Cute Ferocious Animals: Oxymoron? I think not.

Frankly, the human race as a whole is very self-centered. We constantly aim to become the greatest power in the world, the apex of the entire community of living organisms. Although all organisms endeavor to pass their genes on successfully, we humans have especially survived many tests and obstacles set up by Nature. Over time, we had become the most advanced creatures on the planet. However, when we get attacked by mighty bears or feel the sheer terror of seeing a killer whale annihilate its prey, we begin to realize that we are not the strongest force out there. In order to sustain our omnipotence, we developed a special tool, also known as the media. The media imprints cuteness or lovingness on truly threatening animals, creating a sense of domestication in them. The media is symbolic of our denial to the existence of greater powers.

“Free Willy” and Shamu of Seaworld are examples of the media trying to hide the true viciousness of killer whales. In Free Willy, a twelve-year-old kid befriends an orca whale in a marina and teaches it tricks. In Seaworld, Shamu, an orca whale, is taught many tricks by its trainers. The fact that we can train orca whales into making them do whatever we want is one way for us to put ourselves above them; taking advantage of the orca whale’s cartoonish and visually pleasing looks to make them seemingly harmless is another. Even today, after watching the Youtube videos of orca whales killing sea lions, we still retain the typical friendly perception of orca whales. The media has tricked us into constantly feeling more powerful than this animal.

Similarly, we take advantage of the Great White Shark’s grotesque image and monotonous grey color to make the shark seem like the greatest predator in the sea with movies such as “Jaws” and “Deep Blue Sea”. But in reality, they aren’t the kings of the sea; orca whales predate on sharks, including the formidable Great White. The seemingly playful and kind orca whale is actually far fiercer than the shark. Furthermore, we exaggerate the image of the shark. Eighty percent of all shark species are virtually harmless to humans. Again, this makes us lose focus of the true aquatic power.

Finally, in movies like “The Lion King”, the media helps us create a sympathetic connection with Simba. Kids all around the world have come to love him, despite the wild beasts lions are. When many of us see lions, we think of Simba and the aura of “good” that radiates from him. But in real life, lions are dangerous animals that have no sense of morals. If you were to encroach too far into a male’s territory, you had better prepare yourself with a tranquilizer gun; otherwise, you would risk getting slaughtered.

As seen in the examples above, animals that are intrinsically threatening in nature are downsized into these cute, loving things by the media. On the other hand, the sharks are raised up to look fearful, even though the entire community of sharks is generally harmless to us. We do these things to make us (or make us feel like) the strongest creatures of all.