Chicken Boy August 10. 2005
Instead of putting together the liturgy for the August 14th service I'm preaching at the Presbyterian Church, I decided to watch a movie. I had been pointed to The Mudge Boy about a month ago and I picked up about around that time but just haven't had the time to watch it. What better time than procrastination time to watch a movie?! I picked it up originally because it looked like it would be a super crazy and super fun movie to watch. The pre-review I received: "Duncan (Hirsch) and his mother had always seemed nothing short of unconventional, a shared personality trait that folks in their tiny farm town had whispered about. After Mrs. Mudge's untimely death, Duncan finds himself unable to part with her spirit. He mimics her voice, wears her fur coat to bed and carries her pet chicken with him everywhere." How can a movie about boy carrying around a pet chicken be bad! Well the movie wasn't super great but it was a good way to procrastinate.
After the movie I wanted to get other people's take on the symbolism in the movie. I wouldn't have even blogged about the movie until I came across a review for it that made me almost want to vomit...seriously vomit. This review is just further proof (and now actual documented and not just made up in my mind from deconstructing social structures) that christian Fundamentalism are mindless patriarchal imps. The movie is about how power can be used to abuse people in times when they are vulnerable. The aforementioned review paints the victim in this movie (Duncan) as an evil sodomite (though he is not even homosexual in the movie) and mentions nothing of the perpetrator of the abusive power. In the end the review blames Duncan for the abuse he receives because he is not masculine enough and that if we bind ourselves to a strong Father figure (namely God) we won't have to worry about being effeminate or getting the abuse we deserve for being effeminate. This is a "christian" review. Now, I know none of you will watch the movie so I'll give you a spoiler filled sequence of the movie so you can judge for yourself.
The movie opens up with a woman struggling to carry some eggs in a bike basket up a hill. When she gets up to the top of the hill she falls over and we the audience assume she is dead. The next scene is a boy in a chicken coop collecting eggs. He greets each chicken by name and thanks them for the eggs. One chicken that is different than all the rest (it has white feathers instead of red and brown feathers and it doesn't lay eggs) is fussing to the side of the coop. The boy picks up the chicken and tries to calm it. He ends up sticking the chicken's head in his mouth and the chicken calms itself almost immediately. We come to find out that this boy is the earlier woman's son and that he lives with his father on a farm. Both of the men are struggling to come to grips with the mother/wife's death but in a quite kind of way. We see this in how the boy, Duncan, tries to start conversation at the dinner table and fails. After the failure he tries to pretend to be his mother at the table and even mimics her speech, topics of conversation and voice. This doesn't go over well. The next few scenes develop the strong connection between the boy and the chickens especially the white feathered chicken. This includes a scene where the father gives away two of the chickens to a friend and snaps their necks in the process.
After the movie I wanted to get other people's take on the symbolism in the movie. I wouldn't have even blogged about the movie until I came across a review for it that made me almost want to vomit...seriously vomit. This review is just further proof (and now actual documented and not just made up in my mind from deconstructing social structures) that christian Fundamentalism are mindless patriarchal imps. The movie is about how power can be used to abuse people in times when they are vulnerable. The aforementioned review paints the victim in this movie (Duncan) as an evil sodomite (though he is not even homosexual in the movie) and mentions nothing of the perpetrator of the abusive power. In the end the review blames Duncan for the abuse he receives because he is not masculine enough and that if we bind ourselves to a strong Father figure (namely God) we won't have to worry about being effeminate or getting the abuse we deserve for being effeminate. This is a "christian" review. Now, I know none of you will watch the movie so I'll give you a spoiler filled sequence of the movie so you can judge for yourself.
The movie opens up with a woman struggling to carry some eggs in a bike basket up a hill. When she gets up to the top of the hill she falls over and we the audience assume she is dead. The next scene is a boy in a chicken coop collecting eggs. He greets each chicken by name and thanks them for the eggs. One chicken that is different than all the rest (it has white feathers instead of red and brown feathers and it doesn't lay eggs) is fussing to the side of the coop. The boy picks up the chicken and tries to calm it. He ends up sticking the chicken's head in his mouth and the chicken calms itself almost immediately. We come to find out that this boy is the earlier woman's son and that he lives with his father on a farm. Both of the men are struggling to come to grips with the mother/wife's death but in a quite kind of way. We see this in how the boy, Duncan, tries to start conversation at the dinner table and fails. After the failure he tries to pretend to be his mother at the table and even mimics her speech, topics of conversation and voice. This doesn't go over well. The next few scenes develop the strong connection between the boy and the chickens especially the white feathered chicken. This includes a scene where the father gives away two of the chickens to a friend and snaps their necks in the process.
