The Crimson Wing

Yesterday I watched Disney Nature's "The Crimson Wing" to do visual research for a new series of flamingo paintings. I found myself enthralled by  the cinematography, and confounded by the story of the flamingos of Lake Natron, Tanzania. The documentary itself differed none compared to others about whales, lions, penguins, what have you. Yet something struck me about these flamingos, and seemed to tie together the subconscious reasons why I went on such a flamingo craze in the first place. 

These flamingos are a lot like us.

We see it when the story opens with the bizarre mating ritual. The males gather in one group, the females in another; much like the beginning of the night at a night club when people slowly arrive on the dance floor with their comrades. What follows is a dance of proud, awkward movements, and flashes of their brightly coloured wings, designed to impress a potential mate. From the outsider's point of view, they all look ridiculous. The males throw down one dance move, the females respond with another. The males try to outdo each other, but the females know that they don't need to try that hard because they are the target of the competition... all they need to do is go through the motions. 

This back-and-forth play continues for some time, until eventually the groups dissipate and each male begins chasing a female, pecking at her tail feathers and vying for her attention. The female continues to run away, acting as if she don't want it. Yet she stays just within reach when she can simply fly away. The chase is all part of the game, to see how badly he wants it. And just when it seems like his determination is pushed to its brink, she relents.

Fast forward past the flamingo porn (which is what I did) to the heartwarming scene of an oversized webbed foot stretching out of a newly hatched egg. When the young chicks are born, they encounter the same life events you would observe in other documentaries. It is a beautiful, sweet story of new life. And I will forever be traumatized by the scenes of marabou storks attacking the colony, brutally killing and devouring the adorable fuzzies that the film just suckered you into falling in love with five minutes ago. The parents flutter about frightened and helpless as the monstrous dark shadows wreak havoc on the place. We are reminded that even those who see life literally through rose-coloured eyes are also faced with struggle and defeat. I am happy for the darker side of Disney, showing the circle of life for what it is, although, seriously, I'm surprised I didn't have nightmares.

In becoming enraptured in this documentary and others like it, we are faced with the realization that this world is much bigger than just us. Flamingos are but one species that lives on this earth.This epic story is happening everywhere, in a billion billion ways. If we open our eyes to it, we have much to learn  from  the natural world. If we can see the duality between just one example, the flamingos, and human beings, we can be open to reflect on our own lives from a new perspective. How I interpreted the flamingo mating dance may be different from what you saw. What you might discern from another part of the film, may have never come to my mind.

Added 28-Dec-2012: 

Check out my artist blog salainart.blogspot.com to see the flamingo drawings I've done since!