Razorback, 1984
Razorback brings us back to more traditional man vs. nature films like The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms where the natural element is the evil that needs to be defeated by the humans. Sold as "Jaws on trotters" (Buckmaster, 2014), Russell Mulcahy's directorial debut features Everett De Roche's writing once again. Remember that De Roche wrote the more serious Australian eco-horror film Long Weekend. Razorback, on the other hand, falls squarely among the ranks of Ozploitation films, even featuring some Mad-Max-style vehicles.
Razorback tells the story of a giant, killer boar devouring people in the Australian outback. Some believe that the film was inspired by the real-life killing of an infant in 1980 who was snatched by a dingo (Blackford et al., 1999). Indeed, the film opens with a baby being taken by the boar, and the baby's grandfather, played by Bill Kerr, takes a prominent role as he seeks revenge for the killing. While its plot is often silly, the cinematography in the film is impressive, and it won several awards upon its release.
One of the more interesting aspects of the film is that the story of the murderous boar is set against the backdrop of ongoing mass kangaroo slaughter, an atrocity that still happens today (Bulman, 2017). This aspect was left unexplored, however, feeling more like it was added to the film to produce creepy slaughterhouse sets for the action scenes rather than to produce thoughtful commentary on nonhuman-animal extermination. It did leave me thinking about a common idea I often hear that some nonhuman animals are just "pests" that need to be "managed," which is how many people think about kangaroos, deer, wolves, and even wild horses. "Pest" animals are such because they are either considered "too visible" in human life or are considered "a danger to property." This is especially true in the agricultural sector, as "pest" animals are killed because more room is "needed" for "food" animals (Ketcham, 2019).
Additionally, "management," sometimes disguised as conservation, is also a human-centric invention. I find the very idea of management to be disrespectful, as it flies in the face of the history of nonhuman animals on this planet. Nonhumans have always been self-regulating. Populations grow and shrink based on available resources. In fact, humans seem to be the only species of animal unable to regulate their own population based on available natural resources. As a result, our habit of over-consumption has led to the destruction of the environment we are supposed to share with the rest of the world (Renewable Resources Coalition, 2016). Let's not wait until the giant boars of the outback are mad and hungry. Let's change our attitude about living with the natural world instead of against it.
References
Blackford, Russell, et al. Strange Constellations: a History of Australian Science Fiction. Greenwood Press, 1999.
Buckmaster, Luke. “Razorback Rewatched – the Outback Creature Feature Sold as Jaws on Trotters.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 13 Nov. 2014, www.theguardian.com/film/2014/nov/14/razorback-rewatched-jaws-on-trotters.
Bulman, May. “Australia Is about to Cull a Million Kangaroos.” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 16 Feb. 2017, www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/australia-kangaroos-culling-killing-murder-deaths-a-year-a7583186.html.
Ketcham, Christopher. This Land: How Cowboys, Capitalism and Corruption Are Ruining the American West. Penguin Publishing Group, 2019.
Renewable Resources Coalition. “Overpopulation Causes, Effects & Solutions: Renewable Resources Co.” Renewable Resources Coalition, 16 Jan. 2019, www.renewableresourcescoalition.org/overpopulation-causes-effects-solutions/.
