ELTHAM HIGH SCHOOL ANTHOLOGY   

Hunt for the Wilderpeople, directed by Taika Waititi, displays how strength can come through sharing our vulnerabilities. Presented is a story of a 13-year-old boy, named Ricky Baker, who has faced hardships that affect him in the way that he makes poor choices. Ricky Baker is relocated to a foster home in the wilderness of New Zealand where he is introduced to his foster parents – Hector and Bella. He begins with apprehension, but quickly learns that it’s a location where he can picture a happy and freer life than what he had before.  Family, environment, and betrayal are central to the exploration of how strength is found through sharing vulnerabilities.

Throughout the film, family is something that Ricky, Hector and Bella each have significantly lacked at a point in their lives. Hector states “Bella didn’t have any family, like me, like you. That’s why she wanted to look after you.” We also see how a change in environment; a place that Ricky is unfamiliar with, brings out his insecurities. This builds strength when he begins to learn about himself. Through Ricky, Bella and Hec having experienced betrayal, they open up about something that would be sensitive to each of them. Shared experiences of betrayal largely contributes to their connection and self-growth.

In Hunt for the Wilderpeople, family is a key factor in finding strength through sharing vulnerabilities. Ricky lacked a feeling of family his whole life being a foster child. This took a toll on the way he communicated and connected with people. At the beginning, Paula refers to Ricky as “a real bad egg”, but when Bella says “He’s home now. He’ll be OK”, this would give him a sense of belonging and that he is cared for. In addition to this, Bella threw him a birthday party. We see how this makes him feel special when he says, “This is the best birthday I’ve ever had. I think it’s the only birthday I’ve ever had.” Strength is discovered through family, as from the start we saw an apprehensive, young boy, shift to one who is open and can vocalize his past to build on his relationship with Bella and Hec.

Bella and Hec appear as though they have struggled throughout life, too. It can be concluded that
Hector had a bad past when Bella says “Hec, just remember when we first met, you weren’t much good to anyone, just a scruffy white drifter who smelt like methylated spirits.” Suggesting that he had possibly come from a history of alcoholism. Hector, having had his own struggles, holds a wall up, similar to Ricky. Through minimal communication with Ricky and an obvious attempt to show resentment, a defence mechanism becomes identifiable. To act as though he dislikes Ricky, which we later observe is not the truth; he keeps himself from getting emotionally hurt because he convinces others that he did not have any emotional attachment to the subject.

Seen through Bella’s death early in the film, Hector and Ricky both become extremely vulnerable. It is this event that brings Hector to begin communicating Ricky. Embarking on a several-month long journey together, the passing of Bella is conveyed as a catalyst for the growth of their relationship, for they had become far more reliant on one another. Previously, they both relied on Bella for emotional support.

At the beginning, Ricky is alone and vulnerable, this is strongly portrayed through his disobedient behaviour when he is living in the city. His frequency of vandalism conveys how the environment of excessive structure mentally traps him.

When moved to the wilderness, Ricky is released from bad ways. His pessimism fades when he starts to observe the qualities that the wilderness has to offer. In the establishing scene, Ricky completes one lap of the house and proceeds back to the police car, in statement that he does not want to stay there. However, a drastic change in his character is evident once he has made connection with his foster parents; Ricky goes on the run with Hector because of such a strong want to remain in his current lifestyle.

Ricky finds freedom in the new environment as his first night of stay he goes out to the fields when he “needed a break.” In previous times, Ricky when emotionally challenged, would have searched for ways through acts of delinquency to express his feelings. Whereas, in this environment, when he runs, he simply finds the open landscape; encouraging him to face his problems.

When on the run with Hec, Ricky learns life skills that he wouldn’t have been exposed to in the city, such as to “find water and then go to a higher ground.”

Right from the start, betrayal played an undeniable role in Ricky’s defensive persona but we see this shift to a far happier, open and more positive approach to life when he begins to relate to Bella and Hector.

Ricky felt betrayed by his mother who left him when he was very young. Through observation of the photo of his mother, she appears as though she gave him up when she was just a teen. Whilst this had many negative impacts on him, it also taught him to find love through non-biological family. With nothing to lose, it allowed him to fully immerse himself in new opportunities to find happiness. Having been betrayed by his mother, it encouraged him to build a relationship with Bella.

Though Bella’s death left both Ricky and Hector feeling betrayed. They were emotionally attached to her as she was the only one they both could turn to for support.

Strength was greatly found through the occurrence of Bella’s passing as Ricky and Hector had to find security through each other; Hector was left with no choice but to let his wall down. Bringing his wall down is extremely beneficial to his future relationships and Ricky truly feeling like care for him exists.

Hunt for the Wilderpeople, directed by Taika Waititi, displays how strength can come through sharing our vulnerabilities. Ricky, Bella and Hector, each made significant contribution to the examination of this idea. The interactions between characters allow vulnerabilities to connect one with another. Through shared experiences with family, environment and betrayal, different strengths are established.