Beasts Of The Southern Wild & The Opportunity Index
In thinking about the nominees for Best Picture this year, we realized that many of them incorporated themes of opportunity. Even though it did not win the big prize, we decided to take a closer look at Beasts Of The Southern Wild through the lens of the Opportunity Index to examine what opportunities exist in real life for the characters in the film.
Beasts of The Southern Wild focuses on the way one community and a very strong young girl, Hushpuppy, deal with the realities of life in a flood-prone coastal community in southern Louisiana. The movie was filmed in and based on the citizens of Louisiana. In real life, here’s how Louisiana scores on the Opportunity Index:
Louisiana’s poverty rate is several points above the national average. As portrayed in the film, too many families are living below the poverty line. Additionally, Louisiana has a higher-than-average percentage of youth who are not in school and not working.
Raising opportunity in Louisiana won’t be easy, but we salute the filmmakers of Beasts for raising these critical issues and making a film that brings them to light. We salute all the winners last night, and invite you to comment below.
