way people can watch, uncaring and unblinking, as others suffer, depresses Ruth terribly. She is tired of every big and little thing people do that hurt each other: people being racist, not caring for the environment, not cleaning up after themselves, and spoiling the ending of books. And after her apartment is broken into, Ruth has had enough. She decides that she is going to confront the person who stole from her, and demand that they apologize. Ruth teams up with her odd-ball neighbor Tony, played by Elijah Wood, who is obsessed with martial arts, nunchucks, throwing stars, and Jesus. As the two begin to track down Ruth’s stolen property, they begin to form a friendship through a light-hearted adventure. But as things continue, their journey takes them into a violent and dangerous plot, which they were desperately unprepared for.

Co-stars Melanie Lynskey and Elijah Wood

Co-stars Melanie Lynskey and Elijah Wood both offer very solid performances in this film. Melanie Lynskey’s is much more grounded. Ruth is a depressed and anxious woman that sees the world as a sad and also ridiculous place, and you see that in Lynskey’s performance. Ruth comes across as a quiet woman that would often fade into the background, finally stepping out and taking a stand for herself. Meanwhile, Elijah Wood’s character Tony is just the opposite. He’s a somewhat clueless nerd, obsessed with martial arts and coming across like the coolest guy in the room. But Wood manages to still bring a great deal of charm to Tony. Where other actors might wind up portraying Tony as a guy that no one really likes, Wood elevates him to stand out in the film. Tony has a good heart and, despite his cluelessness, is likeable and caring. Tony also manages to be the greatest source of comedy in the film. His unconvincing tough guy routine and his ninja-star antics, as well as his dialogue delivery, create some laugh out loud moments for me. The chemistry between the Lynskey and Wood is palpable. The two bounce off of each other naturally in their scenes together. The two worked together previously on the animated show Over the Garden Wall in 2014, and this experience of working together comes out in their performances. Devon Graye also gives a fairly disturbing performance as Christian, one of the film’s psychotic villains.

Devon Graye as Christian

One of the most impressive aspects of I Don’t… is how director Macon Blair manages to to balance somewhat contradictory tones. I Don’t…’s story focuses on the meeting of two worlds: the world of boring, standard suburbia and the world of brutal, ruthless crime. As such, the film bounces between two very different tones. At times the film is lighthearted and funny, with a sort of awkward romance that is endearing and fun. But at other times the film can be absolutely brutal, with gritty violence that leaves little to the imagination. When these two worlds meet, we often see the main characters surrounded by violence but being fairly funny because they are in a fish-out-of-water situation. A lesser film wouldn’t be able to handle both of these conflicting tones in the same movie, let alone the same scene, but I Don’t… manages it very well, and it is one of the most impressive parts of the film.
Released in 2017, I Don’t… was written and directed by Macon Blair, and was Blair’s directorial debut. For his directorial debut, I Don’t… is a really solid film. I think that in looking back on Blair’s career, we can see where some of the inspiration for I Don’t… came from. In 2015, Blair produced and acted in Jeremy Saulnier’s Green Room. Green Room has many of the same tonal and stylistic choices as I Don’t… , specifically in how it involves a few normal characters being thrust into a violent and terrifying situation. It’s clear that some of the inspiration for this movie comes from Green Room.
Unfortunately, I do think that Green Room ultimately proves to be the better movie. While I Don’t… is still a solid film, it is lacking in a few areas. Most significantly, I think, is the cinematography of the film. The cinematography of I Don’t… isn’t bad by any means, but it’s not really anything special either. Some scenes have some nice looking lighting, but the climax of the film is largely flat, uninteresting lighting with lots of greys and browns. It’s not ugly to look at, but it’s not very beautiful either. Thankfully, the action on screen makes up for whatever might be boring you otherwise.

The world of violence in I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore

Overall, I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore is a fairly competently made movie, with some great performances and an off-the-rails story. Despite its aesthetic flaws, I still enjoy this film quite a bit. In preparation for this review, I watched I Don’t… for the third time, and it was still quite enjoyable. If you’re a fan of brutal, violent, and funny dark comedies, I’d recommend it.
If you like I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore, you may enjoy Good Time, Fargo, Green Room, Nightcrawler, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, or No Country For Old Men.
You can check out our review of Green Room here: http://www.cinemablography.org/blog/green-room-review

A Long Lived Tragedy: The Hidden Story in The Owners

11/16/2020

by Samantha Shuma

Home invasion is a fear that lingers in the back of our minds. We make sure our doors are locked and alarms set before leaving our homes unattended for the day. What if leaving your home unattended was in the hopes of someone breaking in, and being there when you got back? We see this from the robbers’ perspective in The Owners (Julius Berg 2020). The film starts out as robbery gone wrong, but there is a bigger plan behind the heist. The ulterior motives change the film's story, connecting the characters in a way we wouldn’t think possible. However, this inner story is mostly left to our imagination. There are clues sprinkled throughout the film, and it is our job as the audience to put it together. These clues reveal the deeper story that makes the film’s events more than just a one night of fright, but a long lived tragedy spanning decades.

