Art & Authenticy

Suspenseful stories are like snuff films, not of a random victim, but of the poor main character, of whom the director and writer subjects to acts upon acts of emotional and sometimes physical torment in order to instill a sadomasochistic twist of enjoyment and discomfort in the viewer, but not really.

Zoe and her children in the midst of family-bonding time.

The short film “WASP” is a powerful story, and it made good use of suspense in its tense moments, most especially in the rising action of the film.  The people who were watching it with me were noticeably edgy and perturbed, but still clung on out of curiosity for the events that were about to unfold.

The writer and director both did an excellent job of portraying a sympathetic character, a flawed character, but an understandable one.

The protagonist Zoe is shown to be a highly complicated character in the few minute runtime of the film.  I commended her for her effort to raise four children alone while finding myself condemning her for believing that she could still go out and “have a life” despite the gravity of the responsibilities placed on her.  This kind of dualism made an effective driving force for the conflict of the story.

The best part of it is that Zoe is a dynamic character.  She was childish and selfish in leaving her children behind for her own happiness but eventually grew to sacrifice her contentment for their welfare. Her children show some precociousness too, especially in the oldest daughter who was perceptive of her mother’s situation (even critical of her approach) and fills in the motherhood role time to time.

In the end, it is not quite certain whether or not David decides to help her provide for her children, but this kind of ambiguity lends for a more powerful ending.

Oh yeah, there is just one slight flaw that I saw in it.  In the rising action of the film, which is the scene when the children were left alone in the parking lot and one of the children was crying from hunger.  The eldest daughter finds half-eaten spare ribs lying around to satisfy the baby’s hunger, but the sweet smell attracts a wasp, which landed on his lips.

The mood of terror was there in the film, and I felt it at first, but then my inner skeptic came in and I found the scene to be unbelievable.  I felt that the danger brought by the wasp was way exaggerated.  The children and many of my classmates thought as if the wasp was some kind of parasitic alien that was going to lay its eggs inside of him so the larvae would have something to eat once they hatch.   Also this belief came from basic zoology: Wasps don’t sting unless they feel threatened, and even then they are aware that their sting is a suicidal last resort.

Speaking of which, I have no clue why this film is called “WASP.”  At first I thought it stood for “White Anglo-Saxon Protestant” when I saw the main characters for the first time.  Later on, I found out that it was used as a motif when a literal wasp was tapping on the glass of the family home.  So what could it mean? Could the wasp generally represent trouble that will come to haunt families after a history of poverty and neglect? If this is the case then it could’ve been any winged insect.

They should’ve called the movie “BOTFLY.”  I really hate botflies.