By Caitlin Allen
I’ve always wanted to be a cryptid. Those things that live in the forest or under bridges, terrorising people living nearby. Like Bigfoot, and Mothman and Yeti. They’re my best friends, the other cryptids. I’ve never met them, but I’d like to think they’re friends. I don’t live in America or Nepal, or anywhere with cryptids. If I ever met them, I’d ask about their secrets, how they’ve kept hidden so long. How they made themselves into legends.
That’s what I’ve been doing. Biding my time, hiding from the government, the dreaded form-fillers. I’ve been quite clever about it, with perfect gadgets to remain undetected. My spectacular metal hat stops the government from tracking me, and they can’t send me forms if I don’t have a mailbox! My genius is unmatched. Surely I’d make a wonderful cryptid.
Crumpy and I, we’ve been in hiding for a long time. I haven’t a clue how long. Tracking time makes it easier for the form-fillers to find you, and that cannot happen. Best to let the sun cross the sky, not worry too much about why and how it does so. Crumpy and I sit, watching the world go by, chatting with the birds, the trees and the clouds. Our radio burbles with the comings and goings of the form-fillers as we listen for a hint of our success as the local legends in the New Zealand bush. “Psycho Sam and Crumpy, the Foliage Fellas!” they’ll call us. I have faith that my moment will arrive in due time, but for now I’m content with my field and my hut and Crumpy, and of course my beautiful bush. Not the bush I live in, though that is rather magestical all the same. I’m talking about my secret weapon, my strap-on foliage pack. Paired with my perfectly messy beard and plain clothing, I look exactly like a natural bush. It’s ingenious.
Life’s good, and I get the nagging feeling that my moment is soon to arrive.
It’s on every station of the radio. Two men, calling themselves ‘The Wilderpeople’ have been traversing my land! This is my chance to prove myself a worthy hunter. Psycho Sam the Bush Man, capturer of the Wilderpeople, untouchable by the government and the form-fillers. There’s massive prize money for their capture, but who needs money? I sure don’t want to have to fill out all those forms just to claim my reward. No. It’s my chance to establish my legacy, my cryptid legend. I sense their approach. I strap on my bush and begin the hunt.
There are people in the field, but I can’t tell if it really is the prey I search for. They don’t look like mighty Wilderpeople… a lanky old guy and a spherical lump of a boy. Should I even confront them? I must evaluate carefully. I waddle discreetly towards them, my bush concealing me. They can’t notice me. I am a lion, waiting to pounce on the wildebeests cluelessly grazing on the fresh grass.
The round one, I think his name is Ricky Baker, whispers something and looks towards my bush. I’ve been spotted! The mighty lion knows it must pounce, before it is too late. It leaps, revealing its form from the cover of the bush. It roars at the Wilderpeople, “Is it a man or a bush?”
The strange pair seem unafraid. The lion retreats into cover, assuming its plant form. “Bush!...Man! Hahaha!”
Cackling is important to establish a frightening energy in a confrontation, according to the caterpillar I met last Winter. The humans’ confusion shows the predator approach clearly isn’t working to my advantage.
Their lack of recognition and fear sends a wave of disappointment crashing over me. It seems I haven’t quite made it as a legendary cryptid.
“Well my name’s Sam anyway. I'm a friend!”
It’s been a while since I’ve had friends, apart from Crumpy of course. The company will be appreciated.
I lead them to my hut, pleased that I was clever enough to create extra hats to stop the government tracking any visitors I may come across. I plop the pots on their heads and offer them cookies. I’ve had these cookies in store for years waiting for guests. They’ve aged beautifully. They nibble at the cookies gratefully whilst I busy myself preparing slow-cooked instant noodles for our dinner. The extra cooking time is important in properly developing the flavour of the noodles and eradicating the awful springy texture. Forget being a cryptid, my cooking would win awards if I was to return to the form-fillers, although I have no interest in filling in the forms for that.
The Wilderpeople settle in the spare bunks for the night. Unfortunately, I don’t have the expertise to evacuate roaches and fleas, though I’m sure the bugs won’t mind sharing their space. I scribble a quick apology and hand it to one of the spiders to alleviate any hard feelings, then clamber into my own nest. We blow out the candles and are enveloped in darkness.
I wake early to fix Ricky’s phone, wiring it up, using my expertise to create a functioning tangle of wires that gives the boy full bars. Before he didn’t have any! He’d been complaining about it at length, and this small kindness shall surely cement our friendship. I’m just about done when I notice a flash of movement outside. Dark figures creep through the dense bushes. That’s not normal.
Ricky comes sprinting inside. “UNCLE! UNCLE!” he yells, and I’m confused because as much as I’d love to be, I’m definitely not this kid’s uncle. Turns out he’s yelling at Hec. The mysterious figures creep closer.
“GOVERNMENT! GOVERNMENT!” I scream, running through the house in a panic.
“Sam, what’s the fastest way outta here?” Hec asks me.
“Jetpack!”
“Do you actually have a jetpack?” Ricky whips around to face me.
Where did he get that idea from? Of course I don’t have a jetpack. “I’ve got an underground bunker!” I cackle gleefully. Brushing dirt from the wooden slab, I grin at my companions. “This tunnel leads directly to an underground chamb—” I stare at the hard set ground beneath my trapdoor, “I haven’t dug it yet. What’ve I been doing with my life? Just pretend to be dead!” I flop to the ground. The Wilderpeople stare at me dumbfounded. They believe my performance! I’m well-versed in the art of playing dead.
