"Rango" and Me
As the father of an 11-year-old daughter, I end up going to a lot of movies that would never make my must-see list. This weekend, I was one of the many parents that took in “Rango.” I actually enjoyed the film, and I couldn’t help but be struck by the similarities between my life and this latest animated feature from Nickelodeon. As life goes on, the parallels between art and life are easier to find, but “Rango” hit pretty close to the mark.
Over 25 years ago, as a master’s student at UCLA, my field work focused on the behavioral ecology of lizards. I know… kind of a shock for a water guy. The field site for my research on lizard escape behavior (a major theme of the film) was in beautiful Desert Center — a remote outpost off Interstate 10, halfway between Indio and Blythe. The connections between Desert Center and the fictional town of Dirt in the movie are eerie.
