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Fantastic Mr Fox, the brilliant 2009 Wes Anderson film based on Roald Dahl’s children’s novel, is driven by two coming-of-age stories.

The first, and more traditional, follows Mr Fox’s 12 year old son Ash. Ash is short, awkward, and prone to theatrical sartorial choices that reinforce his status as an outsider. He is forever comparing himself to his fantastic father and implausibly gifted cousin, Kristofferson. Over the course of the film, Ash learns to make the most of his strengths.

The second coming-of-age story is that of Mr Fox himself. Despite being a husband, father, home owner, and provider, Mr Fox sees himself as a ‘wild animal’, a kind of perpetual teenager who continually needs to prove himself to the world.

In the opening scene, Mr Fox and his wife are caught in a fox trap while raiding a squab farm. Mrs Fox reveals that she is pregnant, and Mr Fox agrees to settle into a safer life for the sake of his family. This brings about an internal conflict in Mr Fox. He retains his self-image (a wild animal), which is at odds with the safe domestic life he makes as a father and newspaper columnist.

Fantastic Mr Fox is a furry movie in that it features anthropomorphic characters. I’d also argue that Mr Fox’s internal conflict has parallels with the furry experience. His internal conflict is similar to the disconnect of identity experienced by many furries: we present one version of ourselves to the real world but have an internal life where our furry identity looms large.

I don’t want to overextend my linguistic gymnastics by stretching for too many parallels between the identity crises in Mr Fox and in furries. However, both we and Mr Fox must find some way to manage our split personalities.

Mr Fox does a poor job of this in the start of the film. He is prone to self-aggrandizement and risky behaviour, as if he is trying to prove his wildness despite his domesticity. He treats his friend, Badger, poorly – physically threatening him after being advised against a risky purchase, and cutting him off mid-speech. Mr Fox does so because he feels he must prove himself as the wild, fantastic animal he imagines himself to be.

Mr Fox’s crisis is resolved in the best – and most flawed – scene in the film: the wolf scene.

Just after the climactic action sequence, Mr Fox spies a wolf in the distance. The wolf is a wild animal: quadruped, mute, strong. Mr Fox, despite his self-professed lupophobia, tries to engage the wolf in conversation. The wolf remains silent. The scene ends with the two making a non-verbal connection, acknowledging each other with a raised paw. As the wolf leaves, Mr Fox says to his son and nephew “What a beautiful creature. Wish him luck, boys.”

It’s a powerful and understated scene. The connection between Mr Fox and the wolf indicates the reconciliation of Fox’s splintered identities. The gesture of acceptance shows the domesticated Mr Fox making peace with his atavistic self. With this acceptance, Mr Fox can find balance between his wild, internal world and domestic, external world. His newspaper column becomes edgier (“Fox on the Prowl”) and his next raid is on a safer target – a supermarket.

The gesture between Mr Fox and the wolf is a moment of personal triumph. It’s something we can all strive for.

Unfortunately, the wolf scene is arguably a racist one. The black wolf stands in counterpoint to the civil world of Mr Fox et. al., and is a representation of the wild.

The black wolf is intended to be a metaphor for Mr Fox’s internal atavistic shadow. However there is a history of blackness in cinema, where it is shorthand for mysteriousness and untamed animalism. This is a fundamentally racist association as it degrades blacks as being more like animals (and so less human). The black wolf is pure animal.

And, unfortunately, the key gesture between Mr Fox and the wolf looks a lot like a black power salute.

There is a long history of film using black characters in a racist fashion, even in otherwise excellent films. Consider Morgan Freeman’s benevolent servant in Driving Miss Daisy, or Michael Clarke Duncan’s “magical Negro” in The Green Mile. Such black characters only exist to act benevolently towards the white main characters, and have little other apparent motivation. Freeman and Duncan, in these films, are playing the stock character of the noble savage. Neither film is intended to be racist, however the characterization of the black characters in anachronistic.

I don’t think that Wes Anderson intended the wolf scene to have any racial connotations. Anderson has form: 2007′s The Darjeeling Limited is about the three Whitman brothers (literally, the White Men) who get lost in the Rajasthani desert. The Indians in the film are broadly characterized, but this is a deliberate device to reflect the privilege of the Whitmans and their unfamiliarity with the world outside their bubble. The Darjeeling Limited is a direct exploration of ‘whiteness’, arguably a theme carried throughout many of Anderson’s films.

Mr Fox is equally privileged and suffers the condition of being white. He is nattily dressed, speaks in a quasi-formal manner that suggests a traditional British-style education, is fluent in French, and is comfortable with Latin. While none of these things necessarily qualify him as white (he is, after all, a delightful shade of orange), it’s a reasonable assumption to make in the context of Anderson’s other work.

Like the black characters in The Green Mile and Driving Miss Daisy, I suspect that the black wolf’s cameo will become anachronistic over time. It’ll remain a small criticism of an otherwise excellent film, at least until the world improves to a point where skin colour doesn’t have associational baggage.

