Anthropomorphism Workshop Flashcards
What?
Anthropomorphism is the assignment of human emotions on to Gods, objects and (non-human) organisms.
It effects our relationship with nature, and i want to delve into that.
so, some points about anthropomorphism :
The inverse process of anthropomorphism is dehumanisation
neuroscience suggests that anthropomorphism is guided by the same processes involved when thinking about other people.
anthropomorphised agents become responsible for their own actions and therefore deserving of blame and praise, punishment and reward.
It’s part of human nature to anthropomorphise and people do it all the time! This workshop isn’t a suggestion to move a way from it, rather an invitation to think critically about it and question when we do and do not anthropomorphise, and why that might be.
Why?
The main purpose of this workshop is to discuss and consider how anthropomorphism is both beneficial and detrimental to our relationship with animals.
How?
we will do this by looking at some examples of anthropomorphism and critiquing them as a group.
We will then work individually and make either drawings and/or writing that anthropomorphises any animal or animals of your choice and then discuss them as a group, but obviously only share what you’re comfortable with. You might wanna think about animals that you haven’t seen anthropomorphised before or very often, or think about commonly anthropomorphised animals in new ways, but don’t worry if you can’t think of anything as you can always use one of the examples I’m about to show you
Jaws
Jaws is about a shark that has been anthropomorphised as evil, and the effect this has had on peoples relationships with all kinds of sharks is thought to be hugely negative. It tapped into a fear that was of course already there, but managed to exacerbate, so now when people hunt and kill sharks there is a feeling of getting rid of a bad animal, vs for example whales which are also hunted and killed, but it is far less supported and there is far more activism on their side.
Bear in the Big Blue House
bear in the big blue house was a disney tv programme that was on the telly alot when i was growing up. Its sickeningly sweet and tacky, but what i find interesting about it is that the bear has been anthropomorphised as a cuddly friendly carer that wouldnt hurt a fly. Isnt it curious that it is so beliveable despite the ruthless, violent and predatorial nature of Bears? This is obviosly not the only example, what about cuddly bears?!
The Grizzly Man
following on from the last slide i wanted to talk about Timothy Treadwell, a documentary film maker and activist for wildlife, particularly grizzly bears, who he would go to live amoungst for months at a time. he belived he had a special bond with them that was unattained by anyone else, he thought they knbew and loved him, which they perhaps did, allthough sadly they eventually took his life. Wim Wenders made a great documentary of his story which i highly recommend if you haven’t seen already!
Spongebob Squarepants
Theres an episode of spongebob where spongebob and patrick go to sandys dome and watch a caterpillar turn into a butterfly, which terrifies them because they think the butterfly ate their caterpillar friend who they had called Wormy. Its so hilarious because every time the butterfly lands on their bowl helmets it cuts to a close up of a butterly’s head and its all buzzy and intense and they completely freak out!
Caroline David
Butterflys are usually depicted more like this, pure, angelic, beautiful, harmless. This carolinne david sculpture is only one of many examples seen in art
Chicken Run
Chicken Run is a film about chickens uprising against their corrupt farmer, Mrs Tweedy, and sort of parodies the war film The Great Escape. Chickens are the perfect vehicles for a story about imprisonment and unionising because they have no autonomy or rights in factory farms.
Day of triffids/little shop horror
Heres a couple examples of anthropomrophised plants in films; the day of the triffids and little shop of horrors. The day of the triffids is less literally anthropomorhised, the evil plants dont particularly have a face or a voice, and they come from another planet, but the big plant you see on the right here from little shop of horrors definately does! Its owner, Seymore, sacrifices people to the plant, which becomes stronger and more volatile the more it is fed. To me, i feel that the take away point from these examples of anthropomorphism is that plants are stronger than you think, rather than plants are evil and you should kill them, like in Jaws.
Bowser
The evil villan in the Super Mario Bros game series is Bowser, who is belived to have been based on a snapping turtle. Im not sure how it effects its rep, but i think we can all agree just by looking at it that the snapping turtle was always gonna be depicted as something nasty!
Twin Peaks
In twin Peaks, the tv series directed by David Lynch and Mark Frost, Owls are depicted as the vehicles in which bad energies and spirits transport from ‘The black lodge’, a sort of hell that resides in the town of Twin Peaks. After watching the series i have a new found fear of owls!
Nemo
you all probably know, but Finding Nemo is a film about a fathers quest to find his lost son, Nemo, who was captured by a diver and taken back to live in his aquarium. The film wanted people to really empathise with ocean life, which it definitely succeeded in doing, but also maybe went a bit too far. For example, here you can see Nigel the pelican giving Marlin and Dory a ride it its mouth, which is quite ridiculous considering that in real life the pelican wouldve swallowed them well before they made it to the dentist. I know its a cartoon, and ridiculous things are meant to happen, but i personally think this paints a picture of the food chain that is maybe harmful when considering the laws of nature. Its stuff like this that makes it so sad to see cheetahs hunting down gazzelles for example, or makes people want their pet cats and dogs to be friends.
An ironic fact i heard about this film was that clown fish and blue tang sales went up like crazy after this film was released, everyone wanted their own pet nemo and Dory. That’s sort of ok for clown fish which are quite well adapted to aquarium life, but for Blue tangs its a fatal popularity considering that they require very large aquarium space and expert care, and there are stories of unaware customers buying baby blue tangs for their small aquariums, not knowing what to do with them when they get big.
Its also strange considering that the aquarium in this film was depicted as a prison!
Bees and wasps
I want to do a little exercise about bees and wasps, does anyone have any words that come to mind when they think of bees?
and what about wasps?
Now, which is more important for the ecosystem as a whole?
The truth is that studies show they are both just as crucial for the health of our ecosystem and just as endangered, so a ‘Save the Wasps’ campaign should be just as popular as the ‘Save the Bees’ campaign, but its not because wasps have been demonized through anthropomorphism, where as bees have been painted in a much more positive light.
Drawing/writing exercise
Now i want us to work individually and make either drawings and/or writing that anthropomorphises any animal or animals of your choice. You might wanna think about animals that you haven’t seen anthropomorphised before or very often, or think about commonly anthropomorphised animals in new ways, but don’t worry if you can’t think of anything as you can always use one of the examples Ive just shown you. After this we can discuss them as a group, but obviously only share what you’re comfortable with.