The rest of this analysis contains spoilers for The Owners and may be disturbing to some readers, discretion is advised.

The Owners introduces itself as a robbery gone wrong. A group consisting of a criminal (Gaz), a young couple (Nathan and Mary) and Terry, known as a loser by the group, goes inside the manor while the owners, a rich couple (the Huggins), are away. This plan originates from Terry, who suggests they find the house safe for quick loads of cash. Finding that the safe is uncrackable, they decide to stay until the couple comes back to terrorize the combination out of them. Knowing the owners as an elderly couple, how could this go wrong? The elderly couple, Mrs. and Dr. Huggins, find their home trashed (mainly by Gaz) and submit to the group's will, kind of. Dr. Huggins maintains a lot of power in the situation, ordering Mary to care for his wife, and ultimately convinces Nathan to turn on Gaz. Gaz is the main instigator in the situation, willing to do anything to get the safe open, even trying to saw Mrs. Huggins in half with a saw. Nathan gets stabbed by Gaz by trying to stop him. Dr. Huggins, although tied up, convinces Mary to turn against Gaz as well. She initially runs to call the police, which fails. After seeing Nathan stabbed and Gaz going in for the kill, Mary strikes him dead with a sledge hammer. By this point, we are laid into a false sense of security. We believe that the threat and instigator, Gaz, has been eliminated, the safe was not opened, Dr. Huggins can fix up Nathan in his home office, and the ambulance will come to make everything right. A bad situation has happened, but things are going to be okay.

This is the end of the expected plot, the ‘break-in gone bad’ situation. The film morphs into a different story, revealing the true character of the Huggins, their home, and their relationship with Terry. Dr. Huggins fakes calling the ambulance and doesn’t save Nathan. Mary and Terry are left to be taken care of by the Huggins, who have by now locked all the doors leading out of the house. Through this section we find that Mary has a twin sister, Jane, who left home after breaking up with Terry. Also, the Huggins had a disabled daughter, Kate, who died some time ago. Although Dr. Huggins considered caring for Kate a blessing, it is proven that Kate didn’t have a blessed childhood. Although she could hardly walk, Kate was beaten and left in the spandrel for hours at a time. We know this because Mrs. Huggins does the same thing to Mary. Mrs. Huggins slaps Mary across the face for wearing shoes inside the house, saying that shes ‘told her a thousand times’ not to do so. When locking Mary in the spandrel, she says ‘some time in the closet always calms you down.’ Mrs. Huggins is shown to be senile, acting as if her daughter is still alive. We are then shown, by Dr. Huggins, a photo album containing newspaper clippings of missing girls. At the end of the film, Mary tries to leave with Terry through a van in the basement, where Mary gets shot in the chest and Terry is left with the Huggins, both saying “we knew we could trust you.” The film ends with the safe opening to reveal Jane, tied to a bed, Terry being reunited with her.

Putting the pieces together, we find that this whole robbery plot was set up by the Huggins to kidnap Mary to be one of their ‘children.’ Mrs. Huggins could not bear the death of her child, so she and her husband have to be crafting a false reality for themselves. Ever since their daughter died, they’ve been trying to replace her with other similar looking girls. They tried and tried, killing candidates they didn’t like. Then they found Jane, as she was leaving home, and saw her as the perfect replacement. According to the film, Jane has been down there for six months. After some consideration, the Huggins try for a second daughter, Mary. To lure her there, they instructed Terry, Jane’s ex-boyfriend, to plan a robbery at the home consisting of a load of money and Mary’s boyfriend, Nathan. Terry does this to be reunited with Jane, since the Huggins promise this to him in return for his hard work. Their plans fail, however, when Mary does not succumb to their will. She fights for her life, questioning everyone’s behavior and doing whatever she can to escape. Mary disobeys the Huggins and Terry’s orders, which is the reason for her death. Terry and Jane are left together in the safe room, left to be the Huggins’ ‘children.’

