Analysis Of Wild Ones By Jon Mooallem: Polar Bears

“When somebody pounds at your door in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada,” begins Arthur Unger’s 1982 article in The Christian Science Monitor, “you better not open it without checking on your uninvited caller. It might be a polar bear.” The article, titled “Polar bears are charming on a TV screen, less so in person” strikes a different tone than the 2013 anecdotal novel Wild Ones by Jon Mooallem. Mooallem’s stories, in conglomeration with a less-than-subtle critique of conservationists and American culture alike, provide a much different glimpse of the polar bear. Instead of vilifying the bears, Mooallem sensationalizes the bears’ struggle, pointing to their helplessness in the face of extinction (34-37). These two works, written over 30 years apart,

are themselves primary evidence of an ever-shifting cultural narrative in regards to conservation. Today, if one wanted to see this change in narrative for themself, they can simply walk up the steps of Smithsonian's own National Museum of Natural History, into its prized Sant Ocean Hall, and view its displays on arctic conservation. When examined, it becomes apparent that the displays were designed due to the outcome of this decades-long change. It is clear, therefore, that public opinion on polar bear conservation is directly influenced, and was significantly altered, by its portrayal in contemporary popular culture in the United States.
The image of the polar bear as displayed by popular culture is apparent. Romanticized stories of populist President Theodore Roosevelt’s hunting expeditions and Nissan LEAF commercials do, indeed, supplement the current conservation movement’s campaign to save the polar bear; however, they cast a different narrative in a profound way. Authors Foote, Krogman, Johnson, and Clark present an analysis of the media’s impact on the public’s perception of polar bears. They illustrate the public’s reception of sensational media stories by showing the relationship between news stories and poll results (193). The same can be said for Kristoffer Archibald’s journal From Fierce to Adorable: Representations of Polar Bears in the Popular Imagination. It is the familiar telling of the polar bear’s shift in the public’s mind from a dangerous beast to an adorable yet helpless and exploited creature. This journal, however, does not simply focus on the idea that this profound change did happen. Instead it explains the relationship between biologists, conservationists, and the media and their role in creating this change in persona. The author argues that the advancement of human technology (and arguably, savagery) fueled public sentiment toward the polar bear. The author writes, “Whereas the bear had once appeared to dominate the Arctic’s visitors, evolving technology shifted the human-nature balance” (Archibald 270). The connection between sources is notable in Archibald’s work; Mooallem’s book Wild Ones is actually cited as a source of Churchill’s tourism industry (276).
Jon Mooallem lays out a thought provoking, eerily depressing, and perhaps even morally convicting observation of America’s sometimes loud and sometimes inexplicable conservation movement in his New York Times Top 100 Notable Book Wild Ones. Wild Ones focuses on Mooallem’s observations as he visited a number of conservationists throughout North America. While not a critique, Mooallem is successful in presenting almost a challenge of self-reflection to the audience. A challenge that is no doubt foreshadowed with the title’s appropriate addition, “A sometimes dismaying, weirdly reassuring story about looking at people looking at animals in America”. The importance of this text cannot be overstated. Contrasted with the claims of early polar bear related literature (an example of which was provided in the introduction), the arguments made throughout the book converge into one primary question: What are we actually doing, and what can we do better? Are we actually doing anything to “save the polar bears” (87)? The imagery used by Mooallem suggests and reinforces the helplessness of the bears. The topic of “Polar Bear Conservation” prompts serious consideration into many of the claims Mooallem makes throughout the book. Mooallem suggests, for example, that global warming may have already made it too late to “save” the polar bear, instead requiring man to tend after the bears to keep them alive (34). The exhibits at Sant Ocean hall supplement this contention. The contention, however, is notable not only due to its severity, but also due to the cultural shifts that gave Mooallem the opportunity to argue this point effectively. According to Foote and Archibald, the public’s perception of arctic conservation and polar bears is a direct result of the media’s influence. Mooallem’s book discusses this, but also unabashedly portrays the bears in an implicitly positive light. Mooallem need not appeal to the reader's emotions to sympathize with the bears; he assumes they already do.
The reason behind Sant Ocean Hall’s design become more and more apparent after examining the decades long shift in narrative regarding polar bears.

It is exemplified by Mooallem’s work, but it is literally on display at Sant Ocean hall. If it were 1982, it would be hard to imagine a stuffed bear with brandished teeth displaying anything other than savagery. But at Sant Ocean Hall, the opposite is the case. The entire section discussing arctic conservation is towered over by a bear in the same pose, but the displays (displays that are, no doubt, effective else they would be replaced) still appeal to those who visit the museum as a call to conservation. The bear is used, but not as a mechanism to espouse fear. Instead, it is used to conjure up the imaginations of those who visit the museum. Those who, as the designers of the display presume, already have a special place in their hearts for the beloved creature, instead view the bear as a symbol. This is undoubtedly a consequence of that changing narrative; if public opinion hadn’t changed, the museum wouldn’t portray the bear in this way. The museum is in and of itself proof of the claims made in Archibald and Foote’s respective journals. The cultural shift shown in these two works culminates in the museum's choice to display the bears as they are, without appealing to emotion; society has already grown to empathize with the

bear.
The past several decades have yielded an ever-shifting cultural narrative in regards to conservation. Polar bears, once a ferocious beast, is now viewed upon almost as a mascot for the conservation movement. Today, one can simply view Sant Ocean Hall’s displays on arctic conservation to see this change. The displays at the museum were designed the way they were due to this decades-long change. Sant Ocean hall makes it clear that public opinion on polar bear conservation is directly influenced by its portrayal in contemporary popular culture in the United States.