I live in the dirt

Self indulgent art based on Ravenous, my favorite movie :> Used my drag persona as the Boyd-like figure in the center, and wanted to capture his resistance to perpetuating systems of violence (the Ives figure feeding him).

I love the way Ravenous tackles themes about colonialism and power, and they do an interesting job of connecting gender roles/ gendered expectations to why these systems perpetuate. I feel like this is most seen with Boyd: for the standards of the time, he is seen as feminine and weak (mostly due to his discomfort with violence in the military), but that really is his strength, as he fends off Ive’s temptations to give into colonialist systems (symbolized through rejecting cannibalism).

I think that this idea can often be especially pertinent to transmasc individuals, due to the way trans boys/men have to find their own standards of masculinity in a society where masculinity is often associated with violence or exertion of power.

Part of what makes Boyd’s ending in the bear trap so great is that he never explains himself. Of course he can’t, he’s half dead, that would be impossible. But I do recognize, throughout the second half of the movie, he wants to feel understood. He’s constantly scapegoated for the murders of his traveling party by other people, and he wants people to understand that he is not the monster, Ives is. And this is why Boyd is easy to identify with as a character: we have all had a situation where we were misinterpreted, leading to us feeling isolated and lost. No matter how large or small of an event it is, it always feels frustrating. We want Boyd to explain himself, to be believed, to have someone have his back.

However, if this happened, and people believed Boyd, especially a character like Martha, it would not work thematically. Martha has no reason to trust him: in fact, it’s Boyd trying to explain himself that first establishes this distrust. He says he didn’t kill her brother, but really, why should she believe that about him? He already admitted to eating people. Any person in Martha’s shoes, especially an indigenous woman who has seen both the curse and the corrupting force of colonial power first hand, would be suspicious.

So, Boyd doesn’t need to explain himself. He doesn’t need to die feeling like Martha understands he’s the “good guy”. He can just die knowing that sacrificing himself was the right thing to do, even if it is never recognized as sacrifice. And that’s a beautiful thing. Because the whole story is Boyd balancing these two motivations within him: self preservation and morality. This bear trap scenario of “eat or die” is the ultimate choice, and he chooses morality! With no benefit to himself other than feeling like he still has a soul as he is drifting off to his death! And that can mean something for us, something for people: if you’d rather explain that you’re a good person than do the right thing, you should rethink your priorities!!