Listen with your Heart

An in-depth interpretation of Netflix's Love, Death + Robots Volume III : "Jibaro"

There are numerous TV shows created as easy distractions for the simple pleasure of passing time; granting us solace, a semblance of peace and cradle of comfort to mentally wash us of the day’s stresses while we prepare for the duties of tomorrow.

Then there are those rare creators that take this media and use technology as a canvas to spill their soul onto; creating higher forms of art with layered messages, wisdom and hidden teachings underneath the surface of simple audio queues and flashing colors.

Jibaro is an immaculate fusion of interpretative dance and digital art capturing the raw and primal essence of both man and his greed when confronted with the seductive nature of mother earth's sacred treasures - a radically novel exploration of ideas and concepts that invite the viewer to experience and invoke their own feelings of interpretation, while raising many philosophical questions on man’s responsibility to Mother Nature.

This story is very much akin to a myth in that it feels to have been created to tell a much grander story that cannot be simply expressed by quips between humans. That said, this story is much larger than a simple instance of Puerto Rican knights encountering a lake monster; this story is a microcosm of humanity, expressing the totality of our relationship with the earth.

Two main actors dominate the stage of this play.
The “Deaf Knight” and the “Golden Siren”

The Siren’s critical role in this drama is that of the divine feminine spirit, Mother Earth. Her proclivity for beauty naturally invokes Lust and Greed in even the strongest of men, driving them mad to the brink of self-extinction over the conquest of her material & spiritual treasures. Men are tempted by many things; Sex, power, wealth and territory being easy examples. There are attempts to mask these desires under the guise of religious doctrine but in the end we are all human and even the most holy of men have succumbed to the humanness of her temptation in this experience we call life.

The Deaf Knight symbolizes us in a way that it is our story, our eyes, or at least a warning of the fate to those who walk this path. Even though masses around us seem to be radicalized, driven mad by lust, greed, and other sins, we alone feel special and above those primal desires. We may be confused why others make their seemingly uninformed decisions- Throwing their lives away by destroying our natural environment all while pretending that Mother Earth doesn’t truly own the land they reside over; forcing us to feel like the lone bastion of truth. We recognize her whipping everyone around us into a fervent frenzy, but not why they allow themselves to be swayed. Perhaps they know more than we do? Believe something we can’t perceive? Or perhaps they are simply weak of will and no longer care about the consequences of their actions. This feeling of solitude is coupled with that of jealousy & feeling left out, as well as pride; leading us to protest and abstain from indulgence, fearing that we too may join that shared fate.

Every prop is a tool that helps tell part of this story, including the deafness of the knight. Since the knight can’t hear, the disassociation of not being like the others is clear. Though this interpretation blurs the lines of us putting ourselves in the knight’s shoes. How can we associate with him if we can hear perfectly fine? Take this equation instead →I am _____ therefore, I am [not//them]…

I am vegan, therefore I am not cruel to animals.
I am progressive, therefore I am kinder & more inclusive to others.
I am minimalist, therefore I care more about the earth’s resources.
I am religious, therefore I am above the sins of man.

Many can relate to these statements and they can be created infinitely to describe anyone anywhere, regardless of the lies they contain.

Even through the Knight can’t hear doesn’t mean he is wholly immune to the siren’s temptation. Our knight was in fact the first to take gold from the water waking the siren to their presence. Regardless of his deafness differentiating him from the others’ false ears, he is still of their brood and they all share more in common than not. He wields their sword which represents the truth they fight for. He rides their horses representing the convenience of travel they share. He’s garbed in their cloth showcasing their luxury and comfort. He wears their armor hiding a false sense of security… anyone else surprised at the ineffectiveness of their armor during the slash frenzy? … Even though we as individuals have a large characteristic that sets “us” apart from “them” in the end we are all human and share much more in common than most would care to admit.

As we connect with nature her spirit embraces us as one of her own, in a way protecting us from the natural dangers lurking in her wilds. Mother Earth and the divine spirit is always with us, no matter where we go. Her presence is a gift that can not be kept. Her sharp scales punish those who attempt to hold on longer than they should. Even roses manifest thorns to remind us that beautiful things must handled delicately. Why can we not be content with what we have? Why are we cursed with the disease of “More”? We are driven to explore her mysteries as it feels like she has chosen to manifest for us alone in ways that no one has ever experienced her before.

After chasing deeper through her veins beyond the fringes of our own comfort, we meet her in a place of natural divine beauty, untouched by man. A precarious tipping point where we witness a seductive dance unlike that fools gold of a song-trap before. A truly vulnerable display of surrender as she opens up and allows us to experience the fruits of her form. She is everything we desire and we can’t help but take a single pebble of her majesty. We fail to flinch at the bleeding impact we cause; even our smallest cupidity leaves her wounded. We are forgiven with a sharp kiss, an innocent display on her part; all we’ve done is take and offered nothing in return. Our shining armor only protects us from physical manifestations that do not know how to pierce it’s plate; yet forged steel does nothing to shield us from succumbing to our own internal demons… She can not be courted, she can not be bargained with, and her- in this form should only be worshiped. God granted us hands as tools, and when we view our hands as hammers- everything begins to look like a nail. Thus a monkey’s only option is to transmute her into something is that is more suitable for us. In a prophetic display of violence and violation we’ve thieved her of beauty, stripped her fertile soil and discarded her body like a wet tissue without remorse, as if there’s another around the corner to hunt and maim.

Was it worth it? How many lives were lost in her conquest? She bared more treasure than what mere man can keep to himself. Encumbered not only by the weight of culture and wealth, but now our continued decisions to live on knowing what we’ve done. Do we deserve to drink clean water knowing it has been tainted with the blood, sorrow and sins of our ancestors who cemented the pillars of community we stand on today? The knight’s hearing is restored in a realization that we are no different than anyone else. We are all the same being, who fight the same demons and no amount of other’ing will change that. We are all human.

As long as the earth is round, Mother Nature will never truly die. Even stripped of her fertility and beauty she remains the same all-divine being and will enact retribution on the sons of those who’ve taken from her. When confronted with death, no man will escape the sins of their father. In this poetic conclusion, our newfound hearing knight dances a most beautiful display of acceptance that he is just as demented as those that perished before him, and joins their fate in that shared tomb of drowning.

Jibaro raises many important questions that we need to address as the current custodians of the Garden of Eden. Is it too late for us to heal the earth? How hard is it to move an inch today? Every hour we choose to be ignorant of liars and thieves’ transgression upon her is another vote to drown in her sorrowful wrath. I pray her hibernation will seed an unborn generation who never fail to love her with the utmost respect she deserves.¹

1. Amen