Artists Are Weirdos
It’s going to be hard to approach a blog on Pets without some philosophy. I say this, and can because I am one, but artists are typically weirdos. I use “weirdos” as an endearing term and in no way offensively. First, I want to say that I think there are artists and there are people who enjoy art. There is nothing wrong with either of these. I want to clarify because I am talking about artists and not people who enjoy art – I mean people who are born with a gift as an artist. A mentor of mine unlocked this understanding in me. He explained that artists always see the world, life, and everything differently than everybody else as part of their gift. With this comes some exclusion and what can be “weirdness.”
Dali, Warhol, & DaVinci
Let’s look quickly at some of the greats, in my opinion. Dali and Warhol are 2 of my favorites and biggest influences. I didn’t know either of these folks personally but, I would consider both to be strange. I imagine that I could have gotten along well with both, except for the language barrier with Dali. Anyway, Dali had a pet anteater and walked it on a leash. Warhol, well just look at pictures of him. Then factor in that he didn’t ever do interviews but was well-known to be different. Davinci is another we could examine. He spent his time, because of his gift and intellect, literally years in the future designing flying machines while painting masterpieces.
My Wife's Warning
My wife will always warn people before they meet me that I am weird. This doesn’t offend me and in fact, it makes me proud because I look at my “weirdness” through the lens of the conversation I had with my mentor. I am an artist at my core, and I see the world differently and I accept and am excited about that. “Weirdness” for me can be mannerisms, opinions, style, combinations of any of these, or many other things. Personal expression I think is what I’m getting at, and psychology is a funny thing too. I agree with Plato that philosophy is better spoken or conversated than written so, I say all that to say there are 2 artists in this movie and both are strange.
Artists in Pets
We’d have to have coffee sometime to really jump into this more but let’s talk about Pets from 1973. According to Tubi, Pets was a drama but, it is clearly a 70s exploitation film. Know that if you jump in. The poster should have been more of a giveaway but, whatever it was 70s and cool. One of the artists is a female who uses the other female as a muse so much so that she moves her in as a live-in model. The other artist, and perhaps the strangest of the two, is a man who considers himself an artist but doesn’t paint that I recall. He instead collects art and has an idea to have a zoo that features females along with animals. When you learn this, there are 15 minutes left in the movie.
Manipulative Genius or Super Lucky Lead in Pets
I’ll begin by saying that the story is wild. You really don’t have any idea what’s going on and none of it ties together well at all. Essentially it follows a young lady who because of a set of unfortunate events sets off on an adventure of hitchhiking and survival that fosters relationships with several different unique people along the way. One leading to the other. In the end, you learn that either she is a manipulative genius or a lucky lady. As I said, the last 15 minutes is the highlight and it really caught me off guard – the ending is wild, in more ways than one. The pace shifts rapidly from slow to whoa. In summary, Pets was several mini-stories that didn’t make sense mashed up, and then bam, wild ending. While it was crazy, Pets did have some fun parts and unique ideas.
High End Scenery and Lifestyle in Pets
While the time machine is on the ground, let’s talk about what we saw. Pets is from 1973 so with that, you get a lot of period scenery. Several scenes take place at the beach and there are many others in homes and high-end ones at that. Chandeliers, furniture, tableware, etc. are all present in Pets. Shopping and wardrobe come with the lavish lifestyle(s). There’s denim and flannel but less of this and fancier attire. Countryside and ocean views are prominent and always fun. The female artist’s house is really appealing with its wooden panel walls and large artistic metal wall decorations. A few scenes take place in the city which offers the lights and storefronts of 1973. On a side note, there is a German Luger pistol too. You get a lot of ’70s lingo in this one as well.
Steel Beehive and Pets
Closing out this text on Pets, I want to leave the way I came in, philosophically. There were 2 great takeaways from Pets. One was the scenery which also gave me some screenshots for painting practice. Two were the philosophical nuggets hidden throughout the story. The “artist” who wanted the zoo made an interesting suggestion. Don’t quote me on this because, at the time of writing this, it’s been a while since I watched Pets and I’m running off notes. He seemed to think that his idea was liberating to the female. Here’s what I took from this and part of his reasoning. One of the comments was something along the lines of women “…go to work in steel beehives and are turned loose at the end of the day.” But aren’t 99% of us, women included?
Thank You Pets for Making Me Think!
Again, this is a conversation better over coffee and not something to write down. There’s a song by a lady named Malvina Reynolds called “Little Boxes.” It’s one of my personal favorites and is an anthem to me. I heard it originally as a part of a soundtrack to a movie. The idea is that we are born in a little box, go to school in a little box, and then repeat the cycle by raising our families in little boxes. It’s really a fascinating idea. It’s slippery in that by being outside of the box are you not then hoping into another box? Being a creative, I would really like to be able to dedicate all my time to my passion and it be sufficient to sustain me and my family. Wouldn’t we all like to do this though? The frustration of thinking – thank you Pets.
I Had Good English Teachers - Closing Out on Pets
I had good English teachers and I’m sure there are run-on sentences in this blog on Pets but, this is really stream-of-consciousness writing at this point. Repeating myself, this really triggered more thinking for me than observing or entertainment even. If you’ve seen this movie before or have any thoughts on what I’ve written, feel free to leave a comment. As usual, I’m not pushing any opinions politically or socially here that’s not my thing. I’m just expressing ideas that I understood from Pets. While you’re on my page, you can read more blogs here or check out my art here. Go here to link up with me on social media. All follows, likes, and shares are appreciated.