Monthly Archives: January 2022

A film I consider as wild is Bird Box. It was released December 21, 2018 and directed by Susanne Bier. The main character is played by Sandra Bullock where she is the mother to two kids when tragedy strikes. A poisonous “something” is in the air and if someone looks at it, they instantly die or will do something destructive like light a house on fire before soon dying. In a desperate attempt to save her own life and the lives of her two kids, she blindfolds all three of them and sails down a river in hopes of finding safety. I think this film is wild in the since that I could never imagine anything like this happening to the world. Going from living a normal life to instantly being surrounded by destruction, confusion, and death caused by something you cannot even see, freaks me out and I consider that to be wild and crazy. 

Here is the trailer: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2AsIXSh2xo (Links to an external site.) 

The scene I consider as the “wildest” is when they are in a makeshift boat floating down a river completely blindfolded due to the inability to look around. They hit rapids and even tumble out at one point. They desperately feel around and look for each other, afraid to take a fatal, wrong step. For me, rafting down a river in general is crazy, but the concept of doing it when you are blindfolded and fighting for your life is something so wild I could not even imagine it. They luckily *spoiler alert* survive and make it to a safety center, but I think this film is wild due to the unlikelihood of something like this ever happening to the world.

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, “wild” is defined in many different ways including something uncontrolled and full of energy, not raised or grown by humans, to like something very much, and a natural place secluded from civilization where animals and plants live/grow. Dictionary.com (Links to an external site.) defines “wild” as living in a state of nature, untamed or domesticated, uncultivated, barbarous and uninhabited. The Oxford Learner’s Dictionary defines wild as animals/plants, in its natural state-not changed by people, and one without any discipline or control. All of these dictionaries define wild using the “un“ suffix, therefore they are implying wild is something negative, dangerous, and risky. They say wild is uncontrolled, uncultivated, without discipline, and barbarous. Because of the way they define “wild” in such a negative light, it has no appeal for anyone to want to be wild. 

I think wild can mean freedom and adventure. Yes, I believe that wild can be used to describe animals that are untamed and uninhibited, but I also believe wild can mean something that has not been explored fully yet. There is a since of possibility and question. During our class assignment, one comment I loved and thought summed up “wild” extremely well was that “wild is anything which is not recognized by the society of its time.” Wild is something, by nature, that scares and intimidates people due to its unpredictability, but wild should be accepted and appreciated. If people were not wild, where would America be as a country? You have to be bold, different, and wild for true change and inventions. 

The world wild can be used as a noun or more commonly as an adjective. In the form of an adjective, the definitions given to the word wild have positive and negative connotations. For example, generally, wild can be used to describe something that is unusually extreme, crazy, violent, or uncontrolled. However, in slang, it can be used to describe something that is special or cool. The word essentially takes on a different meaning depending on the context. Additionally, there is a range between referring to something as extreme and then violent. Describing hair and clothes as wild is much different from saying someone went wild as a reaction. Given these varying definitions, the broad scope of such a common word becomes apparent as does the important role of context. 

Personally, the world wild to me encompasses many different things. As someone who spends a lot of time with houseplants and nature, the first definition that comes to mind pertains to wildlife or animals/plants that grow in natural characteristics. Whenever I think of the word wild, I envision a field of wildflowers or a large area of plants growing how they please. In my mother tongue, Telugu, this is the only definition for wild. This made me realize how English adjectives often have such different variations when it comes to definitions. It is not a surprise that some things get lost in translation. If I do use the word in English, I often use the word wild to mean crazy or unexpected. It’s a word that holds depth in just four letters.

A movie I consider “wild” is Madagascar 2: Escape to Africa. This movie was made in 2008 and was directed by Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath. The movie features Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, and more! The movie is about zoo animals that were accidentally transported to Madagascar at the end of the first movie and the movie focuses on how they try to escape from Madagascar and end up in Africa. Some themes in this movie are adventures, friendship, and the wild! I think this movie is “wild” because it involves putting animals that were in the zoo and part of human society into the wild where they are from! The movie focuses a lot on the differences between wild and zoo animals and how the zoo animals eventually start accepting their inner animal in their natural habitat. 

A scene from this movie that shows the wilderness is when one of the zoo animals, the lion named “Alex” finds his lion tribe and family in Africa. According to the lineage of the tribe, he ends up being the next successor or leader of the trial and has to fight the other competitor for the spot to become the leader of the lion tribe. Whoever dominates over the other is chosen as the new leader for the trial. Alex has never fought another lion in his life because he is a zoo animal, so he is very taken aback and confused by the ritual. This ritual is usually a way wild animals assert their dominance over one another especially in territorial and leadership disputes. This specific scene emphasizes the wildness of the film because this event is very new and different for a zoo animal that doesn’t understand wild and undomesticated ways. The struggle that Alex faces with this tough battle emphasizes the dichotomy between animals in captivity and animals in nature and how there are different customs in the wild. 

