Savages (film)
Savage, according to Oxford Dictionary, is "a member of a people regarded as primitive and uncivilized". It is a plural noun. The movie shows a group of savages. But, who are savages? Those who live in the forest or those who are carrying out deforestation and urbanization?
The animated story starts with a quote ”The world does not belong to us. We borrow it from our children.” It happens in a forest with a lot of animals we regard as dangerous, with big piece of land which can be developed, bringing enormous career opportunities and various economic developments. We forget our ancestors used to get the resources which are always available in the forest, but they didn’t destroy it.
In Savage, Keria lives in the world with the reliable supply of electricity and water, as well as technology, job opportunities and inhumane bureaucracy. When she gets lost in the forest, she can’t live without her phone. She doesn’t know where she was from until she lives with her other family members who insist on living in the jungle.
Better or not?
One of the questions the film may want to explore is if we are really building a better world". Yes and no.
There is a scene that a person-in-charge wants to persuade the savages to leave the underdeveloped world by giving them a lot of cash with the arguments of incentives like the supply of water and electricity as well as being employed as labourers to help further development (deforestation and urban development). When they try to prevent the government from entering the forest, the police says they have to register to have an ID so that they can lodge a complaint. Later on when Keria shows her ID and plans to complain, she is threatened not to do. Are we aware of the bureaucratic way which blocks any possible ways of communication? Are we concerned about we do have harder times as money has become the only rule of the game, and are more vulnerable when we lose our jobs, compared to savages’ lives in which life experiences can be gained by ongoing learning and observation.
But the movie doesn’t oppose to any things which are modern. Not all the savages are so primitive as Keria’s grandfather has his phone, and some of the family members wear clothes and ever have shoes. Keria even posts a video of how the army destroys the forest to social media which is able to spark public concern and demonstrations against the government.
Obviously the film isn’t against any kind of civilization like development and technology, but the key point is whether it sets us free or poses more restrictions.
More constraints overall in our modern life
Living in an urbanized world with technology, water, electricity and education system looks like much easier and straightforward, but we lose the chance to explore and understand our nature world, learn how to live with other animals and adapt to any changes. Now it seems the only thing we can learn is to conform to anything, and just want to look for a standard answer through Google and even AI without trying to understand. Life is limited to the only path, and if you can’t get used to it, or even attempt to confront the society, you can’t survive or, in the worst scenario, you will be killed as said in the movie.
You may see how I am advocating technology according to articles in my blog, but I don’t want to commit to digital tools in my lifetime. Rather, I just want to learn to treat them as part of the resources on the earth, that if I need to use just use them, if not I can opt out; and that I can be flexible and adaptive to social and environmental changes.
We don’t need to replace the so-called primitive world with “civilization” or modernization, or go back totally to the prehistoric natural world when we realize the current world is full of mess. We don’t need to judge the so-called primitive lifestyle like being barefoot, or the civilization as no good. Modernization is never superior to primitive lifestyle, or vice versa. They are options when they don’t create any harm. Their good or bad depends on our attitudes.
By understanding how we get here can answer a lot of questions and inspire us what to do for our better future. For our children.
