Ostrich Politic: a brilliant short film about the ease with which societies become fascist

Mohammad Houhou, “Ostrich Politic” (2018)

What struck me most about this film is its encapsulation of the allegory of Plato’s Cave in which society is convinced that the shadows it sees on a cave wall are reality whereas a few individuals who have dared to venture out of the cave realise that reality (and thus truth) is very different from what is seen on the cave wall. For years, a nation inhabited by ostrich citizens has long believed that ostriches by nature are timid and, when faced with problems and conflicts, deal with them by sticking their heads into the ground. Heck, their national hero is immortalised in bronze statue form sticking his head into the ground. However the president of that nation discovers from reading recent scientific research that this long-held and treasured tradition may be just that … a tradition with no basis in fact. He decrees that the notion that ostrich instinct is to stick your head into the ground is false and ostriches’ natural inclination is to confront and resolve problems when they occur. The bronze statue is covered up and laws forbidding sticking your head in the ground are enacted. The chaos and panic these laws create throw society into disorder, the streets are filled with hysterical ostriches racing to and fro, unable to accept the responsibility that being free and knowing the truth entails, until further scientific research reveals that maybe sticking your head in the ground might be a natural and instinctive reflex after all.

Of all the Gobelins short animated films I have seen so far, this one by Lebanese animator Houhou is the most brilliant in its story and relevance to human society, and in its execution. The animation, using archived live-action film shots, and deliberately drawing on Nazi-era symbolism and elements in parts, with an emphasis on oranges and reds amongst the shades of grey and dark grey in the backgrounds, is skillfully and beautifully done. The film does not have a distinct style of animation but rather draws inspiration and elements from a range of film and animation styles, and its distinctiveness comes from a narrow range of colours and the realist look of the ostriches and the city environments where they work … or rather, where they stick their heads in whatever receptacles will accommodate their craniums.

The film’s narrative quickly comes to the point about human nature and society: rather than prize truth, fact and rationality, we humans find truth and its consequences – we might need to change our ways for the better and make sacrifices so others can also achieve comfort and security – uncomfortable to accept and accommodate, and prefer to deny facts by either hiding from them or worse, arresting and imprisoning the messengers who bring such unpleasant news, and suppressing the truth at all costs. People prefer the comfort and security of lies and propaganda, even at the cost of freedom and, in the long term, prosperity and stability, and a better life for their children and grandchildren.

The film does not delve into how lies and propaganda are formed and repeated so much that they form reality for the majority of society.