Movie Review #1: Earthlings, Somewhat Obvious Yet Shocking

(To watch Earthlings, click here.)

Shocked.
My hands were covering my face. I had observed what has been a part of a massacre happening everyday, even to this very moment. I could not utter a word, for I felt guilt for killing hundreds of 'earthlings' in brutal ways to fill my stomach with so-called protein, or in other words, 'flesh'. Mankind has shown no mercy in treating other earthlings which they should be thankful for their sacrificing to provide us with meat, medicine, clothing, and just about all areas of our daily lives.

What I just wrote above is what I would have written as a review if I was writing this post immediately after watching the documentary. It was filled with cruel and horrifying scenes that would have disgusted anyone.

When a picture is worth a thousand words, a video should be able to convey so many more words than a picture can. Much of the content that is seen in the video is what we already knew in words or occasionally in pictures. When you first heard that Earthlings is a documentary about animal cruelty, you could think of a list of things that you expected to see from the video. However, when we actually see butchers slit the throats of animals and the blood burst, we perceive it as something entirely different. Video is certainly a very powerful way to show the spectators that animal cruelty related to consumerism is a serious problem.

Despite the powerful and convincing message, barbarous and shocking content often dulls skepticism. The problem is addressed in the most effective form. So what? Are we on our own to figure out how to solve the problem? We are simply told to accept the facts, never to take any ACTIONS to help solve the issue. Also, a film is edited so that it is consistent with its main theme. 'Earthlings' leaves out many positive aspects involving cruelty issues, and only exposes the negative parts, therefore exaggerating its seriousness.

The documentary largely discusses 5 areas of animal cruelty; Pets, Food, Clothes, Entertainment and Scientific Research.

1. Pets

Many pets come from commercial backyard breeding mills.
Such harsh environments result in serious mental disorders that persists for life. Furthermore, many beloved animals are abandoned in the streets. They typically end up in animal shelters, awaiting death.
Not limited to the pet section but there is a common logic in commercially treated animals. They are mass produced in a cheap way, regardless of the conditions like industrial goods; a problem that is addressed, but never suggested a solution, again.

2. Food

In part 2, the interior of slaughterhouses are revealed, and the dirty and inhumane environment they are raised in. Even Kosher cows are treated brutally. Not much is different for sea animals, especially whales. People tend to forget that animals must be 'killed' to be consumed, thanks to the meat industry which has done a marvelous job in hiding such procedures. The Food section raises awareness of the fact that animals must be killed in brutal ways to be processed into edible form, rather than introducing new facts. After all, every animal must bleed to die. During surgery, humans bleed like the animals do when incisors cut through our flesh. It is nothing more than bleeding that happens in large scale. Is it possible to kill them in massive scale and with mercy? How?
Also, this section never mentions livestock raised in the field like in the picture above. Nowadays many customers aware of the conditions that animals are raised in prefer expensive products in which animals are treated properly.

3. Clothing

We wear the furs of minks, seals and leathers of other innocent animals. Often, the leathers are ripped off when the animals are alive, and they are left bare without skin, prolonging to be eaten by other animals, or death. The skin must be torn off when they are alive and not in shock to provide soft fur. Notably leather is treated with poisons to prevent from rotting.





4. Entertainment

Entertainment activities that involve animals include circuses, bullfighting and racing such as horse racing. Surely the treatment of animals in circuses were out of my imagination; violence and blood instead of sweet treats to induce them to stand or to the tricks. Also, any running animals are not running but screaming in pain with all their body in craze.
However, this section is not as serious or universal as other sections in this film. Circuses are not common these days and bullfighting is only taking place in Spain. I was rather surprised by with how much this issue was discussed considering its importance; It is exaggerated very much.

5. Scientific Research

Animals are being used in scientific research, mostly for experimenting instead of humans. Many go through untested drugs, and some are even used for testing physical therapy. Countless animals are being harmed and tortured to death each year, and the number is dramatically increasing that it is even impossible to keep in track. It is true that they are treated brutally. However, if the animals are not treated with such ways, humans will need to be in place for them to go under treatment of untested drugs and therapies that can threaten our lives. Whereas the director argues that we are learning about mice when we experiment human medicine with mice, amazingly 85% of our DNA match thus suitable for testing diseases. Although it has been a hot debate always, like all other issues mentioned above, only the stance of one side is presented; therefore leading to bias and rather less persuasiveness.

Consumerism is the biggest to blame; if we don't wish to consume it, it would never have been produced in the first place. However, do all of us must become vegetarians and stop consuming life-saving medicines? Not necessarily.