“The whole universe depends on everything fitting together just right. If one piece busts, even the smallest piece… the entire universe will get busted.” -Hushpuppy, Beasts of the Southern Wild
My 16 year old daughter is into watching old movies. And by old, I mean moves from the 90s and the very early 2000s. I have been rewatching old favorites with her- Cinema Paradiso, Amelie, just to name a few. I recently rewatched Beasts of the Southern Wild, while a bit more recent- filmed in 2012, is a movie that is probably in my top ten movie list, if I had one. There are several big themes running through this movie, but the overarching one is the impact of the climate crisis, not just on marginal communities, but humanity and the living world. And it’s all seen through the eyes and voice of a 6 year old named Hushpuppy.
I finished this piece at the end of last week. And have been thinking on it all weekend. I’ve been thinking a lot about ecological grief. Because I feel it. For a long time now. But it has been getting more intense for obvious reasons. Then I rewatched the movie on Saturday and I felt like I had to give a nod to this movie and that little girl facing a world in crisis.
“I see that I am a little piece of a big, big universe, and that makes it right.” -Hushpuppy