A Zed and Two Noughts

The final decomposition scene of the zebra stuck out to me the most. Throughout the movie, we would see these short scenes but until this point, they had been detached from the characters and the plot. In this scene, the camera pans out and we see that the time lapse is playing on a projector screen outdoors. The twins are sitting on a stage a few feet from the screen in their conjoined suit. The little girl is watching as well, but from farther away. The scene includes periods of the decay process, but it is broken up with comments made by the twins.

There is a really interesting juxtaposition going on, the process of decay is a very natural one but it is being studied in a very unnatural setting. You would expect them to study the film in a lab, but they choose an outdoor viewing instead- a more natural setting for a decomposition.

The fact that they are in their conjoined suit goes along with that idea of returning to nature, they were born that way and have come to embrace their natural form. It is something they have hidden for their whole lives, but are quickly learning not to be ashamed of. The outdoor setting of the movie seems to express that they are going public with their odd fascinations. Although it is somewhat secluded where they are watching the film, the fact remains that it is not behind closed doors. It seems that they have disregarded the social constraints of their culture.

Zoo Experiences

When I think of going to the zoo, one of my mom’s favorite stories about my childhood sticks out. Like many parents, my mom would teach me all the sounds an animal makes. As we visited each animal she asked me what sound they made. When we got to the giraffes, I would stretch my neck to look like them. It’s interesting that people go to the zoo not only to look at animals, but to act like them.

I feel like I went to the Indianapolis Zoo quite often when I was little, but I don’t have very many concrete memories about it. I think my favorite part of the zoo was the dolphin show. There were “splash zone” seats right up by the tank where if you were lucky you’d get splashed by a jumping dolphin passing by. Of course, the view wasn’t as great as sitting up higher, so we’d switch off. I think I craved some sort of interactivity, but still knowing I was safe. I also remember liking the monkeys, just because there were so many kind and they always seemed to be “playing.”