Duncan leaves the farm to think about what just happened and while he is riding his mother's bike around (with the white chicken) he comes across a tied up cow. The cow is being taken care of by a crass young man by the name of Perry. Right from the time we are introduced to Perry the viewer can tell that he is in an abusive situation with his father. We are next shown Duncan getting ready for church. While he is getting ready he sees some of his mothers cloths. He collects a few of his mother's coats and hides them. At church we are blessed by a horrible rendition of "The Old Rugged Cross" sung by Duncan.
The point of the scene is to show Duncan's awkwardness and his lack of care of it. We also get another glimpse of Perry whom Duncan finds having sex with someone in the church basement. Next we see Duncan riding his bike to deliver some eggs (just like his mother). After the delivery he has to stop to put some air in his mother's bike tire. He has his chicken along, Perry and a group of other teens pull up to the station in a big truck. One of the girls in the truck asks to see the chicken and ends up asking Duncan to come along with them. Seeing as Duncan actually gave them money to buy beer the other teens begrudgingly agree. Duncan is obviously out of his element with this group. After some time Duncan has the group singing silly songs and someone notices that Perry smells like cow shit. By this time someone has already thrown Duncan's hat (actually his mother's) off the truck and he is wanting to get it. Perry gets mad because the teens are making fun of him and tells them to stop the truck so he can go home. Perry and Duncan walk to Perry's house.
Perry gives a very graphic description of "using" a woman. The next few scenes show how Duncan is dealing with his mother's death as well as Duncan's father's struggle. Duncan stealing his mother's coats are found out by his father and he is told not to do it again. Duncan goes back to Perry, the only other boy that is anywhere close to nice to Duncan. They spend the afternoon together while Perry vents from being beat up by his father the night before. They go swimming (Perry pushing Duncan off a bridge), they share secrets (Duncan showing Perry how to calm a chicken). Perry call's Duncan's mother and Duncan a "weirdo" then apologizes (time out for abusive commentary. In an abusive relationship the abuser slowly takes control of the abused by calling names then apologizing for the names but then proceeds to call them the names again saying the names are based on "true" events about a person. This causes to abused to take a submissive and apologetic role for acting out actions that cause the abuser to "need" to call the abused names.. back to the show).
Duncan finds all of his mother's stuff that his father has removed from the house as he is helping his father around the farm. Duncan has been working more around the farm at his father's request as a sort of way for his father to reach out to his son during this period of mourning.
The teens show up in their big truck and ask Duncan to come along with them. Their real intention is to score some booze and money from Duncan but Duncan doesn't realize he is being taken advantage of because of his seclusion on the farm otherwise. These are just new friends to him. The teens take him to a party in the woods. Perry gets into a fight and Duncan gets drunk. While Duncan is vomiting in the woods he stumbles across Perry getting a blow-job from one of the girls who comments he isn't cumming as fast as he usually does. The has to leave quickly because her ride is leaving so Perry doesn't get to finish. Duncan apologizes for walking up on them (as if it was his fault) but Perry forgives him (as if he needed to).
Perry and Duncan go back to Duncan's house and go into the barn where all of Duncan's mother's things are being stored. They are having a good time when Perry finds a wedding dress. Perry tells Duncan to put it on. He manipulates Duncan he is a little weary about putting on his mother's wedding dress and convinces him in the end. When Duncan has the dress on Perry starts to call him a bitch and pushing Duncan around. Perry grabs Duncan and forces him to say he is a bitch. Once he has said he is a bitch, Perry forces Duncan's head down to his crotch and unbuckles his belt and forces Duncan to take his penis out of his pants and suck on it. Duncan submits but somehow hurts Perry. Perry slaps him knocking him over and picks him up and bends Duncan over. Perry lifts the dress and forcibly takes off Duncan's pants. Perry proceeds to rape Duncan as he cries. Perry quickly, and thankfully, ejaculates and pulls back up his pants. He goes over to a table and starts to smoke and begins to talk about getting a new car and how the old care is embarrassing. The first thing Duncan says is "Don't tell my dad, OK." Duncan's father walks into the barn and is mad at Duncan for wearing his mother's dress.
