Meerkat Mourner
SPOILER ALERT: This post reveals developments on last night's Meerkat Manor--although, if you watch Meerkat Manor, you probably already have a fairly good guess what those developments were.
ANIMAL PLANET
Last night, lovers of the Animal Planet hit nature show / reality soap opera Meerkat Manor said goodbye to the show's star, Flower, the matriarch of the Whiskers meerkat clan. Flower's death--from a cobra bite sustained protecting her group from an invasion--was, intentionally, a poorly kept secret, as the network dropped hints and telegraphed the death in not-so-subtle promos. (Viewers in other countries, where the episode already aired, also reported the death online earlier.) The LA Times has a good writeup on fan reactions.
I've watched maybe half a dozen episodes of Manor over its run, so I won't pretend to be a diehard, grief-stricken fan, but watching the episode (Animal Planet tipped off TV writers to the upcoming death), I have to admit getting verklempt. Meerkats are naturally expressive, they're social, and they stand up on two legs, which makes them easy to anthropomorphize. One of Flower's last acts on the show was sparing the life of a Whiskers cub who had wandered among a rival group. Meerkat Manor didn't describe it as an act of human morality or mercy, exactly, but it didn't discourage you from looking at it that way, either. (The Animal Planet Flower tribute page calls her an "intelligent leader, valiant warrior and generous mother.")
But as much as Meerkat Manor humanizes its meerkats and imposes dramatic order on its footage (editing story arcs, naming the animals, assigning them character traits like "the rogue"), it didn't softpedal Flower's end. (For those of you new to the show, major "characters" have died or disappeared before, as well as numerous pups.) There was the expected mournful soundtrack--"The desert has lost its favorite rose," said narrator Sean Astin, as if Flower were Princess Diana--but the show also unstintingly showed Flower after the snakebite, her head swollen and disfigured from the venom. That's nature.
Ironically, Animal Planet had launched this season with an ad campaign that compared the show with The Sopranos, and Flower with Tony. Mother Nature, though, doesn't send off protagonists with a Journey song and a black screen. Ambiguous, artistic endings are a human invention. Cobras give you closure.
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1
wow, I thought meerkats were able to survive snake bites..
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2
They are...she'll be back next season in a shocking episode everyone will be talking about!!
Only on Animal Planet! Check local listings for times.
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3
Mozart ain’t going to be a matriarch in this life since she is already dead. Same goes for Kinkajou who died of starvation right before Mozart was predated. They’re all dead-the Starskys that is. As for Flower she was a ruthless meerkat so why mourn her death. I can never forget her abandoning poor Mozart after she gave birth-what a witch she was. I hope Flower and Kink are in Meerkat hell(along with Hannibal) and Mozart and Shakes and Tosca are in meerkat heaven.
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4
First of all the comments posted by JP are very "evil-intentioned". And I do not like it at all. Meerkat Manor is a DOCUMENTARY, not a sop opera as many tv related workers use to say. And it has a lot more value than other fantasy witchy movies, like Harry Potter's stories.
For some people, fantasy is what they look for, but some other audiences prefer what really happen to animals. We, humans, still do not know much about other species, but keep contributing to their extinction. So, what if someone feels sad for a brave little creature who knew how to keep their numerous family together, without many deaths? She died to protect their babies, and many human mothers / fathers are not like that.
I congratulate AP for this documentary, and hope they go on with other species as well. Then, maybe, many humans who never thought about the others with whom we share this still beautiful planet, will consider animals for what they are: LIVING CREATURES, not "things". -
5
I JUST STARTED LOOKING AT MEERKAT MANOR AND I THOUGHT FLOWER WAS A GREAT AS WELL AS MERCIFUL LEADER. i KNOW SHE HAD TO DO THINGS THAT WERE RUTHLESS( LIKE ABANDONING POOR MOZART, THAT EPISODE, BY THE WAY I DID NOT SEE ), BUT DO YOU THINK SHE DID IT FOR THE SAKE OF THE REST OF THE COLONY? SHE DID ALLOWED HER PREGNANT DAUGHTERS TO STAY IN THE COLONY,AND SHE GAVE SHELTER TO A RIVAL COLONIE'S PUP. IS THIS NOT THE MARK OF A GREAT LEADER? ANYWAY I DO NOT WISH THAT SHE GO TO MEERKAT HELL. i HOPE SHE HAS SOMEHOW SURVIVED THE COBRA ATTACK, AND, WENT AWAY TO REGAIN HER STRENGTH; LIKE LOLA. OR IS LOLA DEAD FROM HER SNAKE BITE TOO?
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6
Wow, need a life, joe?
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7
It took her 2 days to die. They (the filmers of the situation) should have put her down to relieve her agony. The Animal Planet web site has a couple of forums about Flower. If you go in depth, the story of her dying is really sad and makes me sick--the people filming need to get some humanity in place of their "can't interfere with nature" BS--It's easy--just try having a normal human heart and the feelings that usually go with it. Sarah
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