User:AbbyRDugger/Arthropods in film

Illustrations of Arthropods

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Many different films throughout history have involved the phylum Arthropoda. Arthropods, which include crustaceans, arachnids, and insects, are characterized in many different ways. Their bodies are segmented and covered by a cuticle, and their appendages have joints. These and other features set arthropods apart from other groups. Some arthropods have distinct colorings and shapes that make them seem "pretty" to human observers, while others may have an appearance that is deemed "scary". "Bugs" like butterflies and dragonflies are often deemed prettier than ants and spiders. This outward judgement often comes from previous experiences that people have had with arthropods, as well as how arthropods have been and continue to be portrayed in common media. How arthropods were depicted in cinema has changed drastically in comparison to how they are depicted in cinema today. In his paper Us or Them!: Silent Spring and the Big Bug Films of the 1950s, Bellin describes how insects are shown to be evil and monstrous beings in several different films of the 1950's 1960's. Movies such as Them! illustrate a world where arthropods like ants are giant creatures that attempt to take over the planet. However, in other films such as Disney's Pinocchio, a character named Jiminy Cricket (representing crickets from phylum Arthropoda) is shown to be not ugly and scary but a rather cute and wise sidekick to the main character Pinocchio. In modern cinema, arthropods are associated with a number of Marvel superheroes including those from the movies Ant-Man, Ant-Man and the Wasp, and Spiderman. Instead of being portrayed as beings to be feared, many arthropods and their qualities, like their strength and web-weaving abilities, are actually pictured as cool and fun.

Action/Fantasy

Ant-Man Movies

Arthropods can be seen in the Marvel Movie franchises in the Ant-Man movies. The original Ant-Man was created in comic March of 1979 in The Avengers comic Issue #181. The movies and comics are about Scott Lang, who is an ex-convict, and he gets hired for an electronics position at Stark International. He then steals the Ant-Man suit because he wishes to help his sick daughter, and this turns him into the second Ant-Man. The hero figure of Ant-Man resembles a particular invertebrate phylum; he is based on a ant which is part of the Phylum Arthropoda.

In this movie, several different types of ant species are seen. Some of the species are the crazy ant (Paratrechina longicornis), carpenter ant (Campontus pennsylvanicus), the bullet ant (Paraponera clavata), and the fire ant (Solenopsis geminata). In Ant-Man, they used the ant species and portrayed them as they would actually act outside of the movie. Crazy ants are named because of their behavior; they move quickly and often act very agitated. In the movie, these ants can be seen being swift and using their dexterity. However, the movie did show one characteristic that has not been scientifically proven, and that is the electrical conductivity of the ants. In Ant-Man, they show the ants that damage wiring in electronic devices. The movie depicts the fire ants in an accurate light in the movie by showing how fire ants will create a float or "raft" to protect their queen from flood waters. This can be seen in the movies when a rush of water is occurring and the fire ants join together and create a float like structure while Scott Lang is seen to hold their queens position and stay on top of the structure.

The Ant-Man movies show quite a few interesting views on insects in the phylum Arthropoda. They show the ants in a positive light unlike many other films where arthropods can be seen. They show the ants to be helpful, especially in helping Scott Lang be the hero of the film. The use of the different species of ants allowed for Scott to complete different tasks that he needed. This movie is able to bridge a more human connection to arthropods unlike many other films that contain arthropods.  

Spider-Man Movies

Even though they are represented as evil, spiders, which fall under the subclass Arachnida, are represented on the side of good by one superhero: Spider-man. This has drastically changed the way people view heroes and villains as well as the creatures they are associated with. One study uncovered the fact that, statistically, the quantity of heroes and villains did not differ, even though it was thought that there would be more villains considered because more of the population associates spiders and other arthropods with danger. Spider-man is a superhero in the Marvel comic and cinematic universe. Showcasing the now thought to be interesting powers of a spider, Spider-man slings his webs and climbs walls just as spiders do. Bitten by a spider as a teen and learning to deal with his powers, Peter Parker fights crime and teaches others that the powers we have are to be used for good and with great caution; they come with important responsibilities. After his uncle Ben is killed, Peter Parker, who's alias is Spider-man, decides to use his powers to fight crime and work towards making his city a better place to live in.

Movies such as the aforementioned Ant-Man and even Spider-Man depict arthropods in a more positive light. They showcase the attributes of arthropods including their abilities of communication, strength, and defense as "superpowers" that could enhance human attributes. Illustrating arthropods in a nonthreatening manner may help to alleviate certain arthropod phobias to a certain extent. A study published in June of 2019 by Hoffman et al. found that some people with a fear of arthropods who were exposed to short clips from the movies Spider-Man and Ant-Man saw a small decrease in their fear of arthropods. While this study needs further experimentation, it does show that movie companies are profiting by portraying arthropods in a positive manner rather than a threatening and negative one, as they have often done so in the past.

A Bug's Life

A Bug's Life was created in 1998, and it is a production by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. This movie is about a colony of ants which is lead by their queen. As the seasons are changing, they have to do their annual search for food to provide for the colony. However, every summer, they are forced to give it to a group of grasshoppers lead by a mean grasshopper named Hopper. This exchange happened annually with no issues until one summer when a clumsy ant named Flik accidentally destroys the food. So, when the grasshoppers came to collect the food and saw that it was destroyed, Hopper demanded that the colony give them twice the amount of food for the inconvenience. Many issues throughout the years have been happening due to this ant Flick, so the Queen decides this would be a good way to get rid of him and sends him to the city to find food. Flick experiences many trials and tribulations, but he eventually is able to make it back to the colony with the food, defying everyone's expectations for this clumsy ant.

While this movie may stray from some from the realistic abilities of ants, it does describe some real abilities that ants do showcase. Colonies of ant often times have to hunt for weeks and days to find enough food to take care of the colony for the year. They also have to protect their food from other arthropods that might need it too. When Flick ruined the food this seriously hurt the colony, so, just like the Queen did in the movie, other arthropods will try and get rid of the weakest link in their colony. However, where the movie strays from the ability of ants is in the fact that one ant would not have been able to bring back that much food by themselves. In this movie, the ants were shown as the good guys while the grasshoppers were shown as an evil group that wanted to steal from the ants. So, unlike other movies that show the phylum Arthropoda as kind with Flick being the hero of this story, A Bug's Life still did cast one of the arthropods in a negative light; the grasshoppers are described as evil.

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