I, for one, would be happier if Anderson had taken a page out of the furry book and made his wolf blue. (Neon green bangs optional.)

submitted by XiamTheFox
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submitted by pandez
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Author: admin Wow! This week’s episode is super-sized, over an hour and a half long, and there’s a lot to talk about! Smokey shares news of his Zelda symphony tickets, Halfwit gives her word of the week, Istanbul goes off on a topic that invoked a “WTF, furries?” moment or two, Kyo discusses Todd Akin [...] Episode 56 – E-Harmony

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submitted by Rusty-Shackleferd420
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Wow! This week’s episode is super-sized, over an hour and a half long, and there’s a lot to talk about! Smokey shares news of his Zelda symphony tickets, Halfwit gives her word of the week, Istanbul goes off on a topic that invoked a “WTF, furries?” moment or two, Kyo discusses Todd Akin and his insane comments about rape, and we go on about evil parents and how embarrassing they can be sometimes. We also have our first music break where we’re not using OC Remix music; the link was just too good to ignore!

Once our e-mails begin, we discuss how to make online relationships work over a great distance (including a moment where the entire cast absolutely cracks the hell up), we discuss the potential data storage of DNA and the giving of plasma for some spare cash – seriously, this is the sort of thing that happens when you don’t write in – along with potential successes in online relationships and how clear you need to be on the potential for real life relationships to come from them (whether from intent or from long distance)! Finally, we wind up talking about tattoos, and good ideas vs. bad idea! The cast discusses their own online relationships, and Istanbul gives his ideas about how to safely turn an online relationship into a real one!

Next week’s topic is all about school! We’re pretty sure all of you either have gone to or are going to school at some point, and we want to hear from you? What was school like for you? Do you need help getting through it? Do you need some guidance as to where you want to go with your life? Write on in and talk to us, your e-mails are the whole reason for the podcast!

This week’s song: Digital Love by Daft Punk

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Episode 56 – E-Harmony
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Episode 56 – E-Harmony - Wow! This week’s episode is super-sized, over an hour and a half long, and there’s a lot to talk about! Smokey shares news of his Zelda symphony tickets, Halfwit gives her word of the week, Istanbul goes off on a [...]

Ok there's this thing I've always noticed. People have this certain style that makes furries realistic. i.e. stylized but realistic animal head, digitgrade feet, claws and paws with pads. But then they wear normal human clothes, and have human mannerisms. Then they are pretty much just human, but with fur.

But When you draw furries that don't look realistic, say bugs bunny or sonic, maybe klonoa. Human hands and feet, cartoony body and head. Animal in name only. But they end up acting more wild than the furs that look more life-like. They may act human, but it's clear they are not.

I noticed this since. My furries aren't drawn on the realistic route at all. But they have this odd, wild feel to them. but then when you have a furry that does look realistic, they don't act the part.

I know not all furries are drawn like this, but it's pretty common isn't it? Why is that?

example Realistic cartoony

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Dear Papa Bear,

I've been seeing this guy, we haven't met in real life yet, but I've been with him online for a year now and he plans to come visit next summer. He is about 19 years older than me, and I'm pretty sure he isn't lying about his age. We've talked on the phone a few times, and sent pictures to each other of ourselves. He keeps trying to change himself for me, and it made me think, "What if he's a predator that just wants sex?"

He has all the qualities of a predator, Lonely for a while, changes themselves for you, sends gifts, wants to meet you, etc. If he is a predator, do you think he'd tell me if I asked, and if he isn’t/doesn't tell me, should I stay with him anyway?

Sincerely,
Gilatto 

P.S. my fur-name is Gilatto for comedic purposes, has nothing to do with real life stuff.

* * *

Dear Gilatto,

“Um, excuse me, mister, but are you a sexual predator?”

“Why, yes. Yes I am, young man, and I am here to rape you.”

Are you kidding me? I’m sorry for the snarkiness, Gilatto, but if you think about it, wasn’t that a rather silly question you posed? Of course he is not going to tell you if he is a sexual predator. And, on the other hand, if he isn’t and is genuinely interested in you as a person, asking him such a question would be a real mood killer.

Papabear has a lot of faith in instinct and has come across a question or two similar to this in the past in which someone had a feeling there was something wrong with the person interested in them. To this I say, “Trust your gut.”

The value of instinct is undervalued in our modern culture, but, despite the fact that humans have tried to distance themselves from their animal qualities, we still have some of that instinct and right now it is telling you to stay away from this guy.

It’s not so much the factor that he is almost two decades older than you (though that isn’t so hot), but rather what you say about his buying you gifts and “changing himself” to be more appealing to you. Papabear thinks you are right that those are red flags that something is up.

Other signs that he could be a predator include always agreeing with what you say, being extremely interested in sex talk (duh, but I know a lot of furries do online yiff and might think nothing of this), he has asked for naked pictures of you, he seems eager to please you, he is very interested in finding out where you live and wants to meet you alone.

This could be a very dangerous situation, Gilatto. A guy like this might be after more than just sex—he could be lethal. Stay away from him, please. And, if you are still unsure, talk to your parents about it.

Be safe,

Papabear 

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submitted by BruiserFox
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Minecraft enthusiasts will be happy to know that Skin Pack 2 is upon us! The second skin-filled package comes with 45 skins from various other Microsoft games and Indie titles. There are even a few furry highlights and surprises! You can play as a sheep or pig, or as Horstachio, Fizzlybear, or Pretztail from Viva Pinata. For the full list, check out the full article and list below:

 

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