These last moments of the film argu

These last moments of the film arguably create what Plantinga calls a spillover-effect: “If strong negative emotions are accompanied by physiological arousal [such as crying], this arousal may contribute to the strength of the positive emotions experienced in the last . . . minutes of the film” (2009a, 187).42 In other words, the viewer is so relieved at being released from the painful negative emotions cued earlier on that he “overshoots” in his positive response, feeling joy and relief in the face of Hushpuppy’s apparent strength and the fact that she is being taken care of, regardless of the fact that her overall living situation in fact remains catastrophic. While it is not a feel-good movie in any traditional sense, Beasts of the Southern Wild offers an insider perspective on a situation of environmental injustice that mixes a good amount of pleasure into the pain.