Hec pulls me towards him by my shirt and roars at me to pull myself together. As far as I’m aware, all my limbs are where they are supposed to be. What am I meant to be pulling together? Besides, I’ve learnt from experience, being loud doesn’t revive a dead person. Wait. I know how the Wilderpeople will escape.
“CRUMPY!” I shout. “Crumpy’ll take ya!”
“WHO THE HELL IS CRUMPY!?”
I pull bushes aside and whip away a tarp, revealing my beautiful friend shining gloriously in the sunlight. “Crumpy!” Scrabbling for the keys, I hear a most beautiful sound. Crumpy sputters to life behind me. “Unkillable!” I exclaim with delight.
The Wilderpeople hastily clamber into the car. I grab my rifle, preparing for battle. “I’ll hold up the government to buy you some time.”
“Okay,” Hec says, “Don’t do anything stupid.”
“What? Me?” I laugh at the notion. I pull on my pack as Crumpy speeds off into the bushes. “Crumpy!” I say in farewell. I fire three shots towards the creeping figures but am ignored, the government oblivious to the prize behind them. The infamous Wilderpeople are worthier targets than Bush Man.
Whilst I am sad to see my friends depart, the ensuing silence is fitting. After all, true cryptids live alone.
Rationale
Hunt for the Wilderpeople, a 2016 comedic film directed by Taika Waititi presents many interesting thematic ideas. My original narrative aims to explore themes including freedom, loneliness, reality and the idea of the hunter and the hunted presented throughout the movie. My piece focuses on the character known as Psycho Sam, a psychotic, socially disconnected middle-aged man who is presented in a few short scenes near the film’s end. Whilst Sam appears as a so-called ‘comic relief’ character, I have created a story from his perspective that gives him depth and shows insight into the themes and ideas presented in Hunt for the Wilderpeople. I make use of literary devices such as metaphor, oxymoron, juxtaposition and personification to highlight the themes and expand upon the comical personality of Sam. I drew directly from scenes in the movie giving a new perspective of events through Sam’s character, adding original thought to the story and creating new depth unseen in the movie.
One of the most important aspects of my story is the accurate characterisation of Sam. His character is comical and my story aims to display this whilst also giving him a personality through goals and dreams. The characterisation in my story relies heavily on language choices along with juxtaposition, oxymoron and irony. These three literary techniques aid in the comical nature of the character and allow for different ideas to be presented quickly in an entertaining way. For example, very early on in the story Sam describes his beard as “perfectly messy”, an oxymoron giving insight into the way Sam views himself rather than how he is presented in the movie. Near the end of my story in a scene rewritten from Sam’s perspective, Hec tells Sam “Don’t do anything stupid”. Sam is very genuine in his thoughts that he would never, and I have written these thoughts with irony to give insight again into the way Sam views himself. The way he describes Ricky and Hec with juxtaposition when he first sees them also gives insight into the way his character views things. “They don’t look like mighty Wilderpeople… a lanky old guy and a spherical lump of a boy.” This demonstrates Sam’s expectations versus the reality, as one of the goals presented is for him to have outlandish and incredible friends. This adds to the theme of reality that is presented in the movie. These uses of literary devices also further develop Sam’s character.
The personification of Sam’s car Crumpy was integral to my story further exploring the theme of loneliness. Throughout my creative, Sam refers to Crumpy as one of his best friends, and mentions spending lots of time with the car. “Crumpy and I sit, watching the world go by, chatting with the birds, the trees and the clouds. Our radio burbles with the comings and goings of the form-fillers as we listen for a hint of our success as the local legends in the New Zealand bush. ‘Psycho Sam and Crumpy, the Foliage Fellas!’ they’ll call us.” This quote implies that Crumpy can listen to the radio and chat with birds and trees, which the audience knows is impossible due to Crumpy being a car. This makes Sam seem incredibly lonely and lacking in real friendships. This loneliness is amplified when Sam first acquaints himself with Hector and Ricky, “It’s been a while since I’ve had friends, apart from Crumpy of course.” Furthering on from this personification, the first paragraph describes Sam wanting to be a cryptid and viewing some famous cryptids as his best friends, yet “I’ve never met them, but I’d like to think they’re friends.” Sam’s apparent predisposition to imaginary friendships demonstrates insight into loneliness that is also present in Hunt for the Wilderpeople, with Ricky and Hectors’ struggle to form a friendship without the guidance of Bella, and their feelings of being so alone in the mountains.
I used a metaphor of a lion hunting for its prey when Sam went searching for the Wilderpeople. This metaphor was used to better reflect the theme of the hunter and the hunted and to play into the theme of freedom that is presented. It was critical in furthering the character development of Sam and linking into the major themes of the movie in a more practical setting. Sam speaking in third person, referring to himself as a lion also helps to characterise him and make him appear even crazier. The idea of Sam being the hunter implies the freedom of both Sam and the Wilderpeople, playing into not only the theme of the hunter and the hunted that is prevalent throughout the film, but also the theme of freedom that is also greatly represented in the movie.
My creative piece was written to create and develop Sam’s character from a comical side character into a character that, whilst presenting the same humour that he brought to the movie, also better reflected the overall themes within Hunt for the Wilderpeople. The themes my creative response explored include reality, freedom, loneliness and the hunter and hunted. I used techniques such as oxymoron, irony and juxtaposition to better characterise Sam, and used the personification of Crumpy to symbolise Sam’s loneliness, linking in with the themes of the movie. I also used a metaphor of a lion hunting its prey to represent the theme of hunter versus hunted. I used the original story of the movie and added my own original ideas, speaking from Sam’s perspective and adding new depth to the story that is not seen in the original movie. My creative effectively provides original thought and insight into the film and the themes presented.