Looking at the film on Amazon Video, you wouldn’t think much of it. For the sake of the mystery, it is advertised as a horror based around a robbery. Although this is true, it does very little to reveal the real story of the film. The robbery is only a piece of the puzzle, a means to an end. It is a plot device, a way to get Mary into the manor. It is after that point everything goes wrong, and we learn the real motives to Terry proposing the robbery in the first place. Not as a means to make a quick buck for him and his friends, but as a selfish, merciless way to get back together with Jane. Although we learn Terry and the Huggins’ reasons for doing this, the details and clues in the film reveal a sinister backstory. By tying all of these loose threads together, we get a clear picture of this disturbing situation and reveals how long of an endeavor that led up to the film’s events.

Discussion: On The Rocks

11/13/2020

Our latest round table film discussion explores the characters, cinematography, and setting of Sophia Coppola's new film On The Rocks. If you have watched this movie leave a comment below to let us know what you thought of it.

A Call to Spy Review

11/13/2020

By Zoe Leininger

The recent period drama, A Call to Spy (Lydia Dean Pilcher, 2020) gives a twist to the sub-genre of World War II films by telling the true story of a group of female spies from Britain who operated in Nazi occupied France. A thrilling historical espionage drama, the film brings to light a little-explored facet of the British war effort and the women who made it possible. With incredible performances by Stana Katic, Sarah Megan Thomas (who also wrote and produced it), and Radhika Apte the film is able to capture the reality of a time when women were showing everyone just how much they had to offer their country and the world at large.
Stana Katic plays the role of British intelligence officer Vera Atkins. She starts out the film as the secretary to Colonel Maurice Buckmaster, the leader of the French section of Special Operations. She is denied her application for citizenship status because she is Jewish and is unable to have a rank in the Special Operations because of it, leaving her relegated to acting as a secretary and being unofficial in all the work she puts into the spy program. In the early scenes of the film Atkins convinces Buckmaster to allow her to recruit women to be trained as spies. The training program is in its early stages and is just beginning to understand what needs to be done to operate a successful spy network. As a result the recruits are woefully unprepared when they are sent into occupied territory.
Virginia Hall, played by Sarah Megan Thomas, is an American amputee who has been rejected multiple times from being a diplomat. Atkins invites her to join the program despite her disability and she is chosen to go to France to start a safehouse and resistance network. Thomas’ performance is intense and emotive, creating a believable character who has a need to prove to herself that her usefulness to the world was not taken away when her leg was amputated. She, who often has been alone and rejected, finds a place for herself among other women who are also looking for a chance to serve their country beyond what they have been told was possible for them.
One of these women was Noor Inayat Khan, a British-Indian pacifist who joined the spy network as a wireless operator. Her decision to be trained as a spy was under question because she was a woman, a Muslim and a pacifist.

From left to right: Virginia Hall, Noor Khan and Vera Atkins played by Sarah Megan Thomas, Radhika Apte, and Stana Katic

The film shows these two very different women becoming friends because they each understand the struggles the other has with finding a place and a purpose in the world turned upside down by war. In a scene during their training in England the two share a room and are talking about their training. Hall mentions that she named her false leg “Cuthbert” after saint Cuthbert who was a “performer of miracles” as she says. In a moment that links the two women through their perceived differences Khan mentions that her father, who was the founder Sufism, witnessed a lot of miracles. The scene is a personal and warm conversation between two women who are struggling with the obstacles to their usefulness in the war and draws parallels between their experiences as outsiders.
The story of these three women shows the struggle of a fledgling espionage group that really don’t know what they are doing. Many of their agents are caught and imprisoned because they are untrained or their support system is not established enough to provide help. The end of Khan’s story comes only four months after she is placed in France as a wireless operator. She is caught and her codes compromised, causing other agents to be captured as well. She refuses to talk and goes to her death with the word “liberte” on her lips.
Hall and Atkins use her capture as a catalyst for changing the way the network is run. Hall goes back under cover in France even though her cover has been blown and the Nazi’s are searching for her. The department uses her advice to create smaller networks that are less likely to be compromised and make the spy system much more effective. Atkins finally puts her foot down and demands to be recognized for the work she does, requesting citizenship and a proper rank. She is given them and continues to work to keep the spy network going.

Virginia Hall undercover in France

Each woman’s story ends differently. Their definitions of success vary. For Khan it was not compromising her beliefs even in the face of death. For Hall it was continuing to do what people thought she could not. For Atkins it was being formally recognized for the work that she put into the program. The success of the spy program as a whole is paralleled throughout the film with the success of the women as individuals. The idea that a nation is successful is when all the members are successful shines through this parallel. The ability to embrace the differences and things that made them outcasts lead to the program being able to help exponentially more people.
A Call to Spy is an engaging, heartfelt film that explores successful womanhood and how differences can also be bonds that tie us together. This female written, directed and produced film engages with broad topics of disability, religion, ethnicity and gender discrimination while being grounded in personal stories of amazing, brave women who felt a strong sense of duty and did what they could fulfill it.

