Tulips in the Garden

    The film My Dog Tulip was a fascinating tale that introduced a very unique perspective on the dog-human relationship. I found the pair's day-to-day interactions relatable since they were depicting real life experiences. It was honestly kind of refreshing how open the film was. In our society it is almost expected for everyone to censor their stories to fit a brighter, more idealistic life rather than a realistic one. My Dog Tulip grabbed this expectation by the throat, gave it a good shaking, then threw it out the window of a bullet train. It was wonderfully beastly with a slight coating of dry humor.

    I enjoyed this film partly because it relates to my own interests and my research project, that is, exploring what the dog(s) say about the people who own them and vice versa. This film made it easy to see this connection. Both dog and man were very blunt. They made their intentions and voices known. Both struggled a bit with communication but still held an undying love for one another. Both also had a deep understanding that this love requires trust and patience- though it did take the owner a while to realize this for himself.

    Another interesting idea from the film was how the directors used Tulip and other dogs to show the audience human messages and meanings. As mentioned before, humans are so often limited with how they can express themselves due to society's restrictions. But with this film, we got the chance to explore some of these off-limits concepts without the limits themselves. Desire, rejection, non-verbal communication, love, and understanding. All very natural things, and all things that we discuss very little for how much of an impact each has on our lives. Tulip was very open with her feelings when meeting potential mates and acted accordingly. One could not help but think of how this expresses the human desire to act freely but how we, like the owner, tend to leave to a different room in an attempt to let our emotions handle themselves. Or perhaps a simple wish to return to our carefree attitude we once held as children. A time where we did not have the weight of the world on our backs.

    Truly this film helps connect all that we've learned so far. How dogs came to be and how they've been engineered by man. How dogs were viewed as threats, excuses to brag about oneself, companions, rituals, medicine, omens, friends, family, science experiments, pests, symbols of wealth, soulless creations, and simple animals seeking for our love all in one but all in separate ways. My Dog Tulip is a masterpiece in the way that it not only gets you thinking in a certain perspective of dogs, but also combines countless other perspectives at the same time. Where so often many stories simply take one point of view, you find an endless knot of different ideas and beliefs within the story. And this knot shows how complicated our connection with dogs can be, perhaps that is the true genius of My Dog Tulip.