Ferdinand

Movie, 2017, PG

Premise - A sensitive bull with a gentle heart has no desire to fight among the bullfighters. Instead, his idea of fulfillment is to live in a field of flowers with his friend, a little girl. When he is captured and brought back to the bullfighting farm, he has to teach the others the futility of fighting, and what it truly means to be strong.


Review - I have to think back a bit one this one because I watched the first half on a plane back in January, and then finally hopped onto another plane where it was accessible and finished the last half this past month. So my movie-watching experience was a bit jumbled but the story is straightforward enough that I think I could manage.

Like most adults, I don't watch a lot of children's movies anymore unless they are considered the "respectable" all-ages kind, like Disney and Pixar. Movie studios crank out animated kids films by the dozens and many of them are trash due to crude humor and pointless plots. But this film was a standout for its excellent storytelling and fresh take on toxic masculinity, boxed up nice and neat for children.

The very first trailer for this film had already pulled my heartstrings to pieces. The animation for Ferdinand is so well done in that, with every angle, you get a sense of the massive scope of his body. He's ENORMOUS, not only in size but in the shape he takes for his size. Something as simple as seeing Ferdinand on screen, just existing as the huge mass he is, juxtaposed with more delicate, small things like flowers, hedgehogs, bunnies, and little girls, is powerful. But the main source of my intense emotions was, unfortunately, pity. Ferdinand is so gentle, sweet, and you can tell how tortured he is by taking up so much space, or worse, intimidating or scaring others. That "Awwwwww" feeling you get towards the gentle giant reaches its peak in this film.

The film teaches children the same basic message we get all the time - don't judge people by the way they look - but its emphasis not only on looks, but the behaviors of violence turn it into a specific allegory on masculinity that so much of the world can benefit from. Boys can like flowers. Boys do not have to fight. Better yet, not only do boys not have to fight to prove themselves, but they should not be fighting at all. In a bullfight, one party or the other will inevitably end up hurt or dead. The film instead teaches that backing down from a fight is the stronger thing to do. Bullfighting is an institution that benefits from pain and suffering. The bulls in this film are raised to believe that they are worthless if they cannot effectively fight others. This is the same way toxic masculinity thrives best on placing men against each other, and causing them to feel shame or guilt for not living up to "manly" expectations. The lesson that fighting causes glory has to be unlearned by each of the bulls in the film, which is a painful and earth-shattering experience that alters their whole worldview. But in the end, they are happier and more cooperative with other bulls for it. Such the same should be done with masculinity. (86/100)

Quote - "You're either a fighter or you're meat"

What to watch for - I really got a kick out of the horses. It's probably seen by some as offensive, as the horses had heavy German accents are were very effeminate (were they going for gay or European...?) but I definitely laughed out loud.

If you liked this film, I'd recommend Zootopia!

Directed by Carlos Saldanha
Distributed by 20th Century Fox