'Earthlings' documentary

[SeaweedWater]

I just got this documentary in the mail and went home during lunch and watched it. I walked back to work with tears still in my eyes. I haven't cried that hard since my stepmother died.

 

Some of this footage I had never seen and some of the information I had never heard. This is a very important documentary and I can't believe I hadn't watched it until now. I'm making copies for everyone that means anything to me. I have a whole new respect for Joaquin Phoenix and this documentary has stirred up the young activist in me..

 

Here's the documentary's website http://www.earthlings.com/

 

here's a torrent for downloading it (if you're into that sort of thing) http://www.mininova.org/tor/1375171

 

& here it is on google video. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1282796533661048967

 

If you're the kind of person who only watches one or two movies a month let this be the one..

Edited September 24, 2008 by SeaweedWater

[Im Your Man]

Yeah some of the sequences were pretty hard to watch. It's a method of force, kind of negative way, that may convince some people to become vegan. It's efficient but I also like a more positive way, like saying the benefits of veganism on health, and some message of peace, love and happiness.

The first way, some people will find this agressive and may call you a terrorist for showing this, the other way, some may find this ridiculous and they will laugh at you like at some hippie of the sixties.

 

I rarely cry and it's been a long time, but I cried when I saw this video (see link below). We see a cow who's crying before being killed. It's around the third minute, but the whole video is good.

 

I don't post the video here because it's disturbing and you need to agree you're enough old to see it.

"Hidden tears behind the iron wall"

 

or go on http://www.GlobeTransformer.org/

[zinzen]

I tried watching that, made it to the cows still alive, bled and getting takin down a fucking hook belt thing and I was done.

My wife was like," why the hell would you watch that, you are already vegan?"

And to this I agree, its like a form of self inflicted pain.

I am already doing the best I can, I know the info, I dont want to cry anymore.

It would be a good flick to show people that have no clue, but I aint ever trying to watch that again.

[veginator]

I think that if people who are already vegan think they are going to be seriously traumatized by watching this, perhaps they shouldn't. BUT, I think that if people feel like they can "take it," it's worthwhile to watch it even if you're already vegan and even though you will surely cry your eyes out when you do. I think of watching movies like this as an act of solidarity with the animals, and as something that can deepen one's commitment to veganism.

 

My own experience was that even though I had already been vegan (most of the time) for 10 years, watching "Earthlings" really strengthened and reaffirmed my commitment to not only being vegan, but persuading others to be as well. I had occasionally been eating almond cheese containing casein (a milk protein sometimes used for solidifying otherwise vegan products) for a while after I realized I was gluten-intolerant and also somewhat soy sensitive (it can give me gas and bloating). I guess for a while I thought of it as too much of a pain in the ass to go out of my way to avoid casein, and I also ate honey a lot. I also hadn't really done anything about veganism as far as activism for a long time, and that changed once I'd seen the video. Watching "Earthlings" or other videos that realistically depict either animal or human suffering is a great motivator for me. Even though they're very hard to watch, documentaries that vividly depict serious problems that infest human society are invaluable for reaching people on an emotional as well as intellectual level, in my opinion. I plan on doing a showing of "Earthlings" somewhere in town this fall. It's a great documentary.