Intergenerational Conflict and Intergalactic War: An Analysis of the Transformers Franchise

11/9/2020

by Landen Kennedy

The 2000’s have seen an explosion of CGI and blockbusters that is unmatched throughout film history. These blockbusters are highly popular despite often coming under criticism for lack of artistic value. Though I will not be delving into that argument for or against such films, I think it might be helpful to analyze themes of one of the most popular blockbuster franchises: Michael Bay’s Transformers. These films are often critically panned despite making huge sums of money at the box office. I recently marathoned all five of the main series films and noticed a common theme among all of the films: intergenerational conflict.
   This theme is most purely captured in the first entry in the series, Transformers (Michael Bay, 2007). The film centers around Sam Witwicky, a high school student who gets his first car, which happens to be an Autobot, in the middle of an intergalactic war with the Decepticons. We see very early on that Sam has conflict with various members of the older generations, including a teacher, a cop, and his parents. As the film continues, Sam becomes an ally to the Autobots, which puts him in a unique position that even the American government is not in. He knows the Autobots personally and is able to talk to them. The government is treated like the ultimate older generation as they look down on Sam as just a kid. Even though they could really use his help, they cannot see past his age, so they either do not trust him, or are too prideful to work with a high schooler. The Autobots, however, know that Sam could help them, and are willing to work with him.
   The government’s treatment of the youth is expanded on in a sub-plot of the film dealing with hackers and computer analysts. Maggie is a computer wizard, and despite being older than Sam, she is still significantly younger than most of the government employees. The Secretary of Defense even comments that the computer analysts that the government hired to help them find the Decepticons are very young. They do not distrust the young analysts they’ve hired, but they do make them feel out of place, even down to the clothes they are wearing. Maggie needs help from a hacker friend of hers, so she takes illegally downloaded information to her friend Glen. Glen drives the wedge between the new school and the old school further than even Maggie does, as he is an immature young adult who lives with his grandma and cousin, and he spends his days playing video games.
   The Autobots are even older than the older generations of humans in the film. They are an ancient species, and to them humanity itself is a very young species. The lines between the generations are nothing to them. They are still able to respect humanity despite being older and stronger than them. The Decepticons are the opposite. They recognize their advantage in both age and power, so they see the humans as puny and worthy of being conquered. It seems that Michael Bay is creating a parallel between the Decepticons and the older generations that look down on the youth, as well as connecting the Autobots and the older generations who recognize that the youth can be helpful in many ways that older generations are not.

Agent Simmons (John Turturro) and Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) are always at odds with each other, propelling the idea of intergenerational conflict within the film.

The second film in the franchise, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Michael Bay, 2009) does not further this theme drastically in any way. It reinforces a lot of what the first film set up. Sam goes off to college and his parents are embarrassing to him. There are a few characters from the first film that have learned to respect Sam despite his youth, specifically Agent Simmons, who opposed Sam in the first film but works with him in the second. The same dynamic between the humans and the two factions of Transformers are the same, with the addition of The Fallen, an even more ancient Transformer who the Decepticons praise and the Autobots fear. There is even the inclusion of a Decepticon who behaves like an old man, using a cane and speaking with a voice that is supposed to sound old. This film does not add much to the theme, but does raise interesting ideas that are further expanded on in future films in the series.
Transformers: Dark of the Moon (Michael Bay, 2011) uses many of the ideas in Revenge of the Fallen to even better results. Within the film, a character called Sentinel Prime is a long lost Autobot who is brought back to life by Optimus Prime. He visually resembles an old man, with long metal pieces coming down from his face, resembling a long beard, and the voice of an old man (who happens to be sci-fi icon Leonard Nimoy). He is supposed to be on the Autobots’ side, however, he teams with Megatron, leader of the Decepticons to work for the greater good of his people. It is an uneasy alliance, but the visual representation of Sentinel as an old man, and making him switch sides furthers the idea of the inter-generational conflict. Optimus, who looked up to Sentinel as an older authority figure, is now put in the position of the youth, where he must now rebel against the authority to help those even younger than he is.
The film also gives us a unique perspective on youthful rebellion as Charlotte Mearing, the National Intelligence Director, heads a movement to ban the Autobots from Earth. The humans no longer want the help of the Autbots, so they distance themselves. This is reminiscent of Sam’s journey in the film as he moves out of his parents house and tries to make his own life for himself and his girlfriend. This ultimately leads to problems, and the Autobots have to step back in to help humanity despite their belief that they do not need it. Likewise, Sam speaks with his parents in a conversation that gives him the inspiration he needs to go help save the world again.

