Heads Up, Ears Down

This blog accurately identifies depictions of violence and cruelty toward animals in films. The purpose is to provide viewers with a reliable guide so that such depictions do not come as unwelcome surprises. Films will be accurately notated, providing a time cue for each incident along with a concise description of the scene and perhaps relevant context surrounding the incident. In order to serve as a useful reference tool, films having no depictions of violence to animals will be included, with an indication that there are no such scenes. This is confirmation that the films have been watched with the stated purpose in mind.


Note that the word depictions figures prominently in the objective. It is a travesty that discussions about cruelty in film usually are derailed by the largely unrelated assertion that no animals really were hurt (true only in some films, dependent upon many factors), and that all this concern is just over a simulation. Not the point, whether true or false. We do not smugly dismiss depictions of five-year-olds being raped because those scenes are only simulations. No, we are appalled that such images are even staged, and we are appropriately horrified that the notion now has been planted into the minds of the weak and cruel.


Depictions of violence or harm to animals are assessed in keeping with our dominant culture, with physical abuse, harmful neglect, and similar mistreatment serving as a base line. This blog does not address extended issues of animal welfare, and as such does not identify scenes of people eating meat or mules pulling plows. The goal is to itemize images that might cause a disturbance in a compassionate household.


These notes provide a heads-up but do not necessarily discourage watching a film because of depicted cruelty. Consuming a piece of art does not make you a supporter of the ideas presented. Your ethical self is created by your public rhetoric and your private actions, not by your willingness to sit through a filmed act of violence.

The Hatred

The Hatred. John Law, 2018.

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Edition screened: Included with Arrow Blu-ray The Deeper You Dig, released 2020. English language. Runtime approximately 60 minutes.


Summary: A dead deer, and the use thereof.


Details:

1) We see the inverted head of a dead deer, the animal apparently hanging as a hunter’s prey, 26:51-26:56.

2) Indication of an animal (a large beaver?) being shot. We see the animal emerge from a river, the gun being raised and aimed, and hear the report at 28:53. Cut to people eating raw meat, but no killing or butchering depicted.

3) Another view of the head of the hanging deer, 39:51-40:07, with exposition dialogue.

4) The deer’s head has been . . . adjusted . . ., 43:25-43:44.


I quite enjoyed The Hatred. The synthesized atmospheric sound was intelligent and effective, and the simple Moral Tale of the plot was horrifyingly compelling. 


Arrow generously includes a separate BD of The Hatred as a bonus with The Deeper You Dig.


Some people prefer to not watch the movie while watching a movie. Populist comments about The Hatred outline some of the more popular ways to not watch a movie!


1) Develop your inner FBI Agent by relentlessly honing your skills as a continuity checker. Do not allow insignificant twaddle such as plot, character development, or archetypal references to distract you from Eureka! observations such as a man having one jacket button fastened in one shot but two buttons fastened afterward. Great job Slylock Fox! These critical details are what separate fine film from Mama’s Family.


2) Focus exclusively on your personal specialized knowledge while watching any movie. After all, there is no such thing as fiction and all films are, in fact, documentaries about your personal life experiences. Your specific knowledge about all-weather tires from Costco does effectively discredit every car chase ever filmed. It’s a good thing that legal experts and medical doctors are too stupid to catch little inaccuracies that might pop up regarding their trades.


3) Whistle-up your high horse, affix her atop a 15-foot pedestal, and sit there in the saddle with your arms folded and a poopy look on you face. Isn’t it cute how the same people who recite endlessly that “political correctness is gonna ruin America” cannot abide a fiction that is /not/ politically correct.  The story of The Hatred involves 19th-century U.S. soldiers who are average men (afraid, desperate, and not exactly among the top 5% of West Point grads), and what do these armed men do?  They become violent and turn on each other. Of course they do. Have you never observed a single human interaction nor eavesdropped on a discussion at Applebee’s bar?  But disregard all of that. Our Redskins, White Face, and Pabst Blue Ribbon viewers require that all armed forces personnel be immortalized as perfect men.


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