Scaredycat Reflection

The one scene from Scaredycat that really got to me was when Andy was talking about how the threat of immediate danger doesn't really exist in the world today. Of course there are still threats out there, but the way I took his meaning of when he said this was the threat of predators, diseases, and even inclement weather that that early humans had to worry about on a daily basis. Humans don't have to compete with other predators for food, or even fear becoming food themselves anymore. We have medicines and vaccines that keep us from dying of diseases. And we have shelter and clothing and many other means of protecting us from nature. He almost made it sound like he thought we have become complacent in the modern comforts we have today. Then immediately after this scene he talks about the attack. He became the victim of predators. He was showing that predators still exist. I thought this was a very deep observation by Andy and it really made me think about not becoming complacent.

I was surprised by his reaction to the event. I wasn't surprised at the fact that he felt unsafe, but I was surprised at his reaction towards young black men. The event changed his view on a specific demographic of people. He understood this though and he reflected on the fact that he knew he was singling out young black men as an immediate threat and he felt guilty for that. Most people would carry that with them the rest of their lives and let it become a major influence on their world view and decision making, but he decided to learn from his own, newly found prejudice. From the standpoint of evolution and self preservation though his prejudice might make sense. Going back to what he was saying about our early ancestors facing daily threats, they would learn to avoid anything that they knew was a threat. I think he tied these two ideas together and then made the point that that's not the real way to avoid a threat. He knew it was wrong of him to single people out from this one time, very unlikely event.

I would like to know if he still holds any of the same views that he gained after the event. Deep down does he still get tense around young black men? Or young men that fit any of the descriptions of his attackers? He doesn't really say that he is fully over it or not. I kind of related to this because of adversity I have faced in my life and how it affected me from that point on. It is not uncommon for people to react to certain events and have it affect them throughout the rest of their lives and I would like to learn more about this.