Sentinel Prime (Leonard Nimoy) is given the physical resemblance of an old man, with white eyebrows, moustache, and a long beard. This age resemblance is intentional, as he reveals himself to be an enemy to the younger Autobots and humans.

The idea that humanity no longer needs the help of the older and wiser Autobots is again explored in Transformers: Age of Extinction (Michael Bay, 2014) where the Autobots are no longer simply distrusted, but are actively hunted down and destroyed by the government. The humans now have enough technology that they believe they can create their own Transformers. It’s as if Bay is commenting on the need to rely on wisdom of older generations when a simple Google search will suffice. We live in an age where the youth tend to rely more on their technological access than wisdom from personal experience of others. The Autobots we know and love are either dead or forgotten about. Optimus Prime appears as an old, rusty, beat-up truck rather than the shiny one he normally uses as a disguise. It is only when a human, Cade Yeager, decides to help them that Optimus gains his shiny new exterior.
Cade is an overprotective father who had his daughter too young, and now does everything in his power to stop her from making the same mistake. This means she is absolutely not allowed to date, however, Cade finds out she has a secret boyfriend and spends the rest of the film in conflict with him. By the end of the film, the two grow closer and Cade can see how he has been acting and decides that his daughter will be safe and happy with her boyfriend. He learns to let her go and trusts her to make decisions for herself. He respects her maturity and begins to see her less as a young girl who needs him, and more as a mature individual who is learning what she needs for herself.
The film further develops the age distinctions by introducing us to a group of Dinobots, ancient Transformers that turn into robotic dinosaurs rather than vehicles. Optimus seeks out their help when he realizes that he and his group are outmanned. The film seems to be showing us that the young and the old need each other, a new development of this theme that we have not seen quite so vividly up to this point.

Cade Yeager (Mark Whalberg) is overly protective of his daughter Tessa (Nicola Peltz) and constantly conflicts with her secret boyfriend Shane (Jack Reynor).

The final film, Transformers: The Last Knight (Michael Bay, 2017), raises no further ideas or concepts. It introduces the idea that the Transformers were created by someone, but does not answer who or what. This does not push the theme of the films any further besides retreading the idea that the older Transformers also have generations above them. This concept is not new to the franchise, however, in the event of a sixth series film (excluding spin-offs) this could change and take the theme in entirely new directions. With one spin-off film released and possibly more on the way, it will be exciting to keep an eye on this franchise in order to see if and how this theme is further explored.

The Philosophy of True Detective

11/6/2020

by Mason Leaver

This article contains minor spoilers for the first season of True Detective

The first season of the anthology series True Detective is, at its core, an exploration of philosophical concepts, wrapped in the shroud of a compelling murder mystery thriller. The two main characters, Rustin “Rust” Cohle, and Marty Hart, represent two worldviews which are antithetical to each other. Marty is a fairly typical “every-man”. Marty describes himself in the first episode as “just a regular type dude…”. He attends church, prays before meals, has a wife and kids, but he’s also involved in an affair. Marty represents the sort of man that’s common in America- he believes that his life has purpose and value, and he believes in good and evil, even if he can’t always follow his own guidelines. Rust is the absolute opposite of Marty. Rust lives alone, in a bare-bones house that just serves as a place to sleep. Rust describes himself as a pessimist- he does not believe in any kind of objective morality or purpose in life. There is no God, and there are no objective rules. What is ironic about this is that while Marty claims to believe in a greater purpose in life, he is a moral hypocrite, unable to act on what he claims to believe. Rust, however, follows his philosophy adamantly. Through Marty and Rust’s discussions, True Detective presents a number of interesting philosophical concepts, and also takes Rust on a journey of belief as his worldviews change.

“I'd consider myself a realist, alright? But in philosophical terms I'm what's called a pessimist”.- Rust Cohle

Pessimism is, philosophically speaking, an extension of nihilism. Nihilism is the view that life has no intrinsic meaning. Pessimism starts with this view, but takes it further, claiming that the very concept of progress is a myth- things are getting worse all the time. One very prominent pessimist is 19th century philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer. Schopenhauer’s basic philosophy regarding pessimism came from a focus on the tension between the Will and Reason. Reason can be seen as the human capacity to act rationally. Reason is what we use when we engage in philosophy, in art, and if we always followed it, the world would be great; perhaps as great as it could possibly be. However, man is limited in their capacity to pursue reason, because of the Will. The Will, for Schopenhauer, was our most base urges- an endless, driving hunger which can never be satisfied. Heavily influenced by the Darwinism of his time, Schopenhauer saw the world as a place full of creatures in a struggle to survive and mate. As such, these desires, the Will, drive our every decision and desire. We cannot help but pursue these things. We are bound as perpetual slaves to the Will, and in being bound we find misery in our constant striving for more, unable to do anything else. As Schopenhauer famously said, “Man can do what he wills, but cannot will what he wills”. Rust sees himself, and all of humanity, as being stuck in a path laid out before them by their Wills.

