#SQUADGOALS (5)
By:
February 1, 2017
One in a series of enthusiastic posts, contributed by HILOBROW friends and regulars during 2017, on the subject of our favorite squads.
“All the world will be your enemy. And whenever they catch you they will kill you. But first, they must catch you.”
My parents took me to see the 1978 movie Watership Down when I was seven, much to my lasting horror. Too much Disney at that tender age meant that I wasn’t prepared to digest a story about the violence of nature, or understand that survival is not an inherently virtuous achievement. I watched that colony of rabbits, propelled by prophesies of doom, battle their way across the English countryside — dodging dog jaws, cat claws, car tires, hunters’ bullets, and the hawks and owls that fly overhead — all just to find a safe place to live freely. Although I already understood the world could be a frightening place, the image of a cartoon rabbit dripping blood from its mouth managed to burrow into my brain and keep me up at night for weeks. It remained there for decades, vivid and terrible, while other memories of the film dissolved completely.
This past October, I watched it again to revisit that bloody-faced rabbit, to see how all would look to me now. Although I had no premonitions that Trump would be elected, I saw in the story lessons in how to survive a fate you didn’t write for yourself. The dissident band of bunnies lives by the fact that appearances are always deceiving, and that predators inevitably underestimate their prey. Without muscle or fang or numbers equal to their enemies, they rely on their wits. If you can’t outrun them, trick them into thinking they’ve got the upper hand, and while they’re licking their chops, deliver the lethal blow. Because in the end, we live the happily-ever-after we’ve fought for.
#SQUADGOALS: Annie Nocenti on THE WILD BUNCH | Alice Boone on PRETTY LITTLE LIARS | Gordon Dahlquist on BOWIE’S BAND | Rob Wringham on THE HOME GUARD | Jennifer Krasinski on WATERSHIP DOWN RABBITS | Annalee Newitz on ROBIN HOOD’S MERRY PALS | Adrienne Crew on THE BLOOMSBURY GROUP | Mark Kingwell on THE HONG KONG CAVALIERS | Adam McGovern on KAMANDI’S FAMILY | John Overholt on THE CLUB | Greg Rowland on THE VULTURE SQUADRON | Sara Ryan on BETSY, TACY & TIB | Chelsey Johnson on VI ÄR BÄST! | Brian Berger on THE JOHN FORD STOCK COMPANY | Sherri Wasserman on THE WARRIORS | Jessamyn West on FAREYNIKTE PARTIZANER ORGANIZATSYE | Josh Glenn on DADA | Matthew De Abaitua on THE TIME | Mandy Keifetz on THE FOUNDING FATHERS | William Nericcio on ZOOT SUIT PACHUCOS | Deb Chachra on FIREFLY CREW | Matthew Battles on THE ANIMAL FAMILY | Ingrid Schorr on THE HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS | Joe Alterio on THE USUAL GANG OF IDIOTS | Dan Reines on THE BREAKFAST CLUB | Rob Walker on LES TROIS INSÉPARABLES | Devin McKinney on 1975 RED SOX | Steph Burt on DAMAGE CONTROL | Elina Shatkin on THE HOLOGRAMS | Chris Spurgeon on THE ALKALI METALS | Carl Wilson on NEW YORK SCHOOL POETS | Barbara Bogaev on THE MOD SQUAD | Franklin Bruno on THE AACM | Judith Zissman on THE FUTURIANS | Mimi Zeiger on ARCHIGRAM | Jacob Mikanowski on THE RATBASTARDS | Lynn Peril on THE DALY SISTERS | Anindita Basu Sempere on MEG MURRY’S FAMILY | Libi Rose on THE ENIAC TEAM | Gary Panter on THE TRIBE OF HIPPIES | Peter Doyle on CORNEL WILDE BOYS | Ken Layne on THE MONKEY WRENCH GANG | Molly Wright Steenson on BAUHAUS | Katie Hennessey on BEAT POETS | Mimi Lipson on THE RUNAWAYS | Jordan Ellenberg on BOURBAKI | Michael Campochiaro on THE SUICIDE SQUAD | Deborah Wassertzug on THE BLOODHOUND GANG | Colin Dickey on ACÉPHALE | Douglas Wolk on SEVEN SOLDIERS OF VICTORY | David Smay on THE MYSTIC KNIGHTS OF THE OINGO BOINGO | Karinne Keithley Syers on BLACKLIPS PERFORMANCE CULT.
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