A female orca in Puget Sound won’t let go of her dead calf.
Hearing this reminded me of a strange movie I saw with a friend a few years ago, Under the Skin. Neither of us had a clue what it was about at the time. The character played by Scarlett Johansson, who seemed to be an alien but we weren’t sure, seduced multiple men* and then may have killed them, but we weren’t sure. The entire film was disturbing in its strangeness, but one scene involving a crying baby stood out. Mom and Dad had, if I’m remembering correctly, been killed and thrown in the water by two of the aliens (or whatever they were). The camera lingered on the baby, a tiny wailing thing sitting on a desolate stretch of rocky beach in Scotland, the sea roiling in the background. They (the presumed aliens) were discussing something trivial—apparently aliens also have to deal with things like laundry and shopping lists—seemingly oblivious to the baby’s distress.
When the movie ended most of the audience was silent. I suspect we were all thinking, “What the hell was that about?” When Heather and I exited the theatre, we put this question to the person at the popcorn stand. “I don’t know,” she replied. “I haven’t actually seen it, but it’s based on a novel.”
I borrowed the book (also titled Under the Skin) from the library. I remember few details, except that it bore little resemblance to the movie, and the “aliens” were furry, four-legged beings who raised two-legged, furless creatures for food… and I finally understood the meaning of that scene in the movie with the baby on the beach.
* Fun fact: While making the movie, Scarlett Johansson would drive a van around Edinburgh. If she spotted the type of man her character in the movie would want to have sex with—and apparently the aliens (or whatever they were) have the same taste in men as I do—she would stop and ask for directions, and then start flirting with him. A film crew was hidden in the back of the van, filming these encounters. Some of that footage made it into the movie (and I’m sure a bunch of men contemplated throwing themselves into the Firth of Forth after having been, unbeknownst to them at the time, propositioned by Johansson, and turning her down).
This made me google today if there was news of this orca mother, and as of yesterday she's still mourning and carrying her baby. Then the pictures from the massive red tide deaths off Florida's coast started to come in. Would almost welcome an alien invasion.
ReplyDeleteI googled it too. There is even a page full of poetry about the orca and baby: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/i-have-not-slept-in-days-readers-react-to-tahlequah-the-mother-orca-clinging-to-her-dead-calf/
DeleteDolphins do this too. I was just reading about animal intelligence and emotions (having acquired a pistol of a little dog recently). Dolphins mourn and hang around with their dead babies; elephants recognize the bones of their dead mothers and touch them but not the bones of other dead elephants. So sad.
ReplyDeleteThis post makes my head swim. Maybe in a "What the hell was that about?" way. But maybe not.
ReplyDeleteThe image of the alien laundry really lightened up the post for me. And then those Firth of Forth attempted drownings. You are so funny.
ReplyDeleteFunny. Insightful. Brilliant. That's you, Helen.
ReplyDeleteYou're so sweet, Mali :)
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