Rust Cohle in True Detective

“I think the honorable thing for our species to do is to deny our programming. Stop reproducing. Walk hand in hand into extinction… I tell myself I bear witness, but the real answer is that it's obviously my programming.”- Rust Cohle

Besides Rust’s philosophical pessimism, he also holds to a school of thought known as anti-natalism. Anti-natalism is the view that humans should stop procreating, because bringing a human life into the world is ethically wrong. Without higher meaning in their ethics system, many nihilists create a system of ethics which focuses on reducing suffering in the world. The pessimist is inclined to see all of life as prolonged suffering, and as such, to cause someone to enter into this suffering would be morally wrong. Anti-natalists also argue that no one enters the world consensually, but is thrust into the world without having a say in it. As such, nonexistence is far better, and so we should not create any new beings. South African philosopher David Benatar likely first coined the term “anti-natalist” in his book Better to Have Never Been, where he argues that it would have been better for him, and indeed everyone, to have never existed. However, the anti-natalist sentiment is not necessarily new. Consider the Bible verse Ecclesiastes 4:3, which says “But better than both is he who has not yet existed, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun…”. Following his pessimistic outlook to it’s natural conclusion, Rust connects with the anti-natalist view, claiming that extinction is better than bringing another life into the world.

“Transference of fear and self-loathing to an authoritarian vessel. It's catharsis. He absorbs their dread with his narrative. Because of this, he's effective in proportion to the amount of certainty he can project. Certain linguistic anthropologists think that religion is a language virus that rewrites pathways in the brain. Dulls critical thinking.”- Rust Cohle

Nihilism has often tied in with it a great skepticism of, and animosity toward, religious institutions. Perhaps most famous among nihilists is the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, who famously declared that “God is dead, and we killed him”. The world has no objective values, and God does not exist, and so religious organizations which seek to discourage or punish “deviant” behavior is clearly overstepping. In True Detective, Rust expresses this distrust for religious organizations when he and Marty enter a big-tent revival ministry, where he says that people who follow religions console themselves with a cosmic lie. Without God, there is no meaning in the universe, and our attempts to create values and enforce them are foolish. Existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre even took the claim regarding God’s non-existence a step further. He claimed that even if God did exist, our lives would still ultimately be meaningless, as the values assigned by God would be arbitrary, and therefore meaningless. Based on his previous explanation of his pessimistic outlook about the fundamental nature of the universe, and how existence is at its core only suffering, it is safe to say that Rust takes the Existentialist position that even God’s existence could not bring meaning to our lives.

Rust admires birds

The idea that religion is a “language virus” is an idea that is tied to Richard Dawkins’ idea of “memes”. Dawkins’ meme theory suggests that cultures evolve similarly to biological creatures, and that the ideas which spread the best become the most popular. These ideas which rapidly spread across populations are known as “memes”. One easy example of this could be children’s playground rhymes. Things like “Jingle-bells, Batman smells…” or “Ring around the rosie” had to start somewhere, and their spreading is a result of their effect on the person that hosts them. In this way, ideas can spread like a virus. In his book The Selfish Gene, Dawkins suggests that religion is one of, if not the most potent of all memes. Rust agrees with Dawkins on this topic. To Rust, religion’s popularity is not because of anything true that it says about the world, but instead it is a result of the chemical effect which religion has on our brains. To Rust, religion is like a virus we have come to love, and want to share with others.

