A Pilgrim’s Digression

March of the Penguins

We took Brendan to see this film on Saturday. It was a rainy, cool day, and tired of remaining inside all day we went to the movies. I was a little skeptical that the film would hold his attention, and I wanted to see the new Disney movie Valiant. I’m rather glad my wife overruled me. The reviews of Valiant have not been stellar; March of the Penguins, however, turned out to be quite good, and though it was a documentary, it held a four year old’s attention quite well. Or perhaps it was merely Morgan Freeman’s voice that held his attention.

The plot, such as it is, is simple: it follows the course of about a year in the life of the Emperor Penguins of Antarctica, from the time they come out of the sea to mate, to the time their offspring return to the sea to live and feed for four years until reaching their own maturity.

Children enjoy the scenes of penguins sliding on their bellies over the ice and snow, sometimes even slipping and falling on the ice. The best laughter-inducing scene is of two penguins trying to dive through a hole in the ice at the same time. Scenes of penguins leaping from the water and sliding on their bellies across the ice also draw great laughs.

However, the movie does not spare children from facing nature’s crueler aspects. In one scene, a leopard seal hunts the penguins underwater and makes a feast of one of them. In another, a Giant Antarctic Petrel catches and kills a baby penguin while adult penguins stand by, doing nothing to stop it. Brendan and other children in the theater were most disturbed by the latter scene. Brendan asked what the bird was doing, and we lied to him. My wife said the Petrel was gathering feathers for its feather collection. To which Brendan responded rather archly, “For the feather collection in its stomach?” So she told him the truth, that the Petrel was going to eat the baby penguin.

As an adult watching the film, I was most captivated by two things: the loyalty of the male and female penguins in raising their baby; and the wonder of adaptation that allows these animals to live in the harshest environment on earth. The loyalty of the penguins the narrator, Morgan Freeman, calls “love,” which I think is a bit unscientific, though it feels good. However, there are some beautiful scenes of penguin pairs expressing what might be termed affection for one another and for their baby. What is most incredible is how the male and female take turns travelling up to seventy miles to the sea for food, which they bring back in their stomach and regurgitate for the baby. The male, who is chiefly responsible for incubating the egg, goes the longest without food, spending up to several months protecting the egg from the deadly elements while the mother is away feeding. While this sacrifice can be explained scientifically as necessary for the survival of the species, there is something nonetheless awesome about it.

On the issue of adaptation, I found myself wondering about how and especially why these birds adapted to life in Antarctica, rather than leaving the continent as it grew colder. I’m not sure science can offer an explanation for that. Contemplating the “why” of Evolution is a bit like pondering the mysteries of God’s judgement. Sometimes the only answer we get back is “This is just the way it is.”