To Alterbeings is wildin about the Wolf movie:
If you havent heard, WOLF is a new film about a main character with species dysphoria, and goes to a clinic to attempt to cure himself.
Whaaaaoo whaooo wooo you say. they are framing species dysphoria to be a disorder that needs a cure. Blasphemy.
heres why i think this plotline , albeit seemingly shitty may hold potential for any outsider that could ever dip their toes into nonhuman identity. Please. bear with me and give this rollercoaster of a post a chance.
1. Normies already think were batshit crazy.
If you havent heard, normies for lack of a better word, those who are human identifying without having nonhuman identities, think the idea of being transspecies or any spectrum of nonhumanity is stange and crazy already. This movie meets them where they are at (AT THE PREMISE. Well get to that later)
2. Individualized storytelling (or potential of)
According to the director, she formed this story around the individual story of jacob, and finding likeminded individuals that feel what you feel. The secondary character, wildcat, has been , at least to me be a multidemensional strongwilled character, that refuses to stop being herself despite others thinking it means shes not well, but the trailer still shows her complex (or potentially complex) relationship with the fear of going against authority to a ceartain extent ( s seen in the scene she advises jacob not to breakout) theres also the scene where wildcat is worried about their survival. jacob says, "i want to survive, but survive as me." This has a lot of potential for depth, specificity, and conclusion that an identity isnt an illness. if there is enough diversity in the species identity portrayal and how its So individual, and fundamental to who they are, then this can be what saves the film, as well as one final point.
Ah yes the thing i said we will get to later.
in my opinion, this film has very similar vibes to the film Boy Erased, (which is also made with the same production company Focus Features) a film that tells a boys story in gay conversion therapy. The films trailer reads similarly, in the sense that in this premise gayness is introduced in a negative light, and obviously the story progresses from there.
If this message is emphasized at the end of the film clearly, without some shitty backstory of having to be ALSO human or STILL human to be valid, then to me, the movie is redeemed at least a bit, no matter how "cringy" it went, if the message is HEY, THIS CONVERSION SHIT IS WRONG, THIS IS AN IDENTITY, THEY SHOULD BE ACCEPTED, NO MATTER WHAT....
then what do we have to lose?
I say this, with consideration that, hey, remember, hollywood exaggerates EVERYTHING. I would be dumb not to expect this to be exaggerated. It is a Hypothetical world where species dysphoria is wildly studied and talked about, and until that actually happens, we cant know how it would actually be. Theres room for exaggeration, even if there was a transspecies being/individual, or Alterbeing, draconic or other individual overseeing this project.
I remember Claire Wineland, the creator of The Clarity Project talking about being a consultant in 5 Feet Apart , a film about two teens falling in love but also dealing with Cystic fibrosis. Even with her say in the film, she had admitted that exaggeration is just what movies do, and the whole base of 5 feet apart was rather dramatic in her opinion, but she still felt it would resonate with CF patients to see someone like them even slightly on screen and to know she was trying her best to get it the most accurate a hollywood film about CF can be. Unfortunately, im looking everywhere to find where i read her quote. It had an impact on me which is why i remember her own words, but i would love the exact quote. If someone knows pls dm me.
hollywood has sensationalized the wolf, but, despite it, it seemed the actor studied actual wolves "til the end of the world." (and not werewolf movies) for this role. I dont like how the director words things in interviews, using the term syndrome (rather than say, phenomenon at least) while also knowing species dysphoria is understudied at the same time:
âInitially Iâd read an article and then seen some follow-up news pieces about a woman who thought that she was a cat,â Biancheri told IndieWire. âShe was going around on all fours and meowing. There was obviously a natural comical side to it, but I started reading up on it and I realized, this is a syndrome and itâs growing."
