Earthlings (The Film)
 

About a year ago I started phasing meat out of my diet. Approximately 6 months ago I became a vegetarian. I am currently working on phasing all animal products out of my life but it may take a while since I'm in love with cheese and cheesecake :/ However, this is not about me. This is about animals and what I believe is the most important documentary ever made.

Earthlings has very much changed how I view the world. I had already stopped eating meat by the time I had seen it, but my eyes were opened to how truly fucked up the world is. It chronicles the inner workings (in respect to animals) of the entertainment, food, and fur industries. It is narrated by Joaquin Phoenix and the soundtrack is provided by Moby, who's music fits surprisingly well. It is hands down the most disturbing movie I have ever seen, especially when you realize that this kind of thing happens every day, all day, and most likely will never stop.

I'm really hoping that some of you will give this movie a go. It's only 90 minutes, and at the very least I'd like you to see what kind of pain and suffering is required to give you hamburgers, pepperoni, chicken, leather, suede, etc. In the words of Shaun Monson, the director of Earthlings:


I know that I have become another one of "those annoying vegetarians", but I haven't felt this passionate about something like this in a long time and the biggest problem facing this issue is that people are willfully ignorant. I'd be extremely happy if even just one person watched this documentary. It's free to watch and the link is at the top of the thread. Thanks.


PS. The movie only contains things that happen regularly, no outliers.
PPS. My girlfriend talked to Shaun Monson on Facebook, that's where I got the quote.
PPPS. If you don't separate yourself from the equation you are actively supporting this kind of torture.

Hands down the most relevant and most impacting documentaries of our time. I strongly believe that I have never felt so much emotion with so much weight before viewing this film, and the pertinence has been embedded within my motives and beliefs today.

I also agree with you Phantom, even if you aren't interested in pursuing a vegetarian or vegan diet and lifestyle, you should still shed your innocence and expose yourself to the life and strife of the animal before it becomes your "product". There is no such thing as a happy cow in the food industry. Animals do not enjoy performance arts. And leather/fur/hide can easily be avoided by the faux options we have available in this time.

Seriously. Plus, the morningstar black bean burgers and soy-chicken nuggets I've had are actually better tasting than a hamburger or chicken nuggets.

The animals that I consume. I don't really care what happens to them before they get to my plate. I would torture them myself if I could as long as they got into my belly and tasted pretty damn good.

Bleh, my aunt buys the Morningstar stuff because she's vegetarian and I've tried it but it's not my cup of tea at all.

I've cut back on red meat in general since I started trying to eat better but there is no way that I'm letting go of fish and chicken.

Also, you guys care so much about the treatment of animals before they reach your plate what about the murderous conditions of the plants that you consume before they reach your plate? huh? All those pesticides that they have to endure.

Having said all of that I will watch it but it won't have any effect on me as these type of documentaries never do. I watched Food Inc. and it didn't do anything for me.

Honestly your lack of empathy for animals disgusts me.

I watched the documentary, it was so sickening and sad. I think more people need to see it. I thought the worst part was the skinned cow. The poor kittens with eye infections that had to be used for science was awful. I've seen many Peta campaigns about how cats are used for research.

It's a lack of empathy for animals that I'm going to consume not for the ones that I consider pets or domesticated.

Oh and I completely didn't see that you mentioned Peta. They are the worst of the worst!

First of all, why do you only care for your pets? What makes your pets so much more important than a cow or a pig or a chicken, animals which are all as smart if not smarter than what you own? What makes humans better than other animals? Is it ok for us to essentially torture millions living things just to make you something that tastes good but is in no way necessary? You're exhibiting a general disregard for life, and that's really sad.

Also, what exactly makes PETA so terrible?

I only care for pets because I'm not going to be eating them that's why. I'm not trying to say that the other animals aren't important or are of lesser intelligence. It's just that I plan to eat them and they will have to die for me to consume them. Also , I see that you decided to disregard the plant life that is being killed to fill your dietary needs.

PETA may have good intentions but they go about it the wrong way consistently.

I agree with their intentions sometimes but holy shit do they fail execution wise.

Going after Super Mario Bros over the Tanuka Suit? Going after Assassians Creed video game over whaling? There is a whole laundry list of things similar to those two.

Wow, you're really just not that compassionate of a person, are you? Your blatant cruelty is applauded for it's pride, that's for sure.

Your quote, that's called, "speciesism". Not to say that you care. But one day, at the rate of our unified and somewhat general sense of over consumption and lack of compassion, we will lose animals. And one thing that humans tend to forget, is we need them for sustainability, they however, do not need us.

The point is that it's a choice. You're saying the taste of animals is more important that their life. The pain they go through is worth the food you're eating.

