Season 1, Episode 9: The Bee Movie

December 20, 2021

Thank you, siddi_boii, for your request for the Bee Movie, which got the most votes to be my hundred followers special.

The Bee Movie was unknown during the early 2000s. Due to meme culture, the movie became popular with its illogical plot. The recent internet fame came from the movie’s stupid concept of having bees suing the human race over the rights of honey. Also, there is a subplot when Barry dates a human. The Bee Movie has the potential to be a cinematic masterpiece, but the stupid concept prevents that chance.

A major flaw is the romance subplot between Barry and Vanessa. Barry should not fall in love with Vanessa when he met her. Realistically, Barry would be grateful that Vanessa saves him and moves on with his life, and does not have a romantic connection. The romance subplot fails because Barry and Vanessa are two different species making Vanessa a zoophile. Even though Barry can consent due to his human-like intelligence, Vanessa cheats on Ken for a bee she met yesterday. Then, she breaks up with Ken for getting mad at Barry for flirting with her.

Another major flaw is the dehumanization of their antagonist. For example, the world views Ken as a pathetic jerk. Ken shows no signs of being rude. He only acted harshly toward Barry because Barry ruined his life. Ken has a valid reason for trying to kill Barry because he has a bee allergy, so killing Barry would be an act of self-defense. Also, Vanessa cares more about Barry than Ken. She spends more time with Barry than Ken by stopping yogurt night to help Barry with his trial even though she should not give legal advice because she is not a lawyer. After the first trial, she gives Ken’s food and razor to Barry without asking permission. The beekeepers are depicted as evil businessmen who steal the bee’s honey for profit. Beekeepers are helpful for the ecosystem because they prevent the rapid decline of the bee population. They provide the insects with a safe environment allowing the bees to pollinate plants and prevent plants from withering.

The worst scene is the trial. Barry is unable to sue the human race because the plaintiff is vague. For the lawsuit to be possible, Barry needs to sue every honey company to prevent the profit of honey or the federal government from outlawing selling honey. Also, Barry cannot represent the bees in court because he is not a lawyer. Barry does not make arguments for the honey company not having the right to sell honey. For example, Barry calls Klauss Vanderheyden to the witness stand and demonizes him. Barry states the beekeepers abuse the bees, and a bear represents Vanderheyden's company. Barry supports his claim that bears are dangerous by bringing a bear to court. Barry cannot bring a bear to court because bears could endanger the jury since they are wild animals. Mr. Montgomery is an awful lawyer even though he represents five food companies. Mr. Montgomery demonizes bees instead of making logical arguments for humans selling honey.

The best part of the movie is the beginning, showing the problem of work culture and the risk of not following societal norms. In the bee society, the bees do nothing but work for the rest of their life similar to modern society. Employers make their employees work long hours without any breaks. For example, Amazon warehouses refuse any bathroom breaks causing their employees to poop in bags and pee in bottles. Employees feel trapped in their jobs since they do not want to quit due to risking not having a job and suffering economic hardship. The toxicity of the work culture theme supports the reason Barry is upset about the news of getting a job, unlike the other bees being happy. Barry is established as the only bee who questions his society giving unique character strength. Barry recognizes a life of constant working would make his life miserable because he cannot experience the outside world. Adam shows the problems of not questioning society. Adam believes the bee society is never flawed because everything functions perfectly but ignores Barry’s ideology. Barry’s dad wants Barry to be a stirrer and shows the harmful effects of partnering in a capitalist society. Parents force their children to get an ideal job and disregard their passion. Often these reasons are to continue their legacy or to become successful. His parents do not understand or care about what their son wants for a career. Barry is against the idea of staying in the hive, so he joins the Pollen Jocks, a group of bees that collect pollen from the outside world. When Barry travels with the Pollen Jocks, he gets stuck on a tennis ball during a tennis game, causing him to be flung across the air at a high velocity. Also, the humans try to kill Barry over their fears of bees. When it started raining, Barry almost died because he could not fly. These moments when Barry almost dies show the risk of not following social norms. The Bee Movie should continue developing the themes from the beginning. These themes allow it to be a cinematic masterpiece because it decontracts working culture to children and creates an interesting internal conflict with Barry allowing him to debate whether to be miserable and safe in work culture or to risk his life and be happy by breaking social norms.

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