“In eternity, where there is no time, nothing can grow. Nothing can become. Nothing changes. So Death created time to grow the things that it would kill. And you are reborn, but into the same life that you've always been born into. I mean, how many times have we had this conversation, detectives? Well, who knows? When you can't remember your lives, you can't change your lives, and that is the terrible and the secret fate of all life. You're trapped by that nightmare you keep waking up into.” - Rust Cohle

Here, Rust is referring to a concept Nietzsche introduced, known as the Eternal Recurrence of the Same. Nietzsche addresses this concept in both The Gay Science and Thus Spoke Zarathustra. The idea of the Eternal Recurrence of the Same is that, as Rust describes, the universe repeats itself infinitely, over and over again, eternally. Each of our lives has been, is being, and will be lived out again infinitely many times, exactly the same as it did last time. In Nietzsche’s writing it is difficult to tell whether he meant this concept to be an actual cosmological theory about the nature of time, or if it served more as a thought exercise to tell if one is living a good life now. Perhaps Nietzsche meant for us to ask if we would actually be happy if our life would live out the same way forever. Or perhaps he was suggesting an alternative way for the universe to exist (eternally recurring it’s own existence) without God’s creation. At another point in the season, a character (who will go unnamed to avoid spoilers) quotes Nietzsche by saying “Time is a flat circle”, which is to say, it repeats forever. Regardless of what Nietzsche meant, it seems that Rust takes this idea very seriously. In fact, it seems that this concept plays a part in Rust’s pessimism, suggesting that he may believe that the Eternal Recurrence is actually, literally real.

Marty and Rust on an investigation

“There was a moment-- I know when I was under in the dark that something... whatever I'd been reduced to, you know, not even consciousness. It was a vague awareness in the dark, and I could-- I could feel my definitions fading. And beneath that... darkness, there was another kind. It was--it was deeper, warm, you know, like a substance. I could feel, man, and I knew, I knew my daughter waited for me there. So clear. I could feel her. [Voice trembling] I could feel... I could feel a piece of my--my pop, too. It was like I was a part of everything that I ever loved, and we were all... the 3 of us, just-- just fadin' out. And all I had to do was let go... and I did. I said, Darkness, yeah, yeah." And I disappeared. But I could-- I could still feel her love there, even more than before. Nothing... There was nothing but that love. Then I woke up.” - Rust Cohle

At the end of the season, after a near death experience, Rust describes having a sort of out-of-body experience where he encountered the love of his dead daughter and father. This experience radically changes Rust’s worldview. Where Rust used to be a pessimist and an atheist, he now seems to be an optimist, and a sort of pantheist. Rust later says that it “seems like the light is winning”, suggesting that he is beginning to believe that things are getting better, not worse. His reference to light, which is winning over darkness, also suggests a sort of objective morality that he might now believe in. Rust’s reference to his daughter and father’s love being at the very core of existence, where there was “nothing but that love” suggests that he might believe that they still exist, in some disembodied sort of way. While this is not stated explicitly, I would suggest that Rust believes that “God” is in everything and is everything, a sort of pantheism, which, when we die, we participate in. It is an absolutely radical change in worldview for Rust, but one that the show helps to set up throughout the season. Through Rust’s character development, True Detective also exposes us to a huge host of philosophical worldviews, exploring them deeply and tactfully, not just through exposition, but also the actions of the characters.

Fans of True Detective may also like Prisoners, Twin Peaks, Fargo (2014), and Zodiac.

Works Cited

Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm, et al. The Gay Science. Dover Publications, Inc., 2020.

Guignon, Charles B., et al. “The Humanism of Existentialism.” Existentialism: Basic Writings, Hackett, 2001.

Benatar, David. Better Never to Have Been: the Harm of Coming into Existence. Clarendon Press, 2013.

Schopenhauer, Arthur, et al. The World as Will and Representation. Cambridge University Press, 2018.

Dawkins, Richard. The Selfish Gene. Oxford University Press, 2016.

“True Detective.” IMDb, IMDb.com, www.imdb.com/title/tt2356777/episodes?season=1.

Environmentalism in a Galaxy Far, Far Away

11/2/2020

by Landen Kennedy

Ezra Bridger encounters a Loth-wolf, a creature with a very unusual connection to the Force