And while PETA may seem crazy to you, they're just trying to fight things that give people the impression that animals are lesser and it's ok to kill them.

PETA may seem erratic and "crazy", but they are just aggressive. Which I feel animals deserve as an advocate.

Read through this list of publicity stunts by PETA and tell me that they don't seem crazy to you as well.

Top 10 Insane P.E.T.A Publicity Stunts - Toptenz.net

THey don't seem crazy to me at all. They're all legitimate protests and calls for people to stop eating meat. You have to get peoples attention somehow.

And we both know that the plant argument is full of holes.

I am really shocked at this response from DJ. Is it really necessary to torture animals before they are eventually killed? According to the Animal Rights Action website, 40% of animals electrocuted do not get knocked unconscious and get boiled or skinned alive.

DJ, does it make you feel good that your "pets" are routinely killed in some Asian countries like China? Dogs and cats are skinned and killed for meat and sold at markets.

Isn't what he's saying exactly what you asked for? For people to acknowledge the plight of the cow even if they don't plan to stop contributing to it?

To acknowledge AND understand. He acknowledges but I'm sure he doesn't understand. It's very hard to understand unless you've actually seen the process.

PETA are a pretty despicable organisation. Over here in the UK we have charities like the RSPCA that make their primary goal saving animals and giving them a chance for a better life. They don't bother spending all of their money on objectifying women in ridiculous ad campaigns rather than actually putting it towards the animals they take responsibility for looking after.

But on the documentary: eh, I've seen it all before in other documentaries. I'm not really an animal lover but I have been a vegetarian for a few years now, partly out of disgust at the kind of stuff the documentary shows and partly because someone has to try and balance out all the people that eat more meat than the world can handle. I'm not militant at all except when it comes to "vegetarians" that eat fish or poultry but I will say to anyone considering converting that it really is not anywhere near as difficult as it appears. You can find good quality substitutes for pretty much every kind of common meat and you can still have a perfectly healthy diet without rigorous planning.

Out of curiosity... what is the vegetarian substitute for a nice bloody steak?

I've thought about cutting down on meat purely for health reasons. I don't think I could ever give it up completely.

What happens in other countries doesn't concern me because I'm not consuming those animals.

Yes, it's a bit heart breaking that it happens but it's not my place to judge those countries for the animals that they consume.

I have certainly noticed that about Peta. I have volunteered for RSPCA when I was in high school because I am definitely an animal lover. I do feel extreme guilt when I eat meat and certainly have thought about being a vegetarian. My mom is a vegetarian. Meat can cause many health problems as well, it's not just about the animal abuse. Many of the drugs the animal is injected with can be still traced in our meat.

Oh please...

first of all, not everyone can afford to be vegetarian/vegan. You need to recognise your classism here b/c it is blatantly obvious, not to mention some people can't for health reasons so score one on the ableism table!@!!11! Secondly, you really think you're so removed from all animal cruelty? You know your laptop probably has glue made from horses and shit right?

This trendy sort of activism is so grotesque for me to watch unfolding, as if vegetarianism bought you into heaven, good god, do you apply the same reasoning to human beings and do you actively participate in reduction of torture/trafficking of human beings?

What really is awful is that people care more about farm animals than people being butchered or starving or killing themselves

puh lease

Not to mention precious metals mined by African children.

ayy

not to mention your electronics being constructed by chinese workers who are worked to suicide and sickness

how bout them tho

Firstly, no one ever said that you should be a vegetarian or a vegan if you have underlying health issues that require you to eat meat (which I have never heard of). And if you can't afford it then you can't afford it, but being a vegetarian has certainly been easier on my wallet. Every single meat substitute I've come across is cheaper than meat, unless you're talking about those dollar burgers from mcdonalds or something. If you're talking about having enough time to cook then it's about time management.

Secondly, no one ever claimed to be completely removed from animal cruelty. I said I was trying. Two very different statements. And yes, I do have products that were made from animals, but is it bad for me to try not to buy animal products?

Thirdly, no one ever said that they were better than anyone else. And no, I don't actively participate in the reduction of human torture/trafficking, but I also don't actively participate in aiding human torture/trafficking. If I had a realistic means to reduce human torture/trafficking I would, just like how I have a realistic means to reduce animal torture and do.

And no one said any of these things either. But it is good to know that you don't care about animals and think that what we're talking about is "grotesque".

I've been a vegetarian since I was 5 years old, and I'm on the board of staff for an animal rescue & have been working with shelter animals for years. Clearly my activism pales in comparison to yours!

