Barking Dogs

The movie “Barking Dogs Never Bite” accentuates the idea that we are all the end results of our surrounding circumstances. These circumstances shape our morals, and compel us to make certain choices in our lifetime. In the movie, the protagonist (dog killer) and the homeless guy are both portrayed as villains, and they both are the products of their own life circumstances. Throughout the movie, the protagonist is experiencing all kinds of stress factors, such as loss of a job, a pressure from having a demanding pregnant wife etc., the accumulation of which necessitates a release. Perhaps, someone who is familiar with such stress factors could experience similar release (catharsis), while watching this movie. Furthermore, it was obvious that dogs brought some feelings of animosity upon him, or unleashed something “uncanny”, as Fraud would say, perhaps even aroused fear within him; otherwise he wouldn’t have such a vigorous desire to get rid of them. In the movie, the protagonist’s dream of becoming a professor asserts about his desire of achieving highly respectable social status, and losing it all contributes to the realization of his worst fear, i.e. becoming a social outcast. The homeless guy is also a product of his environment, although he has different reasons for wanting the dog dead- he is merely hungry. I guess Wells is right for stressing the substantial correlation between horror and comedy. These two genres share the virtue of innocence, perhaps even a child like minimalism. Just as children, who do not grasp socially acceptable standards, the homeless guy also lacks the sense of social normality. The scene, where he tries to skew and roast the dog, and then offers to share it with the girl is quite disturbing, but yet innocent. His undoubting assumption that everybody’s moral standards are in accord with his own is hilarious.