While originating on the big screen, television has recently become a home to many new adventures in everyone’s favorite galaxy far, far away. The Star Wars franchise has achieved great success in television with programs like Star Wars: The Clone Wars, an animated series following the events between Episodes II and III of the film series, and The Mandalorian, a live-action show that helped launch Disney+, Disney’s streaming service. These two are the most popular Star Wars television shows, but another animated show was made that seems to have found a devoted fan base, but seems to have missed the larger appeal that The Clone Wars managed to achieve.
   Star Wars: Rebels tells the story of the birth of the Rebel Alliance before the events of Episode IV. The show ran for four seasons and told one single story, as opposed to The Clone Wars’ more anthology style storytelling. Rebels has been criticized by a subset of Star Wars fans for being too childish and having a different animation style, however, the concepts that the show approaches and discusses make the show often more engaging. Among these themes present in the show, environmentalism is frequently discussed and used to further both the plot and the characters.
   Nature is prevalent at the core of many episodes across the show’s four season run. Star Wars is known to throw in some interesting creatures here and there, but usually these creatures are obstacles for our heroes to overcome rather than victims of abuse for them to help. Where this show makes a critical difference, which alters its approach to animals, is that it gives our protagonist, Ezra Bridger, the ability to connect to animals through the Force. This allows him to empathize and connect with them in meaningful ways that both help progress the plot and also drive the themes of environmentalism forward.
   Throughout the show, Lothal is used as the home base for the crew of Rebels that comprise our main cast. Ezra is an orphan from the planet, so his connection runs even deeper than everyone else's. Native to Lothal are a species of critter called Loth-cats. These are cat-like creatures with chicken-like legs and wide mouths. In the episode “Legacy” (Season 2, Episode 11) Ezra receives a Force vision of a Loth-cat. Believing this vision to be a clue to his parents’ whereabouts, Ezra heads to Lothal to find this Loth-cat. What Ezra finds is not his parents, but a man who knew his parents. The Loth-cat was used as a connection between Ezra and home, both his planet and the people he loved.

Ezra finds the white Loth-cat he believes will lead him to his missing parents

In the final season, the Rebels encounter another species native to Lothal, the mysterious Loth-wolves. These are massive wolf-like creatures with bird-like legs. What makes these animals so interesting and useful to the group of main characters is that the Loth-wolves have a deep connection with the Force. In Star Wars lore, the Force is an energy field created by and connecting all living things. This is the strongest connection between the franchise and the idea of environmentalism, as the Force is necessary for and dependent on life, nature, and harmony of living things. The Loth-wolves are more connected to the Force than any other creature, which allows them to view our Rebel heroes as friends rather than foe. The Empire builds factories all over Lothal, damaging the air and the environment, so the Loth-wolves recognize that our heroes want to save the planet from The Empire’s destruction.
Ezra and his Jedi master Kanan both have connections with these wolves that further develop their characters. For Kanan, the wolves represent a connection to the Force, to nature, to life. Kanan was a Jedi learner when the Jedi were destroyed by the Empire, so he lived most of his life neglecting the Force, but over time he has come to reacquaint himself with it, and the wolves seem to recognize this. At first they seem scary and dangerous, but as Kanan gets to know them, they become more comfortable and Kanan actually learns and grows because of them. Ezra is also frightened of them, but he is able to recognize that they need his help as much as he needs their help, and together they are able to fight the Empire.
Kanan and Ezra learn a lot about themselves from another species as well. They encounter a dangerous species of giant spider on a planet that they build a secret base on. After Kanan receives some teaching from an ancient being called Bendu, who himself resembles a giant ape-like animal with coral or plant-like appendages growing from his head and back. Bendu is almost an anthropomorphized version of the Force as a connection to life. Bendu teaches Kanan and Ezra not to fear the spiders, but to realize that fear and lashing out at the spiders is what causes them to be hostile. Again, the show is promoting the idea that nature isn’t something that should be conquered, but can be lived in harmony with. The spiders aren’t vicious beasts looking for a meal, they are scared and want to protect themselves, just like the human characters.

The Rebels encounter a group of mysterious purrgil

There are several other episodes where animals make a significant contribution to the plot, but perhaps the most important are the purrgil. Purrgil are like whales with squid tentacles that live in the vacuum of space. In the episode “The Call” (Season 2, Episode 15) the Rebel crew encounters the purrgil when they try to steal supplies from an Imperial mine. Hera, the captain of the Rebel crew, thinks the purrgil are extremely dangerous, as run-ins with them have historically not ended well for space pilots. However, Ezra is able to use the Force to connect with the purrgil and learns that they want the same thing the rebels do. At the mine, the Empire is trying to exterminate the purrgil. By teaming with the rebels, they defeat the Empire at the mine and the purrgil use the fuel to travel through hyperspace. This is a feat only starships with special engines can pull off, so the rebel crew is astounded at the impossibility of what these animals are doing.
At the end of the show, during the final battle against the Empire’s forces on Lothal, Ezra is able to connect with the purrgil and use them to win the day by dragging the Empire’s giant battleships into hyperspace and taking them who knows where in the galaxy. The show seems to be promoting the idea that if we help nature, nature will in turn help us. As we cut down the rainforests, we are cutting down the possibility of never-before-seen medicines. When we pollute the air, we damage our own ability to breathe. When we burn holes in the ozone layer, we increase our own likelihood of developing illnesses. Star Wars: Rebels uses various creatures to develop the main characters and to teach the audience that balance between humanity and nature is not only important, but vital to the continued existence of both.