It is grotesque that you can say

But you don't separate yourself from the torture and exploitation of human beings? lol u sure bout that doe? so everything you buy, everything you eat, is totally cruelty free then? How about your soy ****, you grow that yourself? Eat quinoa? But do people not matter so much as your precious livestock?

Educate yourself for real, stop this ****

Yes, that is EXACTLY what I said. I definitely said that animals are more important than people and that I take no part in cruelty of any kind!

You are a master at telling us what we really mean. You should just start posting for us. :bowdown:

:laughing:
chill the **** out bro, i'm just telling you not to be so self righteous about a ****ing diet

I just think it's funny that your first post addressed about 40% of what we were talking about and 60% of what you assumed we were talking about. Maybe you should read more than just the title of the thread before you respond.

If I'd read just the title I would have posted about aliens


but it's really obnoxious to hear this kind of ****, I mean what's the point of this thread if not to shame people about not being vegetarian/vegan? To make them "aware" of the slaughter of animals? Um I think it's pretty common knowledge?

So sick:

Yeah, I've seen that video before :/
It's pretty fucked up.

This one is interesting. It's somewhat about ag-gag laws and it features "Pete" who is apparently one of the most prolific whistleblowers.

Undercover Activist Details Secret Filming of Animal Abuse & Why "Ag-Gag" Laws May Force Him to Stop | Democracy Now!

First of all Hermione, your argument is strictly presumption, you hadn't once used fact or anything other than two syllabled adjectives to illustrate your frustration with our, "trendy" activism. I honestly laughed so many times reading your arugments, because I just was overwhelmed by how so little I could actually address since many of your points are fruitless.

With that said, let me attempt to attract some attention to you...ahem..."unique" way of rebuttal. Someone who gets THIS frustrated about animal activism is easily read as either insecurity about the choices you make, or simply you foaming at the mouth to chime in on a debate just so you can go to bed feeling like you were heard. But this topic cannot really, justly, be refuted. We're suggesting not to take meat or animal products from your diet or lifestyle (although that would be ideal), we are simply being the voices for those who cannot speak. I strongly believe that if you buy into the corporate devil and support animal products into your life, you should at least know what the creature goes through simply to become an inanimate "product". That's called compassion, and it cannot be twisted into anything other than that.

In regards to your comment about activists being so aggresive because maybe it makes us feel better about ourselves (then referencing us using that as motive to find justification for our place in "heaven"), I personally deny all gods an deity, so that cannot apply to me. I am an activist not because it makes me feel better, hell, not even because it makes the animals feel better, but because I feel that there is no reason for torture in order to obtain. Call that idea of mine, grotesque, but it is a moral passion of activists. You using an adjective that suggests ill behavior or value simply deems you immature.

But please.....go on.


Addressing your use of the word, "classism", I am happy to see that you know how to add distinctive doctrine to a word, but your use of it simply doesn't fit. Vegetarianism and Veganism is a choice, nothing forced upon anyone in any class. And actually, I find that I spend less at the grocery store when I do not purchase meat products.

moral passion of activists lawl but keep on with your ad hominem attacks tho

your patronising responses do nothing to disprove my points however and

buy into the corporate devil are you actually ****ting me right now? is this real life words!!! again, as I've pointed out, most people know what happens but what about the people who aren't as privileged as you, who clean your streets, your schools, make your electronics, how about them? You have compassion for them? But yeah really, I'm frustrated because privileged *******s don't seem to realise they're privileged *******s and they come out with this bull**** and they'll be scarfing down bigmacs in 2 yrs tops.

Also I don't really care about your personal life, buying into heaven was not to be taking literally.

buy into the corporate devil though, that's an embarrassing string of words.

And don't even get me started on how we apparently don't acknowlegde or care for individuals being murdered, tortured, or starved. Sweetheart, this thread is about animals. If you want to address the strife and life of a human being, please, refer to the appropriate page of this website and start your own thread regarding the welfare of Homo Sapiens.

Oh my god, I am truly embarrassed for you.

I know a lot of your relationships probably began (and remain) strictly online, but you do not know anyone personally in this thread, therefore you know nothing about our income or financial situations.

But since you know us so well, you'll be able to see if we're scarfing down big macs in 2 years. I happen to however care about my figure, so let me know if that happens.

Either way, you're embarassed that two people called you out on how otiose your argument exactly was, and really, my points and Phantom's points were well heared and fathomed. That's all I need to know, end of story :3

lmfao I'm cryin

I totally agree with that. In fact you can grow your own vegetables if you have a backyard!

I don't see what class has to do with being against the torture and inhumane treatment of animals. Of course humans are mistreated, but that isn't the topic of conversation. :)

Says the person who has no rebuttal :finger: