Dogs and Taboos

 I wanted to see what non-film critics had to say about My Dog Tulip, so I did a little researching on Letterboxd. It has an average of 3.5 stars (out of 5), which usually suggests that people know it's a good movie, but don't love it. 

My Dog Tulip | The Bark

 

People describe it as "charming" and "interesting with "amazing" but "sloppy" animation. However, everyone seemed put off by the amount of description directed towards sex and feces. 

One of my favorite reviews: "I would imagine this book this is based on describes the dog's droppings the way Tolkien describes trees." 

So I feel like we're in for a treat. 

As I was secondhand grossed out by the descriptions of dogs in heat and dogs pooping everywhere, I thought to myself "Why would this be gross? It's just a dog." I think that might be the secret to My Dog Tulip. We are exposed to things that are considered taboo, but it's okay because it's a dog. Animals mate. Animals poop. It's biological. 

Why would this matter to Ackerley? Because at the time he was writing, homosexuality was taboo to the same degree. If we are able to stomach a dog's sexuality, why not a human's? 

A lot of the argument against homosexuality is that it's "unnatural". But what could be more natural than a dog? By going into detail about her biological functions, Ackerley bridges the public and private worlds, something that must have been especially shocking to prim and proper Brits. Thus, we are drawn in to Ackerley's private life by something we are all familiar with, a dog.

Comments

  1. Finn & Ruby's Art ClassNovember 9, 2021 at 11:27 AM

    I love what you said about being grossed out. You're right that these things are natural and that it's a dog. I think that the most troubling part of this movie can tell us more about ourselves than the movie can. We can see our biases and hopefully we will work with these things to become more accepting of others.

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