So some of the ill treatment of animals that this movie uncovered was known to me. But much was not. And to see it, rather than hear it....well, brings the point home.
I forced myself to watch it, crying the whole way through. And it still isn't enough. I am not a perfect vegan. I haven't gone out to protest animal testing or the fur wearers. But it helps.
What I'm afraid of is that the people who don't already believe, who don't care, wont force themselves to watch it. Will turn a blind eye. But maybe, bit by bit the world will know and change....I hope...anyway. And I think this movie is important....I could wish that everyone were forced to see it, to learn and understand, and THINK!!! Not everyone needs to agree, but it's an important discussion.
Documentaries are often one sided, and evidence is usually less than scientifically presented (though the content had some insightful scientific arguments mentioned). So I was prepared, going in, for that, well, to me it didn't matter, because suffering is suffering, and that is the point.
But what did rub me the wrong way was the reference to economics. Now my memory is slightly hazy on the script, but I believe the message was something along the lines that economics drives people to do bad things to animals for profit. Just to clarify: economics is a discipline that attempts to understand and predict human behavior. It is not a motivation. Greed, self-interest, whatever you want to call it...that is the motivation. In fact, economic theory can tell us how to provide incentives to change people's behavior once we know/understand the motivation. It is a useful tool, not a bad thing. Being an economist I get a little sensitive about trashing the discipline...particularly when it is so useful in the contexts that trash it. So forgive me for going on a bit of a tirade here.
I forced myself to watch it, crying the whole way through. And it still isn't enough. I am not a perfect vegan. I haven't gone out to protest animal testing or the fur wearers. But it helps.
What I'm afraid of is that the people who don't already believe, who don't care, wont force themselves to watch it. Will turn a blind eye. But maybe, bit by bit the world will know and change....I hope...anyway. And I think this movie is important....I could wish that everyone were forced to see it, to learn and understand, and THINK!!! Not everyone needs to agree, but it's an important discussion.
Documentaries are often one sided, and evidence is usually less than scientifically presented (though the content had some insightful scientific arguments mentioned). So I was prepared, going in, for that, well, to me it didn't matter, because suffering is suffering, and that is the point.
But what did rub me the wrong way was the reference to economics. Now my memory is slightly hazy on the script, but I believe the message was something along the lines that economics drives people to do bad things to animals for profit. Just to clarify: economics is a discipline that attempts to understand and predict human behavior. It is not a motivation. Greed, self-interest, whatever you want to call it...that is the motivation. In fact, economic theory can tell us how to provide incentives to change people's behavior once we know/understand the motivation. It is a useful tool, not a bad thing. Being an economist I get a little sensitive about trashing the discipline...particularly when it is so useful in the contexts that trash it. So forgive me for going on a bit of a tirade here.