Film Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLVjIhPYq7s

The word wild can have various different connotations and denotations. The first definition that appears in most dictionaries such as the Cambridge Dictionary and Merriam Webster refers to the word “wild” as a way to describe something that is violent and without control or restraint. This definition of the word seeks to emphasize wild as something that is not tame and how the word wild is used to describe something that has a lot of energy and emotion and may be considered something far from normal. The dictionaries also define wild as a way to describe something that is non-human or more animalistic. This definition takes a more specific view into the first definition and ties the wild to animals and nature. Overall, the definitions from the dictionary focus on defining wild as something that is very uncontrollable and something that can be further connected to the wilderness and nature! 

When I hear the word wild, I think about something or someone that has no control and their actions are marked by an overcome of emotion or passion. For me, wild can be synonymous with crazy with some slight differences between the two! I think that the word “wild” really emphasizes the animalistic side and can be used to describe an action that brings out the inner animal in a human. In my opinion, this word “wild” does not have a negative connotation and can be used to describe things that are just crazy, full of energy, and almost carnal-minded. This definition of the word “wild” helps me to describe and understand the animal instinctual side of humans! 

One particular film that I consider wild is “What Happened to Monday.” The movie came out in 2017, originally in France, and directed by Tommy Wirkola. The movie is a dystopian Sci-fi film in a world where overpopulation occurs. Due to the limited resources available, the government implements a law stating that each family is limited to one child. Any additional children are taken and put into cryosleep. One of the things that make this film wild, is that Terrence (the grandfather) is left to take care of 7 identical children. He does this in secrecy and names each child the day of week, which is the day they are allowed outside. I find this wild because they successfully do this for a while without being caught. Its wild to think that 7 different females must act as one and are only allowed to see the world on one day. Eventually, one of the sisters go missing, and the rest of the sisters try to find what happen to them. In this pursuit, they are found out and go through many hardships to survive. To add, they find the secrets of the government and expose the truth.

One specific scene that reflect my reasoning is towards the end of the movie. One of the sisters figure out the truth behind the additional children. The government told each family that all additional children are placed into cryosleep and are safe until the overpopulation decreases. However, she finds out that in reality, the children are put to sleep and burned to ashes. The government lied to the people saying that they are put away to be placed into a better world. They are killed by the government because they believe they don’t have any more space for them. The crime the government commits without any regard to other people or guilt is extremely wild to me. They knowingly kill these children with no remorse and continue to lie to these families. As I watched this scene, I was flabbergasted by how little importance they had for them and how wild they were to do this.

-Jaileen Gutierrez

  According to the Oxford English Dictionary, “Wild” is defined as (of an animals plant) living or growing in the natural environment; not domesticated or cultivated. They also define “wild” as uninhabited, uncultivated, or inhospitable. On the other hand, the Merriam-Webster definition of wild is “growing or produced without human aid or care.” To add, the Cambridge dictionary also contains similar definitions such as “uncontrolled, violent, or extreme.” They also give the definition of “wild” that is used in slang. The definition is “very unusual, often in a way that is attractive or exciting.” In all these English dictionaries, they aim to describe wild as something that is “animal-like”. They define wild to be undomesticated and violent. In Spanish, no word correctly translates the word “wild.” The closest translation would be “Salvaje”. However, “Salvaje” is also translated to “savage” in English. The Spanish dictionary also defines wild as undomesticated, untamed, and feral.

   It is interesting to see how many different words are used to describe “wild.” All these definitions use similar words to explain what wild is. I say that for the most part, it is correct, and I have used the word wild as each definition states. I say wild is defined as something bizarre and unnatural to society. It is something that is yet accepted by people or may not be comprehended yet. In English, the world wild is used frequently to describe something out of the ordinary. Also, I say many young people use the word “wild” in a slang way. It is used to describe something that is” crazy but cool”. However, although in Spanish we use the word similarly, it is more extreme and less commonly used. It’s used to describe something cruel or vicious and mostly something that comes from the forest or mountains.

-Jaileen Gutierrez

One film that I would consider wild is Hacksaw Ridge. Hacksaw Ridge is a film by Mel Gibson made in 2016. It is a biographical film about the soldier Desmond Doss, played by the actor Andrew Garfield. In the beginning of the film, Desmond Doss almost kills his brother when they were fighting when they were younger. He says a poster of the sixth commandment, which reads, “Thou shalt not kill.” He then vows to never kill anyone. With this in mind, Doss still decides to enter the military and become a conscientious objector. He refuses to touch a weapon, but that helps him save many lives on the battlefield. His willingness and boldness to act on this make me see him and the movie in general as wild. My definition of wild here is crazy, and almost insane, as he is risking his life with no weapon to defend himself.

One scene, in particular, that is very wild is when Gibson, the director, shows a slow-motion scene of Doss running through the battlefield with a soldier on a stretcher. Doss is dodging bullets left and right with no weapon in hand. Although, the soldier on the stretcher has an automatic rifle just firing away in each and every direction. Doss really has the guts to go into battle, with all of this gunfire, risking his life for the sake of someone else’s life. This scene really hit me hard, as any one of those bullets could have ended Doss’s amazing life-saving career.