Back in college, a professor screened the movie Little Big Man, a revisionist (and great) western starring Dustin Hoffman. There's a horiffic scene in which the U.S. Cavalry is massacring men, women, and children in a Lakota Sioux encampment. During the scene, horses are also killed and many of the other students—all of them white—audibly reacted to the horse murders. There were gasps. I was taken aback by the reaction and chastisted my fellow students for reacting more strongly to the death of the horses than they did to deaths of the Indians. But, over the years, I've realized that the students were reacting to the real fear and potential injury of the horses. The horses didn't know they were in a movie. Of course, the actors knew they were acting. The stunt people knew they were stunt-acting. I don't know that the other students were conscious of why they reacted so strongly to the horses' deaths. But I think that it's far more difficult to suspend one's disbelief when it comes to animals in films, especially when we're talking about the days when animals weren't protected at all in moviemaking.
I haven’t seen the movie, but since writing this essay I haven’t been able to stop thinking about the possibility that any non-CGI animal we see in movies was potentially mistreated. The suspension of disbelief idea is great, I think it helps explain even my visceral reaction to the deaths of the fictional Tulkun in Avatar. Imagine: if we can barely suspend disbelief regarding fictional creatures, how can we be expected to do so when we’re shown real (real looking) animals being harmed? Thanks a bunch for the thoughtful comment, Sherman!
I agree with you. As I am a lover of every type of animal, it was really difficult to read this post.
Once I went to Switzerland on a trip. I remember that the tourguide told us about the purple cow that usually appeared in Milka adverts (Milka is a brand of chocolate). The thruth behind that image was that, a real cow was painted with that colour, her skin absorbed the toxic parts of it and in the end the cow died. It was very shocking for me to hear that.
I really hope that no animal or person is going to be damaged again but I'm afraid, after reading your post, that the possibility for that to happend still exist.
Thank you as always to share your experiences with us!
Thank you as always for reading. I didn't know that about Milka, but now I think I'll think about it whenever I see a Milka chocolate. We have it here too, and it's pretty popular. I'm sorry all these things are happening, but as we saw in the story, the only way for things to change is if we all speak up and don't let this abuse stay unknown.
Thanks for being brave enough to go through it! Yeah, I had a very, very sad time researching this essay. Some of the stories, especially the Ben-Hur one, just didn’t seem real. I can’t really watch movies anymore without the thought, at least in the background, that whenever I see an animal, that animal didn’t want to be there. It’s a harrowing reality we live in, to not even be able to enjoy movies without the fear that someone was hurt.
I hadn't thought about the Little Big Man incident in years. So I think I might write about it. Thank you for writing your post.
Back in college, a professor screened the movie Little Big Man, a revisionist (and great) western starring Dustin Hoffman. There's a horiffic scene in which the U.S. Cavalry is massacring men, women, and children in a Lakota Sioux encampment. During the scene, horses are also killed and many of the other students—all of them white—audibly reacted to the horse murders. There were gasps. I was taken aback by the reaction and chastisted my fellow students for reacting more strongly to the death of the horses than they did to deaths of the Indians. But, over the years, I've realized that the students were reacting to the real fear and potential injury of the horses. The horses didn't know they were in a movie. Of course, the actors knew they were acting. The stunt people knew they were stunt-acting. I don't know that the other students were conscious of why they reacted so strongly to the horses' deaths. But I think that it's far more difficult to suspend one's disbelief when it comes to animals in films, especially when we're talking about the days when animals weren't protected at all in moviemaking.
I haven’t seen the movie, but since writing this essay I haven’t been able to stop thinking about the possibility that any non-CGI animal we see in movies was potentially mistreated. The suspension of disbelief idea is great, I think it helps explain even my visceral reaction to the deaths of the fictional Tulkun in Avatar. Imagine: if we can barely suspend disbelief regarding fictional creatures, how can we be expected to do so when we’re shown real (real looking) animals being harmed? Thanks a bunch for the thoughtful comment, Sherman!
have you seen the film Nope? It plays around in this world a lot
Not yet, but it’s on my list. Thanks for the read and the rec, Alex!
I agree with you. As I am a lover of every type of animal, it was really difficult to read this post.
Once I went to Switzerland on a trip. I remember that the tourguide told us about the purple cow that usually appeared in Milka adverts (Milka is a brand of chocolate). The thruth behind that image was that, a real cow was painted with that colour, her skin absorbed the toxic parts of it and in the end the cow died. It was very shocking for me to hear that.
I really hope that no animal or person is going to be damaged again but I'm afraid, after reading your post, that the possibility for that to happend still exist.
Thank you as always to share your experiences with us!
Thank you as always for reading. I didn't know that about Milka, but now I think I'll think about it whenever I see a Milka chocolate. We have it here too, and it's pretty popular. I'm sorry all these things are happening, but as we saw in the story, the only way for things to change is if we all speak up and don't let this abuse stay unknown.
Thanks for being brave enough to go through it! Yeah, I had a very, very sad time researching this essay. Some of the stories, especially the Ben-Hur one, just didn’t seem real. I can’t really watch movies anymore without the thought, at least in the background, that whenever I see an animal, that animal didn’t want to be there. It’s a harrowing reality we live in, to not even be able to enjoy movies without the fear that someone was hurt.
Yes, yes, yes! “Animal actors”...smh.