The next day the scene builds up to Duncan's father burning all of his mother's cloths. Duncan saves his mother's fur coat from the flames. Duncan goes to Perry in the middle of the night but Perry is only worried about his image. He is worried that people might think he is a "queer". Duncan is trying to figure out the feelings he is having after being raped and as with all victims he thinks it's his fault. He tries to make it better by asking Perry if he ever thought about kissing him. Duncan knows what love is and he knows what Perry did to him was not love. Perry freaks out at the question (obviously meaning he did want to kiss him) then forcibly kissed Duncan in a very unloving way. Duncan says that is not what he meant and show Perry how a loving kiss should be done. Perry again freaks out and calls Duncan a "fag" for it. When Perry goes back in the house he is confronted by his father for breaking curfew.
Duncan washes himself in the bath after this scene. We see that he is beginning to see that Perry is an abuser
Duncan is back at the grocery/gas station with his chicken buying a soda. We see the big truck drive by in the window. When Duncan emerges from the store is chicken is missing. Looking for his chicken, Duncan is confronted by the male teens (including Perry) behind the store. The boys toss the chicken back and forth playing keep-away with the chicken. Duncan sees Perry and also sees his black eye and bruised side. Perry calls Duncan a fag to which Duncan denies the claim. The chicken is tossed some more until Perry has the chicken and Duncan is being held. Perry holds the chicken by the neck as if he is going to break the chicken's neck. He then gives the chicken back to Duncan and tells the other boys to leave Duncan alone. Duncan responds by saying he is not a fag. To which the boys begin to laugh and joke about him and his chicken and how his mother taught him how to give good blow-jobs. The boys are taunting him to show them how he gives head and so Duncan does. He takes the chicken and put's the head in his mouth. The chicken calms itself and the boys are in a tizzy that he actually did it.
Duncan bites the head off the chicken.
Duncan goes back to his house and his father asks what has happened. Duncan tries to go inside but his father just hugs him (and the dead chicken). Fade to black... roll credits.
Here is the "christian" Fundamentalist view of that movie.
I just am at awe as to how the victim in this movie can be depicted as deficient! Duncan is the only sane person in the movie who is actually dealing with his mother's passing in the only way he knows how. In return for his mourning and innocence, he is raped and taken advantage. Only those blinded by patriarchy would see Duncan's problem as being not masculine enough, as not having a close connection with his father, as being homosexual. It almost sounds like the reviewer is saying that Duncan wanted to be raped or that he deserved to be raped because he was acting effeminate. The same argument patriarchal men use for justifying rape against woman. "If they wouldn't have acted like such a woman..." It is sickening is what it is.
The point of the scene is to show Duncan's awkwardness and his lack of care of it. We also get another glimpse of Perry whom Duncan finds having sex with someone in the church basement. Next we see Duncan riding his bike to deliver some eggs (just like his mother). After the delivery he has to stop to put some air in his mother's bike tire. He has his chicken along, Perry and a group of other teens pull up to the station in a big truck. One of the girls in the truck asks to see the chicken and ends up asking Duncan to come along with them. Seeing as Duncan actually gave them money to buy beer the other teens begrudgingly agree. Duncan is obviously out of his element with this group. After some time Duncan has the group singing silly songs and someone notices that Perry smells like cow shit. By this time someone has already thrown Duncan's hat (actually his mother's) off the truck and he is wanting to get it. Perry gets mad because the teens are making fun of him and tells them to stop the truck so he can go home. Perry and Duncan walk to Perry's house.
Perry gives a very graphic description of "using" a woman. The next few scenes show how Duncan is dealing with his mother's death as well as Duncan's father's struggle. Duncan stealing his mother's coats are found out by his father and he is told not to do it again. Duncan goes back to Perry, the only other boy that is anywhere close to nice to Duncan. They spend the afternoon together while Perry vents from being beat up by his father the night before. They go swimming (Perry pushing Duncan off a bridge), they share secrets (Duncan showing Perry how to calm a chicken). Perry call's Duncan's mother and Duncan a "weirdo" then apologizes (time out for abusive commentary. In an abusive relationship the abuser slowly takes control of the abused by calling names then apologizing for the names but then proceeds to call them the names again saying the names are based on "true" events about a person. This causes to abused to take a submissive and apologetic role for acting out actions that cause the abuser to "need" to call the abused names.. back to the show).
Duncan finds all of his mother's stuff that his father has removed from the house as he is helping his father around the farm. Duncan has been working more around the farm at his father's request as a sort of way for his father to reach out to his son during this period of mourning.
