Hushpuppy Movie Analysis

Another prevalent theme in the film is innocence, and Hushpuppy is representation of innocence. At the end of the film it appears that she has reached a stage of maturity. Her innocence slowly deteriorates as the film progresses. Her behavior is age appropriate in the beginning of the film. However, her father responds to certain situations in a childlike manner. Therefore it is hard for her to know how an adult is supposed to handle certain situations. Human Behavior and the Social Environment: Individuals and Families, Van Wormer (2001), shares information about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and according to that text Hushpuppy has only reached a sense of belongingness and love. Her physiological and safety needs are met based off of the standards

He make sure she is safe and to the best of his ability. However, there is a deficit in Hushpuppy’s need of belongingness and love. She finds her sense of belonging with the residents of the Bathtub but she in still young. Wink loves her but he does not display it in an age appropriate manner, he is more stern than nurturing. There is a scene in the movie where Hushpuppy is upset about her father dying. In response he throws a pillow at her to distract her from crying because he does not know how to deal with it. Throughout the film Hushpuppy has a lot of figures she calls mama, even when she is frightened she calls for her mama. When she goes to visit a catfish shack which is dual as a whore house where she believes to encounter her mother and she whispers in her ear then the lady leaves crying. This is her “aha” moment. She realizes she has this dream of wanting a mother but her dream will have to remain just that. She makes the choice to go tend to her ill father because she concludes that is her duty. A 5 year old should not have to make a tough decision like this, and should not be developmentally able to. When her father dies, her innocence dies. Hushpuppy said, “If you go I go” (Gottwald, Janvey, Penn, & Zeitlen, 2012), in the film. She does not mean if her father dies she will literally die, she means her heart will be broken, her innocence