Where the Crawdads Sing (2022)

This film is based on the 2018 coming of age book with the same title by Delia Owens. It’s not based on a true story (how could it?) and, in my opinion, it’s an allegory about xenophobia, the fear of strangers.

The “marsh girl” is Kya, a young lady who has been deserted by her family, living on the family ‘estate’ and surviving by bartering with the local shopkeeper and his wife. Her only friend for years is Tate, who teaches her to read and write and who encourages her to submit her nature art to a publisher. After Tate goes off to college, seemingly never to return, she accepts the attention of the high school jock, Chase. He is only after one thing, conquest. Then he meets a deadly end, and all fingers point at Kya as his killer.

Shunned by Society

My reason for writing about this story is how badly ordinary folk treat anyone who is ‘different’. In reality, the Jews have had a nasty reputation ever since they first appeared in history as descendants of Abraham. Their instruction from Yahweh to keep separate from other peoples has caused suspicion. Why? What are they hiding? Do they think they’re better than the rest of us? Who made them special?

When the crucifixion of a Jew called Jesus was carried out by the Romans in 1st century Palestine, subsequent followers of him have blamed the Jewish authorities (and by implication, the Jewish nation itself). This stigma has never gone away. Over the last two thousand years, Christians have persecuted the Jews, culminating in the Holocaust of WWII. But it hasn’t ended. The hate goes on:

Black Like Me

The second target of hate is anyone who has a different skin colour to the (formerly) dominate race. Or at least, they presume to be the dominate race, because they invaded, conquered and pillaged their way through any and all countries of the world. Not any more, much to their chagrin. The tide has turned and their ‘superiority’ is gone with the wind.

I heard an interesting statistic the other day: China’s population has started to decrease, and by the end of this year, India will be the most populated country in the world. Hmm.

And Speaking of China

Kung Flu is Trump’s nickname for COVID-19. In the States this joke has turned into a prolonged assault on all Orientals. People are taking out their frustrations on innocent people, expressing hatred for everything from the Far East. And speaking of Communism, Russia is being tarred with the same brush.

Finally, let us be reminded of the Golden Rule:

Amen.