The teens show up in their big truck and ask Duncan to come along with them. Their real intention is to score some booze and money from Duncan but Duncan doesn't realize he is being taken advantage of because of his seclusion on the farm otherwise. These are just new friends to him. The teens take him to a party in the woods. Perry gets into a fight and Duncan gets drunk. While Duncan is vomiting in the woods he stumbles across Perry getting a blow-job from one of the girls who comments he isn't cumming as fast as he usually does. The has to leave quickly because her ride is leaving so Perry doesn't get to finish. Duncan apologizes for walking up on them (as if it was his fault) but Perry forgives him (as if he needed to).
Perry and Duncan go back to Duncan's house and go into the barn where all of Duncan's mother's things are being stored. They are having a good time when Perry finds a wedding dress. Perry tells Duncan to put it on. He manipulates Duncan he is a little weary about putting on his mother's wedding dress and convinces him in the end. When Duncan has the dress on Perry starts to call him a bitch and pushing Duncan around. Perry grabs Duncan and forces him to say he is a bitch. Once he has said he is a bitch, Perry forces Duncan's head down to his crotch and unbuckles his belt and forces Duncan to take his penis out of his pants and suck on it. Duncan submits but somehow hurts Perry. Perry slaps him knocking him over and picks him up and bends Duncan over. Perry lifts the dress and forcibly takes off Duncan's pants. Perry proceeds to rape Duncan as he cries. Perry quickly, and thankfully, ejaculates and pulls back up his pants. He goes over to a table and starts to smoke and begins to talk about getting a new car and how the old care is embarrassing. The first thing Duncan says is "Don't tell my dad, OK." Duncan's father walks into the barn and is mad at Duncan for wearing his mother's dress.
The next day the scene builds up to Duncan's father burning all of his mother's cloths. Duncan saves his mother's fur coat from the flames. Duncan goes to Perry in the middle of the night but Perry is only worried about his image. He is worried that people might think he is a "queer". Duncan is trying to figure out the feelings he is having after being raped and as with all victims he thinks it's his fault. He tries to make it better by asking Perry if he ever thought about kissing him. Duncan knows what love is and he knows what Perry did to him was not love. Perry freaks out at the question (obviously meaning he did want to kiss him) then forcibly kissed Duncan in a very unloving way. Duncan says that is not what he meant and show Perry how a loving kiss should be done. Perry again freaks out and calls Duncan a "fag" for it. When Perry goes back in the house he is confronted by his father for breaking curfew.
Duncan washes himself in the bath after this scene. We see that he is beginning to see that Perry is an abuser
Duncan is back at the grocery/gas station with his chicken buying a soda. We see the big truck drive by in the window. When Duncan emerges from the store is chicken is missing. Looking for his chicken, Duncan is confronted by the male teens (including Perry) behind the store. The boys toss the chicken back and forth playing keep-away with the chicken. Duncan sees Perry and also sees his black eye and bruised side. Perry calls Duncan a fag to which Duncan denies the claim. The chicken is tossed some more until Perry has the chicken and Duncan is being held. Perry holds the chicken by the neck as if he is going to break the chicken's neck. He then gives the chicken back to Duncan and tells the other boys to leave Duncan alone. Duncan responds by saying he is not a fag. To which the boys begin to laugh and joke about him and his chicken and how his mother taught him how to give good blow-jobs. The boys are taunting him to show them how he gives head and so Duncan does. He takes the chicken and put's the head in his mouth. The chicken calms itself and the boys are in a tizzy that he actually did it.
Duncan bites the head off the chicken.
Duncan goes back to his house and his father asks what has happened. Duncan tries to go inside but his father just hugs him (and the dead chicken). Fade to black... roll credits.
Here is the "christian" Fundamentalist view of that movie.
I just am at awe as to how the victim in this movie can be depicted as deficient! Duncan is the only sane person in the movie who is actually dealing with his mother's passing in the only way he knows how. In return for his mourning and innocence, he is raped and taken advantage. Only those blinded by patriarchy would see Duncan's problem as being not masculine enough, as not having a close connection with his father, as being homosexual. It almost sounds like the reviewer is saying that Duncan wanted to be raped or that he deserved to be raped because he was acting effeminate. The same argument patriarchal men use for justifying rape against woman. "If they wouldn't have acted like such a woman..." It is sickening is what it is.
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Michel Foucault. Discipline & Punish: The Birth of the Prison.
Wayne A. Meeks. The First Urban Christians: The Social World of the Apostle Paul.
Michel Foucault. The History of Sexuality Vol. 3: The Care of the Self.
Presbyterian Church (USA). Book of Common Worship.