- Nathalie Biacheri, Director
Just say the girl (or boy or individual/being, depending on how you identify) is a cat yall.
but at the same time, the actor gives out statements like:
âI donât think even Jacob as a character identifies as someone with species dysphoria, I think he identifies as a wolf,â MacKay told IndieWire. âA big part of it hinges on its commitment to the idea, and thatâs integral to what the characters are going through. If suddenly you feel like, Well, actually this guy is a bit impartial about being a wolf, it dilutes the whole thing. You either believe what he feels or are trying to understand what he feels, or you make your own conclusions. For me, it was important that I felt like, without sort of spoiling anything, I rooted myself in the wolf.â
From there, however, only more questions followed. âOnce [you answer] that question, it then kind of breaks up into all these really nuanced, complex questions,â he said. âLike, if thatâs the case, how does he sound? How does he move? When is he a wolf? When is he a man? If you thought you were a wolf, would you feel like you move like a wolf but you donât have the body that you need? When did he find out? It just is so rich.â
- George McKay, Actor (Jacob)
Here are some more interviews pre-release, where i make remarks about passages.
âWOLFâ Trailer: George MacKay and Lily-Rose Depp Transform in Species Dysphoria Drama
âWolfâ: How George MacKay Totally Transformed Himself for a âUniversalâ Exploration of Personal Identity
Here there are tidbits that give me a bit of hope, the actor seems to speak like he was pretty dedicated to trying the best he could to endure complexity rather than cariacture, while im still cautious, heres some bits:
"During lockdown, MacKay chronicled his physical transformation and its emotional implications by writing a diary about the experience. Many of the words that MacKay wrote ended up in the final film, presented as part of Jacobâs own journal, which he shares during a group therapy session. âAt some point, even before the shoot, I was like, ââYeah, the time has come that he knows the character better than I do,'â Biancheri said."
I seem to have more qualms with the directors wording than the actors, and heres where i think it may be a test where if anything, he can have an impact in this not being that bad lol.
âI think if weâre trying to make something consciously for the masses via a very individual experience, it would sort of get diluted or become vague, or even slightly patronizing, because youâre trying to encapsulate many, many individual experiences by making a broad strokes version of that circumstance,â he said. âIt feels like such a fundamental question, when I think Iâm something or I value something that you donât or that youâre trying to change. I think that has much bigger reverberations, even though our version of it is such a specific question.â
Another quote that spirals me into a mix of 'yikes' and but 'well, i mean that is a point '*shrug* is this one:
"while still rooted in a known disorder [do they mean gender dysphoria?], [it] blows out its ideas in such fantastical fashion that it canât help but inspire empathy. Why does it matter that Jacob thinks heâs a wolf? What impact does that really have on anyone else?
As the pain Jacob and his fellow patients feel grows, as their journey becomes more poignant and painful, such questions can only lead to greater understanding. If movies are, as Roger Ebert once famously said, machines meant to generate empathy, âWolfâ is precisely that."
Hm. This is the part where i think, holy shit, what if its so exaggerated it *works*? There are depictions of scenes here too reminiscent of any conversion therapy that just may be shattering. Who cares whether u think its theyre cringey when when ur literally fucking makeing someone suffer. Have some Fucking empathy.
we have to remember that this is the FIRST significant time species identity has ever been represented in hollywood like this, not with magic, spells, or full moons. Despite this, the nonhuman and Alterbeing communities took shape online finding solace along the most sensationalized media around wolves, elves and the like. Believe me, im not trying to excuse any negative impact this film may have. Im just saying, Despite any negative impact, species indentity is still here, still a thing. Sure, theres so much chaos but, hey, theres always silver lining. some found solace and felt seen even if it was just a bit by this trailer (including me.) We should never settle, but , even if this sensationalizes species identity, i can see hundreds of transspecies and alterbeing egglings googling "do i have species dysphoria" because of this movie. To me, despite how unceartain the general audience impact of this it is, there can still be hope for a positive one, even if its just a niche few that will find this movie to spark something positive.
With all that being said, i want to feel unashamed that im optimistic, however cautiously.
