A Disability Metaphor?
This was a theory that I read while looking through the Wild Mass Guessing section of the Wolf Children TV Tropes page. The entry is as follows:
A theory put forth by my mother who speaks from her own experience, having had 3/3 children with various disorders: Yuki has ADHD (becomes a wild wolf when she's angry or excited) and Ame has Asperger's Syndrome (feels uncomfortable in social situations and becomes a lone wolf to get away). The complaints of the neighbours is the kind of things a parent with "problematic children" can be forced to face and the story itself is about how Yuki learns to reign in, control and channel her disorder into more positive things as well as about how Hana comes to accept that Ame is happier, not if he's made to socially integrate with everyone else, but rather if he's allowed to leave at his own discretion and live in accordiance with his own nature... I think my mother related quite strongly to Hana.
As someone with Asperger Syndrome myself, I found the theory very interesting, if not slighly problematic, given that alot of children with disabilities get compared to wild animals in the media. Still, I like this theory, as the film never portrays Ame and Yuki in a negative light, and I found myself relating to Ame's shyness and anxiety quite strongly.
Any thoughts on this theory? share