Sorry for the slacking as of late, I still want to discuss the PETA documentary, I Am An Animal. So I guess I’ll start there first before I move on. Overall I was dissatisfied, but again I appreciate any call to attention having to deal with the plight of animals. I think Ingrid Newkirk, PETA founder came off C-R-A-Z-Y. The problem with crazy when it comes to animal issues is that way too many people in today’s society truly believe that ALL animal rights people are nuts. For Ingrid to appear as such, just seems to reiterate that negative notion to the masses. Secondly, I just can’t stand the fact that ONE organization is supposed to be defining such a vast animal rights movement. I don’t believe that PETA is an animal rights group, though I do believe that their original intent should be applauded, yet overall they’ve become an animal welfarist organization like the Human Society (whom I can’t believe had the nerve to even critique PETA…but I won’t even go into that issue right now). Since PETA does such a great job at marketing (they should give up animal welfare and go into marketing/advertising/branding), the media uses them as the patron saint of animal rights! Honestly after watching that documentary I want to further distance myself from affiliation with them. Their affiliation with Peter Singer (the so called father of animal rights) was already enough to make me cut ties forever, this just solidifies it!
Why I think Ingrid Newkirk is off her rocker:
Okay okay…so I have to get this out first. (Excuse me for being hyper-critical!) I was sooooooooooooo disturbed at the opening where Ingrid is preparing food for herself, FROZEN vegetables and some Amy’s FROZEN entrée. Can you say YUCK??? To top it off, most of Amy’s food isn’t even really vegan as many products are manufactured on equipment that also process animal and animal by-products! DISGUSTING! Amy’s is one issue, showing a vegan consuming FROZEN VEGTABLES AND USING A MICROWAVE in the very beginning of an animal rights documentary is so negative. I mean she is supposedly a vegan (though veganism isn’t really mentioned at all in this film, except when the guy trying to get a sound byte from Pink said he was from a vegan radio show), and if she is a vegan shouldn’t she want to show the many awesome and appetizing UNPACKAGED foods a vegan can eat. Public relations is a huge part of my life so you’ll have to excuse my annoyance once again, but couldn’t she have represented us a little better?? She could have eaten some gorgeous salad and had veggies lying around her kitchen and a cutting board or something. I mean with all the nutritious vegan options she uses the microwave on frozen food…UGH! That so disturbs me, but the lack of vegan representation throughout the film disturbs me even more!
So that isn’t the only reason I think she is off her rocker, her narration was enough to make me declare insanity after only a few moments. She has this empty callous personality which is so different from the people that actually work at PETA. I spent a volunteer work week in the summer of 2005 at their headquarters in Norfolk and experienced the foot soldiers of PETA and their dedication first hand. I understand her passion for animals, but BBQ skin? If she has to say that she should keep it amongst friends. Come on…All these scary marketing tactics and attention seeking campaigns make her look crazy rather than dedicated and selfless (my opinion)! So what if she gets arrested and dragged away…I mean PETA has enough money to bail her out. I don’t think the money spent to bail them out of jail and pay the legal fees is where the donors expect their money to go. I believe all that money for lawsuits, etc should be going to helping animals like the little dog in the film. I mean instead of putting him to sleep they could have paid for the intense treatment that he needed so he could be adopted out. Yeah I know they build dog houses, etc…and I also know that realistically it’s not possible for one organization to save all the abused and homeless dogs and cats, but I definitely believe that money should be spent better to eliminate the use of euthanasia unless the animal is truly dying and there is no treatment or solution that would help them. This was not the case for the dog in the film. Who is Ingrid to decide that this dog should die and that death is a gift for these animals? It’s the double standards that get me to the anti-PETA mode. Like Pink for instance, she eats fish but she is in PETA ad campaigns. Like Dita Von Teese, who wears fur, but who also does PETA ads and wants you to spay and neuter you dogs and cats. RIDICULOUS!
