Wolfpack Documentary Analysis

“Wolfpack” is a documentary of seven children who lived in isolation in their apartment in New York, who had only their parents and movies as a social guidance.
Socialization is the means by which culture and social continuity are obtained. In the documentary “Wolfpack” it is explained how the Angulo family obtains their social norms through films that they spend watching day in night due to their isolation from the world. Their curiosity, freedom, and need for exploration morphed into a montage of movie reenactment. Therefore, the Angulo family (brothers) base most of their behavior off of their favorite motion pictures.
“Society makes us human” is emphasized in this documentary by showing us how the brothers had a tough time adapting
to the outside world of their apartment. For instance, Mukunda walked outside wearing a mask and had been stopped by police as he thought,”I felt i was Michael at that time, can I survive bullets”. It showed just how attached he was to his films and characters. On another note, whenever the Angulo brothers would walk outside(in the documentary)of their apartment, day or night, you would see them dress like characters from the Reservoir Dogs. The brothers always had a sense they were unrealistic characters from movies instead of feeling human like and sociable.
Furthermore, the Angulo children only had two agents of socialization, their family and the mass media. As children their father exposed them to films. Since there was nothing to do in an isolated world, the kids stuck to movies more than anything else in life. This did not help them at all when they went out. They would dress like movie actors, feel like unrealistic things would be happening, and only talk with each other about movie quotes or relatable events. They were frozen in that awkward stage and if it had nothing related to a movie they hadn’t much to say about it.
Ultimately, the documentary was very powerful in the the portrayal of the isolated children. It expressed the nature of the Angulo brothers vividly. The film really opens my eyes to the concept of socialization because of how isolation and limited agents could possibly place these brothers so far from society. It makes me appreciate the different cultures from around the world and wonder when i visit different cultures, would people look at me like they look at the Angulo brothers when they went outside.