The Poets and the Animals

"Isn't that what is so suspect in the whole animal rights business: that it has to ride on the back of pensive gorillas and sexy jaguars and huggable pandas because the real objects of its concern, chickens and pigs, to say nothing of white rats or prawns, are not newsworthy?" (100)

 

vi.sualize.us

In the movie District 9, human capacity for prejudice was depicted in a fascinating way - what we do to aliens (called "Prawns" in the movie)?

Isn't this an issue with humanity in general? We seem to be predisposed to make judgements. I'm not going to pretend to be a scientist, because that's the last thing I am, but from the thought I've given to this subject. We place people who are different from us into various categories based on cultural differences, religious differences, racial differences... we even place people into categories based on how they dress (preps, jocks, emo-kids, skaters, hipsters, etc - the list goes on). As Professor BUmp mentioned in our discussion 2 weeks ago, babies will choose "mothers" with symmetrical faces.

We choose who's better than others, who we should aspire to be like, who we should socialize with, and who we must look down on. We speak of equality, but the idea of a true mixing pot, of a single race of humans is terrifying. Its terrifying to me, because we ought to celebrate our differences: it makes things interesting. It would be a boring world if we were all the same. But the same goes for animals. We choose which animals are lovable, and which are ugly. We choose what's creepy, and whats cuddly.

Isn't that extending our human judgement on animals? We are treating them like we treat ourselves in one sense of the word, but we place them into a category completely seperate from us. I honestly don't know how to feel about that. What is right?

"And in turn, I owe that calmness to the people on the ship. They are good people, in spite of everything." (560)

At the same time, I don't think the vast majority of people think that they are treating animals differently than they ought to be treated. For example, this really wasn't something I used to think about before this class. Most of my classmates don't wonder about animal rights or what they're eating or what their pets think. It feels like being awakened to a new world... even though I don't think about it all the time either.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/picturesoftheday/7212775/Pictures-of-the-day-11-February-2010.html?image=7

The caged panther prowls.

"But sometimes the curtains of his eyelids part,
the pupils of his eyes dilate..." (565)

Our eyes have been opened, but what do we see? I see confusion only still. Its hard to decide what to think when there's so much gray area, but I don't want to take the "easy" way out and decide not to decide anything. Actually maybe that's the harder path - to concede that you may not have an answer, and force yourself to sort through the issue all the time.