HYBRIDITY IN MADAGARCAR 1

            Madagascar 1 is a movie talk about animal which accustomed live peacefulness in a zoo of New York City named Central Park Zoo. The main animals are Alex (a lion), Gloria (a Hippopotamus), Melman (a giraffe), and Marty (a zebra), they are friendship. The other animals there are two monkeys and four penguins. But one day, they (Alex, Gloria, Melman, Marty, two monkeys and four penguins) moved to Madagascar caused the mistake by themselves.

            The story started with four penguins mission try to run away from the zoo to the wild. They dig the underground hole for the down to Antarctica, but in fact they stray in Marty cage. Because of that Marty know their mission and he tell it to his friends; Alex, Melman and Gloria that he is also want to go to the wild like penguins. His friends did not agree with him. In the midnight he went alone to Connecticut; his friends catch him in train station, and in this place they surrounded and catch in by many police, too. not only them, but also four penguins and two monkeys which in fact they followed Alex, Gloria, Melman when they go out from the zoo to save Marty.

After this case, zoo party decides to return them to the wild. All of them send by ship to Kenya Wildlife Preserve Africa. In middle way, penguins take over the ship from the people hand, because they did not want to go to the Africa, they want to Antarctica. But Alex’s, Gloria’s, Melman’s, and Marty’s box thrown from ship to the sea and stranded on an island, it name is Madagascar. Here, in the wild which very different with the zoo that safe, peace, comfortable, and their foods also guaranteed, they can see what they are actually.

From this story, we can identify the existence Hybridity of culture in this movie. Hybridity is the term in literature which means acculturation of culture or cultural mixing and many things which very different or even against between original culture (colonized) with newcomer culture (colonizer).  In Madagascar 1, the colonizer is people, and the colonized is animals in the zoo. People colonizing the animal in the zoo, from their original character become modern animal which enjoy their life like modern people.

For example, Alex is a lion, as a lion he should have the character of cruel, harsh, savage, wild, and certainly frightening to everyone, and other animals who become his preying because he is a carnivorous animal, like his friends, zebra (Marty), giraffe (Melman), a hippopotamus (Gloria ). When in the zoo, he did not know that his friends, actually is his preying. Because there he get enough meat from people to eaten. But when he arrived in Madagascar which wildlife, he was very hungry, no meat to eat, and in his peak hunger, Alex hallucinating that he looked other animal even his friends likes look the nice meat. Suddenly, he was biting Marty’s ass and another animal surprised see it, and feared. After that case, himself and his friends realize that Alex actually is a monster, which frightened by others animal in the forest. People was changing Alex’s thinking about himself, he don’t know again about his real characters through many facilitates in the zoo.

Alex’s friends; Melman, Gloria, Marty also realize that their real place in the forest is very cruel, animals prey on each other. When they (Melman, Gloria, Marty) walking in the forest after the chased by Alex, they see many cruel. First, they see the little bird preyed by flower, then they see animal preyed by snake and in fact he save, but after that the big bird snatched it, and the last they see a duckling. They did not want this duckling died like animals before. So, Marty picked and delivered it to the water, but suddenly a crocodile preyed it. They are very sad and afraid. Things like that are very different with the zoo condition. In the zoo, they got many attention and affection from people, and there is no cruel. Between Alex with Marty, Melman, and Gloria are friendship in the zoo, but the reality in forest, they should be hostile because Alex is their predator.

There is still another proves of modern civilization that animals get from people that we can see when Alex giving a gift to Marty’s birthdays, and a birthday party for Marty from Alex, Gloria, and Melman. In animal world, there is no tradition giving a gift in birthday, let alone give a gift, when they born were, they did not remember it. The other proves of hybridity we can see when Marty arrive in island escorted by dolphins, Marty said, thank you and sorry, because he did not have money to pay it. There is no animal having acknowledged about money. One of monkeys also proving the modern civilization, because this monkey can read letters or texts, although he cannot speak up just uses his body language.

In this movie, animals as the colonized did not realize that being colonized; they were exploited by people to entertain them in order to get much money. But they keep glorify people and assume that they are good and friendly because they don’t know it. Even, in the forest, people are enemy and the greatest threats to forest creatures which should be opposed.

In conclusion, Madagascar 1 is one of hybridity examples. People are as colonizer and animals in the zoo are as colonized. People were changing from original character of animal become modern animals 1 as well as modern people.