eating the animal's fear
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butaneggbert — 11 years ago(October 26, 2014 12:39 PM)
Of course. The consistent factor of family relationships in this film is disrespect, with very few exceptions.
If they welcomed her point of view or treated it as legitimate, that would have been downright peculiar. Why would a markedly dysfunctional family suddenly break stride to be kind and thoughtful? -
vendor-14 — 11 years ago(November 09, 2014 11:38 AM)
I saw that scene as a metaphor for the way the family thrives on causing each to "eat fear" by shaming and brutalizing each other. Even one of the kindest family members, Big Charlie, piles on Jean by shaming her over her explanation of her vegetarianism.
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Redart27 — 11 years ago(November 15, 2014 11:21 AM)
Anyone see
Temple Grandin
? She designed a slaughterhouse that minimized the animals fear and stress by having them follow their natural herding instincts up until the final moment. I am not sure how many slaughterhouses adopted this design. Seems like it should be the enforced standard.
There is a chemical reaction in the muscle and fat of animals under stress. The flight-or-fight response releases a whole cascade of hormones and natural chemicals throughtout the body. Here's a brief explanation:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/emotions/fear2.h tm
G - A - F - (low)F - C -
BlackDog123 — 11 years ago(November 16, 2014 11:07 AM)
I really identified with that scene, because I have been there (though my family is nowhere near as horrid as hers). I went vegetarian of my own accord after reading Animal Liberation in the 7th grade, and I swear we had THAT EXACT CONVERSATION every Thanksgiving for about five years. After that my family gave up (I'm in my thirties now and still vegetarian, and it's been a non-issue for at least a decade). It was humiliating, my mom would always tell a story about me "sneaking" a cheeseburger (it was on my birthday, nothing sneaky about it, and it happened once).
Anyways, kids are idealistic. I think it's one of the great parts of being young (in general, not just the vegetarian thing). If it annoys you, why not say "that's nice" and move on, rather than humiliating someone a quarter of your age? When my much younger (ten years) brother discovered immigration reform, and yammered on about it endlessly and idealistically, I would tell him "you've given me something to think about" and change the subject. (I am pretty liberal in my political beliefs, but he was a total hippy about it)
I think the point of that scene was to show that even Chris Cooper, who was arguably the sanest person in that family, was unthinkingly cruel as well. No one listened to that poor kid, even though she was obviously acting out (smoking right in front of her parents, watching TV after her gramp's funeral).
They're coming to get you, Barbara! -
intofilm — 11 years ago(November 18, 2014 10:37 PM)
I understand what the daughter meant, and I didn't like the family's mocking reaction, although it was totally in keeping with what I expected.
However, I get really tired of the simplistic attitude of vegetarians (not vegans) that it's bad to eat beef or chicken because it's been slaughtered, but it's OK to eat dairy products or eggs.
Obviously they don't know much about the average life of a beef cow and that of a dairy cow. I have observed both these first hand, over a period of many years.
The average beef cow (or heifer or steer or bull or whatever) has been conceived in a normal way on a ranch, by a bull and cow getting together in the field. They are able to stay with their mothers in a pasture, forming normal social relationships, eating whenever they like from their mother's udders, frolicking about with other calves. They are in the fresh air, sun, and rain. They have a happy, normal life up until the time they are hauled to the feedlot. There, admittedly, they are put in miserable, unsanitary corrals while being fattened for a few months. The slaughterhouse experience is, of course, a scary one for all animals, and the daughter was right to note that.
HOWEVER, it is such a more humane life in general than that of the dairy cow. Most milk products originate from huge dairy operations, where the cows are kept pregnant most of the time. They conceive through artificial insemination and are fed all kinds of hormones to keep them either pregnant or in a fake-pregnant state, so they will produce milk. As soon as their calf is born, it is taken away. The calves grow in tiny isolated enclosures, fed artificial drinks. When they are about half grown they are allowed to be in larger pens, and then have a brief period of freedom in the field. Then the males are sent to slaughter, and the cows are kept mostly confined in barns the rest of their productive lives. They never have a day with their calves. I remember how pitiful it was to hear them bawling for their babies and fighting to get to them.
And all this isn't even to go into the cruelty of the egg factories, with multiple hens crammed into tiny cages, their combs and beaks cut off, and sometimes their eyes put out or covered, so they won't peck each other to death in their misery.
So yes, there is fear in the slaughtering process, but it is a tiny fraction of the long-term stress and misery suffered by dairy cattle and the chickens trapped in egg factories. -
michelletrib — 11 years ago(December 05, 2014 07:28 AM)
I thought that was the funniest scene in the movie.
That girl was in a house full of Oklahoma, meat eating, "red neck" folks - and she learned a lesson about when to keep her mouth shut if she can't handle being ridiculed.
So ignorant? Well, then she learned about "ignorant" people, I guess. They don't suddenly change into sophisticated people at a dinner table after a funeral.
They were "totally disrespectful" ?!?!? Do you have any idea how foreign the idea of respecting children is to some people?
That is a NEW concept - and don't think you're going to find it in many parts of this country, or most parts of the world (most of the earth still doesn't respect women, much less children).
People like you amaze you. You live in such an isolated and sheltered part of society, and you judge so harshly and so blindly.
Last, my favorite part of your post "The daughter was so right" LOL. Really? Says who? You?
You are a very typical closed minded person. "A meal isn't a meal unless there's some meat" is EXACTLY the same as "You should never eat meat"
Same type thinking, just a different slogan. -
DecSag32 — 10 years ago(February 28, 2016 04:03 PM)
Could not have said it better. This little jerk smokes in her grandma's yard and would rather watch TV than be respectful at her grandpas funeral and they are supposed to treat her with kid gloves about meat.
These people are supposed to be old school. Old school people don't tap dance around kids and it's not child abuse. Stop. God, there are going to be a lot of thin skinned kids that cannot deal with life in this world. -
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Zuider_Zee — 10 years ago(April 20, 2015 05:46 PM)
lol. She was a ditzy little pot smoking airhead who was more than willing to flash her boobs to her aunt's future husband. It is no wonder that the spinning little thing was disrespected (on top of the fact that she completely incorrect).
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lulupalooza — 10 years ago(November 17, 2015 02:11 AM)
Yes. And the horribly disrespectful way the girl talked to her parents seemed worse to me than the "meat teasing" at the table. Some of that was done by Big Charles in order to interrupt and avoid Violet from carrying on her ongoing diatribe at the table.
"Don't get chumpatized!" - The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007) -
Mr-Fusion — 10 years ago(November 17, 2015 09:16 AM)
I was watching
American Flyers
the other day, and Alexander Paul's friend said basically the same thing when she wanted a hamburger ([paraphrasing] "Have you ever looked into the eyes of a cow right before it's killed? You're eating their fear!")
Instantly made me think of
August: Osage County
. In terms of that actual scene, I wasn't really sure (since I'd never heard of that perspective before) whether to feel for the daughter or laugh with the rest of the family. In hindsight, it's easy to slam everyone else because we found out what a hateful group they are.
Sorry I doubted you Triceracop. You're the best damn partner I've ever had.