The whole alligator skin tid-bit and the coffin thing made Ingrid sound and look even crazier. She also kept referring to the guardians or care-givers to the dogs as OWNERS!!! ANIMAL RIGHTS 101– WE DON’T OWN ANIMALS!! In my opinion as was the lady from Friends of Animals (not that I wish to be affiliated with them either) was right on, Ingrid seems to be more concerned about being a HISTORICAL FIGURE than focusing on the animals.
Here is a description on PETA's site that had to pass through Ingrid to be published:
http://www.peta.org/feat/HBO_I_Am_an_Animal/index.asp?c=weekly_enews
"She's tough. She's fearless. She's driven. She's a brilliant strategist. She's perhaps the most famous animal rights activist in the world. Get a glimpse inside the daily life of PETA President Ingrid Newkirk—from the moment she wakes up, well before dawn, until the end of a long day spent fighting for the rights of animals.
Meet the woman who founded PETA. See what makes her tick, see how far she is willing to go to help animals, hear what her detractors say—some who fear any threat to their bottom line and others who are envious of her success—and meet some of the animals who have benefited from her tireless work."
Enough on that…
I also had a problem with them defining what is a more relevant issue in the animal rights (really welfarist when it comes to this particular organization) agenda. No issue whether it revolves around exotic animals or animals used in agriculture should be more IMPORTANT than others.
The investigator stuff wigged me out a bit; I just couldn’t imagine killing animals even if it was to get groundbreaking footage. It is kind of an ethical situation, which is up for debate if anyone is interested. I’m just unsure of how I feel about it overall. I know that undercover footage has helped in lots of aspects, yet to me I feel like contributing to the death of animals in anyway for any reason is wrong. I won’t make an absolute statement about this yet, as I haven’t read enough about it to be that definitive. I don’t think those investigations are morally consistent with my personal beliefs though…AS IN I WOULD NEVER BE VOLUNTEERING FOR ONE.
Another issue was her adamant support of ALF. When I was younger I was really intrigued by the Animal Liberation Front, but again what they do is morally inconsistent with my beliefs so I can not be a supporter. If they are endangering any lives it is wrong. There are many different aspects to consider and I won’t go into it all. I don’t think breaking animals out is necessarily bad, but fire bombing is. I don’t feel that it’s okay for animal rights people to be lumped in with terror organizations and the actions of some have put all of us under the same cloak. UNFAIR!
Again, pissed about no mention of veganism!!! GO VEG…isn’t enough. GO VEGAN is the only way to go…One of the kids said something like, “well if you aren’t going to go vegetarian at least don’t buy a butterball”. How is that animal rights? NEVER ADVOCATE ANIMAL SUFFERING….and to me that is what he did. If they don’t buy a butterball but buy a different brand of dead Turkey then what good is that for the plight of live Turkeys???? DON’T EAT ANIMALS PERIOD! An absolute statement…
They also left out the facts and statistical information that should always be included to get people interested. If you say it takes X to produce X hamburgers or consuming X is related to X cancer diagnoses per year, people are more likely to have something solid to hold on to and maybe research later.
Okay….so that is my I Am An Animal review. I wrote it really quickly from the notes I had scribbled down while watching it. Everything is going well with my diet though I have slipped down to the 85% percent model in the past few days while getting back to 100 % health. Not to worry though, I was inspired today by some raw blogs!! I am perfectly better and ready and I’m going back up to 95%. I’m really bored of the dressings that I have learned to make. While perusing through recipes online I have been having a hard time finding one that appeals to me. Eating organic beans and organic brown rice shouldn’t make me feel guilty, but it does!!! It’s really funny how my mind works now and I love the challenge…No matter what the fact that I don’t eat any preservatives, additives, or chemicals in packaged food and all organic food is just amazing to me. I feel like I’m right in line with what a natural human diet should be. I’m really upset that I haven’t been able to find an organic mango or pineapple since I’ve been back from Illinois, those were two of my favs!!! NOT HAPPY!! Have a great evening…
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