Primal

I wasn’t feeling so well when I started on this blog. The last thing I needed was to have to sit down at a keyboard for however long it would take to write. So, then I came across a Wiki synopsis of an Australian film from 2010 entitled ‘Primal’ with the following as its first paragraph:

A group of friends—Anja, Mel, Dace, Chad, Kris, and Warren—embark on a journey into the Australian outback where Dace, an anthropology student, aims to study ancient symbols outside a mysterious cave. They are soon attacked by a bizarre, aggressive rabbit with sharp teeth, which injures Kris before the group manages to kill it. Bewildered, they return to their camp.

The whole film sounded bonkers so my first thoughts were cut and paste the whole Wiki page into the blog and see if that will do. And it nearly did but it was a bit boring after a while and there must be something else that Primal can signify.

According to the texts it can be used to describe emotions, instincts, or behaviours that are thought to be innate or deeply ingrained in human nature. For example, one might say that fear is a primal emotion, referring to the idea that the feeling of fear is something that is hardwired into human biology. If I see a snake I run away.

In the context of psychology it may be used to describe the earliest and most basic part of the psyche, that is thought to have been formed in the earliest stages of human development i.e. The id. It is the part of us that wants immediate gratification. If I see some cheese I run towards it.

In Anthropology, primal societies are those that are thought to have existed before the development of modern civilization, often characterized by simple social organization and a way of life that is closely connected to nature.

In general, primal refers to something that is basic, fundamental or essential, often associated with a primitive or ancient origin. I’m sure there’s a link to slippers somewhere but can’t find it.

Going back to the movies. There is an animation film called Primal described as: A caveman and a Tyrannosaurus Rex end up forming an unlikely bond and work together to survive in a dangerous prehistoric world. It seems very, very popular.

I followed this up today and hadn’t realised that the film was by Russian-American artist, director Genndy Tartakovsky who is also responsible for 2012 Hotel Transylvania.

Reviewers say: ‘This time the director brings us this primeval brutal, savage, magnificently, helmed spectacle.’. ‘You don't need a single finished sentence of dialogue to tell a brilliant, edge-sittingly fascinating story’.

Then there is the 2019 film Primal where the hero seems to be a big game hunter (Really?). Rotten Tomatoes says: ‘Chiefly of interest to Nicolas Cage completists and hardcore B-movie fans, this action thriller suffers from an unfortunate lack of Primal energy’.

Primal Scream are a Scottish rock band originally formed in 1982 in Glasgow. I’ve just watched a few of their videos and songs and they don’t do anything for me. Can’t understand a word they’re singing for a start.

I haven’t any Primal poems so I think this one by Tracy K. Smith will suit.

The Universe as Primal Scream

5pm on the nose. They open their mouths
And it rolls out: high, shrill and metallic.
First the boy, then his sister. Occasionally,
They both let loose at once, and I think
Of putting on my shoes to go up and see
Whether it is merely an experiment
Their parents have been conducting
Upon the good crystal, which must surely
Lie shattered to dust on the floor.

Maybe the mother is still proud
Of the four pink lungs she nursed
To such might. Perhaps, if they hit
The magic decibel, the whole building
Will lift-off, and we'll ride to glory
Like Elijah. If this is it—if this is what
Their cries are cocked toward—let the sky
Pass from blue, to red, to molten gold,
To black. Let the heaven we inherit approach.

Whether it is our dead in Old Testament robes,
Or a door opening onto the roiling infinity of space.
Whether it will bend down to greet us like a father,
Or swallow us like a furnace. I'm ready
To meet what refuses to let us keep anything
For long. What teases us with blessings,
Bends us with grief. Wizard, thief, the great
Wind rushing to knock our mirrors to the floor,
To sweep our short lives clean. How mean

Our racket seems beside it. My stereo on shuffle.
The neighbour chopping onions through a wall.
All of it just a hiccough against what may never
Come for us. And the kids upstairs still at it,
Screaming like the Dawn of Man, as if something
They have no name for has begun to insist
Upon being born.

Copyright Credit: Tracy K. Smith, "The Universe as Primal Scream" from Life on Mars. Copyright © 2011 by Tracy K. Smith. Reprinted by permission of Graywolf Press. www.graywolfpress.org
Source: Life on Mars (Graywolf Press, 2011)

Thanks for reading, Terry Q.