Every Child Should Watch Ferdinand
This past March, a twelve year old boy from Southaven, Mississippi committed suicide after a constant battle with bullying from classmates.
More awareness and education continues to be funneled into schools about this deadly epidemic. I am grateful. With how widespread epidemic bullying has become and how dangerous the effect is for children as they grow, it needs addressing. After watching the movie, Ferdinand, with my husband the other night, I came to realize how a simple children’s film can be used to promote a culture of respect.
The movie Ferdinand is based on a classic, best-selling children’s tale about a singular bull named Ferdinand. Ferdinand is no more special than any other bulls, except for his choice to be content simply smelling the flowers rather than head-butting other bulls. It’s very clear Ferdinand is not lonely and happy the way he is.
Naturally, the film expands this tale.
Since The Story of Ferdinand has remained my husband’s favorite childhood narrative since he was young, we were apprehensive about the film version. However, we were both overjoyed at the experience of watching this and discovered how much this film reveals of our culture.
It’s clear Ferdinand is different. While all other calves butt their heads and practice fighting in the hopes of the matador choosing them for the bull-fighting ring when they grow up, Ferdinand enjoys smelling and protecting the flowers in the yard. Naturally, the alpha bull calf, Valiente bullies Ferdinand.
Even though Ferdinand’s father is a champion bull and encourages Ferdinand to be tough, Ferdinand asks, “Can I be a winner without fighting?” To which his father responds, “That’s just not how the world works for us.” When Ferdinand’s father does not return from his bull fight, Valiente’s father insults his memory in front of Ferdinand. “That bull was soft. The soft ones always go down.” And then, he turns to his son and advises him harshly, “You better bull up.”
While this sets the tone for both calves, Ferdinand chooses to run away and escapes the Casa del Toro. He finds a new home with a wonderful, little girl named Nina and her father, who treat him with respect and like a member of their own family. He grows up in an environment of love a hill surrounded by flowers. However, a stroke of bad fortune drops him right back in the yard of his birth. He is reunited with Valiente, who has turned just as hard and aggressive as his father before him.
“Ferdinand had a growth spurt, but he’s still the same scared little coward he always was,” Valiente calls him out.
“Why does not wanting to fight mean I’m scared?” Replies Ferdinand.
This statement is so revealing, especially when the film shows what becomes of the bulls who don’t fight: they end up in the chophouse. My husband and I recognized the parallel of our culture, which projects this to young boys today. Society and media and even the Church draw lines in the sand and expect men to act a certain way in order to be accepted and masculine. Sadly, there is very little wiggle room; bullying is common for boys who happen to cross over the line even if they have no ulterior motivations other than simply enjoying different activities such as Ferdinand.
Setting aside that Ferdinand is, yes, a bull, I love how Ferdinand truly exemplifies manhood.
Later into the film, Ferdinand learns the truth about his father and how the bull fighting ring is a big fancy arena, but in reality, it’s just another chophouse. In an effort to help other bulls escape, he even shows them one of the many bull horn prizes the matador had displayed in his bedroom. Valiente refuses to believe. The indoctrination from his childhood runs deep.
“Why would I believe a coward who thinks the only way out is through the back door? Bulls fight or they go down. That’s how the world works.”
This scene is so powerful in unpacking Valiente’s character when he goes on to insult Ferdinand and saying he’s just like his father, who was soft and who went down. However, in fighting Ferdinand, one of Valiente’s horns is gored in half and he is sent to the chophouse. The matador witnesses and chooses Ferdinand for the arena.
At this point, all the other bulls agree to leave, but Ferdinand refuses unless ALL can go, including Valiente. So, upon entering the chophouse, the scene with Valiente is such an accurate cultural display regarding the social conditioning of young men and boys:
“You’re more than just a set of horns,” urges Ferdinand. “Come with us.”
“What? So I can smell flowers and pal around with goats?”
“No, that’s my thing. You can live your own life now. But not if you give up.”
Valiente refuses again, and Ferdinand says, “Wow, I thought you were a fighter,”
I love how Ferdinand is a perfect example for a counter-cultural masculinity. He is the very essence of a leader with great gentleness and protectorship. He respects all life around him from the flowers he loves to the bunny he protects to the goat he befriends and even to the other bulls he stands up for and refuses to leave behind. Ferdinand is the very ideal of sacrificial who puts others needs before his own. Moreover, he exemplifies a Christian heart by going back to rescue the one bull who spent the majority of the film insulting him, bullying him, and even picking fights with him. To boot, he chooses to sacrifice himself so all the other bulls can escape in a marvelous and humorous chase scene!
His final act is in the arena. Despite all the forces closing in on him from the matador with his sword to the picadores aiming their spears and trying to poke him, Ferdinand still refuses to fight. Again and again, he passes on violence. He even turns the act in the opposite direction so the matador must chase the bull as opposed to the bull chasing the matador.
This climax is a beautiful symbol of how men can change the tide of the culture by shifting it on its head. In choosing to appeal to the better angels of their nature, to refuse violence and to seek peace, men will discover this is true manhood. This culture grooms boys from an early age to be predators, but even with the world against them, true manhood is found in defying this culture. True freedom is found in breaking the chains. And it’s not found in violence but in great acts of courage and love.
Thank you Ferdinand for showing these great acts. If there was only one children’s movie I would have boys watch, it would be Ferdinand.