"Beasts Of The Southern Wild": Learning How To Stand Up To Aurochs
21 January 2013
By Jane Stillwater
Me and my son Joe and my granddaughter Mena finally
got a chance to go see "Beasts of the Southern Wild"
the other day. That whole freaking movie deserves an
Oscar. It's definitely got my vote. Wow!
And the movie's main plot-line (which involved people
idealistically working together to save their small
town) reminded me strongly of my own housing co-op
where I have lived for the past 33 years.
And this so-called housing "cooperative" once started
off all idealistically too. Back then, we too had
grand and idealistic intentions of working together
for the common good -- sort of like how the framers of
the U.S. Constitution back in 1776 or whenever had put
forth their own dreams of what a more perfect union
would look like.
But gradually, over the years, my small housing co-op
shamelessly degenerated into a bunch of self-seeking,
self-interested individuals who would do anything to
get a leg up. Corruption, apathy,
conflict-of-interest, nepotism, lethargy,
back-stabbing and bickering ruled the day among most
of the residents. And, physically, the place soon
started falling apart. I'm talking about major failing
infrastructure here.
And so I've spent the last 15 years of my life
fighting like crazy to get a re-hab to happen here at
my housing co-op. And it finally did. And it's a
wonderful re-hab, don't get me wrong. The contractors
are doing a great job. But the process is truly
intense. The whole infrastructure is being replaced,
repaired and/or remodeled -- almost from the ground
up. Inside and out. And they are doing it while over
fifty families are all living here too.
And the pressure of this intensive re-hab, as people
struggle to get their life-long belongings all packed
up in boxes, their walls pounded on by a whole
battalion of workers, their siding and roofs torn off
and put back on again and their heating and plumbing
and bathrooms and carpets and kitchens replaced --
it's almost like the pressure of the storms, floods
and new levees pressing down on that small town in
"Beasts". And this pressure has also acted to bring my
own "small town" together again too and to finally,
maybe, even become a real co-op again.
Or I could just be a dreaming idealist like Hush Puppy
in the movie -- but I hope not.
But is there a moral here somewhere? Sure, of course.
Just like a huge disaster had brought a small town
together in "Beast of the Southern Wild," now our
massive (but wonderful) re-hab is finally getting my
housing co-op members to actually cooperate with each
other for their own good. And who knows? Perhaps the
many disasters that are also facing America these days
will also finally unite us all into working together
for our common good too -- instead of all too many of
us acting like aurochs toward each other, tearing at
each others' throats and ripping each other apart.
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