The Hellstrom Chronicle (1971) and Anthropomorophism

The Hellstrom Chronicle (1971) applies multiple levels of anthropomorphism. It first applies the primitive psychology level of anthropomorphism; highlighting that insects’ drive to fulfill their basic needs aligns with that of humans. Hellstrom claims, “In fighting the insect we have killed ourselves, polluted our water, poisoned our wildlife, permeated our own flesh with deadly toxins. The insect becomes immune, and we are poisoned. In fighting with superior intellect, we have outsmarted ourselves.” Yet that so-called immunity is based on one element humans and insects share: “only humans and insects as species are on the increase.” Humans radically change the earth, and insects adapt to any changes they can make, Hellstrom declares. Yet his attempts to separate humans from the insect world fall flat because he bases his arguments that insects will inherit the earth on their similarity to humans.

Hellstrom also draws on the folk-psychology level of anthropomorphism when describing the cooperative behavior of insects. At the same time Hellstrom separates bees from humans because of their perfect cooperative culture, he connects the cooperative harvest ants to human farmers when he suggests they were “the first to take steps toward agriculture,” a parallel that aligns with folk-psychology. Hellstrom draws on both traits and folk-psychology anthropomorphism when he maintains that these insects’ “instinct to harvest is an instinct of greed,” just as in the human world. He makes similar comparisons with a termite mound society, “one of the first experiments in social order” that he visually compares to a computer at the California Institute of Technology.

Hellstrom contradicts himself in similar ways when exploring warring elements of nature, elements that again apply a traits level of anthropomorphism. He calls insects and carnivorous plants “macabre masterpiece[s] of revenge,” explaining that flying insects spread contagious diseases to human populations, while we observe carnivorous cobra plants capturing and eating insect victims. He anthropomorphizes other carnivorous plants, as well, using primitive, traits, folk-psychology, and emotional levels of anthropomorphism to make his points about their villainy: a Venus flytrap has “gaping jaws” and a “menacing hunger” that “beckons with gentle perfume.” The sundew is “beautiful,” “a murderess in disguise.” Other insects “become instrument[s] of death,” as well, Hellstrom declares, connecting their violent behavior to that of humans. At the same time, however, Hellstrom maintains that insects’ violence is not based in the greed and revenge he pointed to previously. Hellstrom declares, “Man will point to nature, claiming war was meant to be. But here they died with reason––through selflessness, not greed.”

Near the film’s end, footage and voice-over again contradict this claim, combining images and commentary that illustrate folk-psychology and traits levels of anthropomorphism.  Images of insect violence, including those of ants from The Naked Jungle (1954), illustrate these anthropomorphic levels. Ants use their bodies as bridges, build trenches to prepare for war, and act as sentries and guards to launch attacks and bring back their kill. Hellstrom proclaims that these driver ants are a “mindless unstoppable killing machine, dedicated to the destruction of everything that stands in its way. Each of them is completely blind, driven forward through the darkness by a single demanding need within––the need to kill and plunder.”  Through pillaging, their young are fed, Hellstrom tells us, and an ant-covered lizard is shown being dragged back into their fortress. Other animals and insects are also brought back to share with the rest of the colony: a snake, a caterpillar, a scorpion and a butterfly.

Hellstrom ends the film with the diatribe, “The true winner is the last to finish the race,” but his narrative and film footage suggest insects will inherit the earth not because they are superior to humans but because they are us. By integrating multiple levels of anthropomorphism, The Hellstrom Chronicle turns insects into monsters possessing the worst human traits and exploiting them for the most destructive reasons.