The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is using audio from the intense fight scene between Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver in Noah Baumbach’s film Marriage Story to frighten grey wolves and safeguard livestock. This innovative method is part of efforts to reduce wolf attacks near Prather Ranch, located on the Oregon border, where farmers like Jim and Mary Rickert have reported losing up to 40 calves within a year.
How Drones and Dramatic Soundscapes Help Protect Cattle
The USDA’s wolf deterrence strategy involves “wolf hazing” using drones equipped with thermal cameras to detect wolves at night and illuminate them with spotlights. Loudspeakers attached to these drones play startling noises such as fireworks, gunshots, and loud arguments—one of which features the shouting match from the Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver scene in Marriage Story. Mary Rickert described the severity of the threat, saying,
“It’s basically like driving through Burger King, easy pickings for them.”
Paul Wolf, an Oregon USDA district supervisor, explained the goal behind these sounds:
“I need the wolves to respond and know that, hey, humans are bad.”
The approach also includes blasting rock music like AC/DC’s Thunderstruck to keep wolves away from grazing areas.
Positive Results from Drone Patrols in Southern Oregon
The Klamath Basin region of southern Oregon experienced 11 cow deaths due to wolf attacks in a 20-day span before the drones were introduced. After 85 days of drone patrols broadcasting noise and lighting up the area, the number of cow casualties dropped dramatically to only two. This suggests that the method is effective in pushing the wolves deeper into the forests, reducing their presence around cattle and lowering livestock losses.
The Marriage Story Scene Behind the Audio Choice
Marriage Story, acclaimed for its depiction of a painful divorce between a stage director and an actress played by Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson, features a stark fight scene that director Noah Baumbach has called
“the most difficult scene I’ve ever shot in a movie, but also the most rewarding.”
In a 2019 interview, Baumbach described the characters as having “lost their voices” and
“a sense of who they are,”
trying to understand their beliefs amid conflict.
He further noted the complexity of that charged moment:
“Even in this scene, which maybe is the most contentious things become, you still feel that intimacy. I always felt, throughout the whole movie, that love exists in every scene.”
This emotionally raw audio, ironically, now serves a practical role in human-wildlife conflict management.
Implications of Using Dramatic Film Audio in Wildlife Management
The USDA’s application of the Scarlett Johansson Marriage Story fight demonstrates a creative blending of arts and science to address wildlife challenges. By leveraging startling sounds from popular culture, alongside technology like drones, authorities are finding new ways to protect farmers’ livelihoods while keeping predator populations in check. As the program develops, monitoring its long-term effectiveness could influence similar conservation strategies across the American West and beyond.
