Earthlings 1

In reading the disclaimer to the film Earthlings, I notice that most of the footage in the film is considered “industry standards” for the treatment and killing of animals that we use as pets, food, and clothes. I reflect back on the images I witnessed in class and can’t believe that some of those images are thought of as standard. What does this ‘standard’ say about the humans who think it normal to throw chickens against a wall then have men stomp on them.



These gruesome images make humans seem repulsive and evil as they enjoy inflicting pain on those around them. In reading the terse description of the footage for the film I can’t help but think that the connection is not truly made by the words to the shocking images in the movie. While adequate interpretation of the footage is relayed, the sadistic acts humans commit can’t be really described they can only be seen by the smirks on their faces as they injure defenseless creatures repeatedly. The translation from script to film allows for the images to truly shine and bring very strong points to the forefront that I see as important parts of the argument that the screen play and film are making. The smallest details are enhanced by the films connection of the narration and footage, unlike in the screen play when they are only written one right after the other.



The voice of vegan Joaquin Phoneix is still clear in my mind as I read the screen play and think of everything being asked and try to come up with answers. “Earthling: one who inhabits the earth” (565). This statement stands out because of its placement at the very beginning of the film as a title card and not as something said by the narrator. The statement is clearly meant to encompass everyone, so why are humans in charge. I think back to the bible and the passage in which God tells Adam that he is to rule over all the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and the animals on land making it obvious why humans believe themselves to be superior to other creatures on earth. “Speiciesm: prejudice or attitude of bias in favor of the interest of members of one’s own species and against those members of other species” (566). While this idea reflects the interpretation of the bible passage by humans it also is a “violation of the principle of equality” (566) that, in particular, humans in the US believe they uphold. This violation has been repeated several times throughout history and finds its roots in differences. It is the subtle differences that are used as excuses to make the treatment of others different from ourselves acceptable.

To avoid cognitive dissonance, the killing and mistreatment animals in done by a selected few and is hidden by architecture that is “opaque, designed in the interest of denial” (579). The “exploitation of the weak by the strong” is nothing new; awful things have always been inflicted on others it is only the victim that appears to be different in each occasion. In one of his books, Singer states that “all men were Nazi The smugness with which man could do with other species as he pleased exemplified the most extreme racist theories, the principle that might is right” (568). When comparing the cruelty inflicted on animals to the acts committed towards Jews during the Holocaust, it is easy to see the different victims affected in the same manner. I think of the aerial image over the concentration camps and over a cow farm and of the crowded cages of pigs ontop of one another headed to slaughter houses and train cars packed with at least 100 Jews heading to their deaths in camps. The similarities are astounding, how we see the tremendous effects these things have had on the past and how we allow them to continue in the future is mind boggling to say the least.