Summary

"Dogtooth" is a film that serves as a dark satire on the effects of extreme parental control and the warping of children's understanding of reality through deliberate misinformation.

Abstract

The Greek film "Dogtooth" by Yorgos Lanthimos presents a disturbing portrayal of a family where the patriarch has isolated his three teenage children from the outside world, controlling every aspect of their lives, including their education and beliefs. The children, unaware of the distorted reality they live in, are subjected to absurd definitions and fictitious tales to keep them submissive. The film explores the depths of psychological manipulation and its impact on human development, highlighting the profound influence of family on shaping one's worldview. It also critiques societal norms and the hypocrisy embedded in cultural practices, drawing parallels between the extreme measures in the film and the more subtle ways in which societies indoctrinate their youth.

Opinions

The film is seen as a critique of home-schooling when it becomes a tool for parents to impose their own distorted realities onto their children.
"Dogtooth" is interpreted as an exaggerated reflection of the fictitious stories and lies parents tell their children, such as the existence of Santa Claus, to influence their behavior.
The movie suggests that individuals are significantly shaped by their family environment and the ideologies passed down to them, whether intentionally or not.
The director, Yorgos Lanthimos, is perceived to take a satirical jab at human psychology, particularly at how societal norms are programmed into individuals by familial and societal authorities.
The film is viewed as a commentary on the broader societal hypocrisy, where certain tabooed activities are both practiced and forbidden in different cultures, emphasizing the role of the family in introducing concepts of discrimination.
The article advocates for children to think critically about what they are taught rather than accepting information blindly, and for parents to avoid restricting their children's understanding with fictitious narratives under the guise of protection.

Dogtooth: A case study of childhood Brainwashing!

The movie began with the teenagers listening to a tape dictating the distorted meaning of basic things like a motorway, excursion, etc. Soon it became evident that the teens who look like they are in their late teens are way immature in their behavior. Their conversation has a stilted, emotionless quality like the camera placement, as if in a light, hypnosis-induced trance.

The movie is about a family with three children, (two girls and a boy) all in their late teens, living in the secluded outskirts of Greece. The paterfamilias (father) is trying to protect their children from bad influence. He oversees their education, monitors what they watch and read, exercising and swimming lessons are all part of the routine. Sounds pretty normal, right?

Only that this feature of Greek director, Yorgos Lanthomos, is pretty material yet awkwardly profound. The movie is a parody of home-schooling in which parents have deliberately taught them the wrong meaning of words, in order to shield them from outside reality, to render this reality meaningless and unreadable, and therefore to blur and jumble its very existence.

Outside the fence of their house, there wanders a dangerous creature called Cat, that preys on flesh, children’s flesh specifically. That creature killed their brother (fictitious) who went out unprepared. Hence they shouldn’t go out of the house until their Dogtooth doesn’t come out. Only then their body should be capable of the danger that lurks outside. We should practice wwofing (among other things) to be prepared for the creature.

This is a mockery of the fictitious stories parents tell their children (esp. in Eastern countries) to keep their behavior in check. This movie goes on to show the impact of those lies and how they can shape someone’s character. Being naive we believe whatever is fed to us. There have been a number of studies that conclude the importance of family atmosphere in shaping one’s character.

The movie sheds light on the fact that we become what our nurturing mind perceives. Being naive we believe whatever is fed to us. There have been a number of studies that conclude the importance of family atmosphere in shaping one’s character. Outside the fence of the house in Dogtooth, there are families that intentionally or unintentionally pass their own ideologies to their children.

Here are some of the realities of what their loving parents are doing in order to prevent them from bad influence and keep their behavior in check:

They are not allowed to go beyond the fence of spacious, grassy grounds of their house until their Dogtooth (Canines) doesn’t come out.
The only video they watch is of themselves. They aren’t allowed to watch movies. They don’t even know what movies are.
The definitions they learn about day to day objects are deliberately tempered by their parents. For eg. “Pussy” is a very bright light.
They are rewarded for winning the house tests (for the absurd meanings they have learned).
If they don’t behave, their mother will give birth to two children and a dog, with whom they have to share their room and things.

However baffling and hilarious these reasoning may sound, they are an exaggerated version of fictitious reality being fed to us a kid, for instance, the existence of Santa Claus or Demons. And we perceived those fictitious realities, with an innocence equivalent to the children in Dogtooth.

But this movie is deeper than that. The only one entering the house, apart from their father (since he was the only one going out) is Christina — a guard in their father’s company who sometimes visits their house to satisfy the sexual needs of the son.

An unorthodox setup devised by the father, showing the extremes he is willing to go in order to prevent his children from the external world. Someone else, probably a male, would have been tasked to take the virginity of the girls until things started deviating from the plan and they stopped trusting anyone.

From there, the parents decide the son would be tasked to take the virginity of the daughters. Immature kids who have distorted definitions of their sexual parts, who never heard of the word Taboo, (let alone the Incest) saw it as a normal incident. And just like that the writer-director, Yorgos Lanthimos, took a dig at human psychology.

Around the world, people are programmed by their family and society as per some specific rules. Some cultures demand people to marry in their own religion, some ask their people to marry in their own castes (sub-religions), some approve of a particular color. Some allow marrying their cousins, while some tribal rules dictate marrying in the family as well, while most some forbid them.

Neither Mr. Lanthimos nor this blog writer promotes (or forbids) any such tabooed activity. We just want you to acknowledge the overall societal hypocrisy bestowed by the familial authority upon children since birth.

Place yourself in the place of the children in the movie. Now assume those parents told their children that people from a particular race are causing harm to our community, to our country. I bet your mind would be wwoofing in order to prepare a defense against those external threats.

If we can erase the history of discrimination and the phenomenon of race, culture, or religion, we won’t have stories of discrimination (and hatred) to feed our children. I am not saying families are the only source of introduction to discrimination. But they are a source.

Personally, I am from a society that’s rarely properly examined and I believe there is a desire lurking in all societies to control what young people believe and understand. And this range from innocent practices like expecting presents from Santa Claus to some serious the inculcation of religious beliefs, social practices, and taboos intended to last a lifetime.

Henceforth, if you are a child — refrain from blindly following whatever is being fed to you. That doesn’t mean start rebelling without a cause. Have your own consciousness deduce what’s better for all.

And if you are a parent, give your child some room. Stop feeding them fictitious stories in order to keep his behavior in check. Do your best, but don’t choke them in the name of protecting them.

P.S.(Rhetorical): Suppose you wanna make a movie about bad parenting and don’t wanna cast kids. What would you do? You use mature actors acting like kids. Why would mature people act like immature kids? Because of bad parenting from their control-freak father: Tone down their IQ, enhance the fun.