Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Animals Were Harmed: Hollywood's Nightmare of Death, Injury, and Secrecy Exposed
Hollywood Reporter Exclusive: A
merican Humane Association monitor Gina Johnson confided in an email to a colleague on April 7, 2011, about the star tiger in Ang Lee’s Life of Pi. While many scenes featuring “Richard Parker,” the Bengal tiger who shares a lifeboat with a boy lost at sea, were created using CGI technology, King, very much a real animal, was employed when the digital version wouldn’t suffice. “This one take with him just went really bad and he got lost trying to swim to the side,” Johnson wrote. “Damn near drowned.”
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5 comments:
Ahhhh, this is awful! I don't think anything should have to die for the sake of art. It is amazing to me that people that are still getting away with this even today. I don't think animals should be mistreated in order for to make money. Also it is ridiculous that films can still get the "no animals were harmed" tagline if the harm occurred when there was no shooting going on. That seems like a flaw in someone's contract, shouldn't a trainer have to watch animals when shooting is not happening or at least release them into the care of someone else who will. This makes me want to boycott films.
This is awful to read about. A film cannot say that no animals were harmed if indeed they were! That's crazy, though I know it's just a part of all the fine details within many industries that get 'overlooked.' This brings up several questions and issues when involving animals in filming. Animals can't really choose to be in a film or not. People choosing to be in a film are entering into it knowing that there is a chance of getting harmed, just due to normal accidents, etc. As humans, we are then responsible for animals in film and must do the best we can to keep them safe and properly cared for, just like in any situation. If animals are getting hurt due to negligence, this is unacceptable and appalling. In this day and age we have the technology, the skills, and the time to make sure animals and humans are not harmed in the making of films. Accidents definitely happen, and sometimes there is nothing that can be done to prevent them. But many times there is and we just really need to be more on top of things at all times. Animals cannot be an exception.
This is pretty sad to hear. I feel like it's a difficult position to be in, working on a film in which an animal was unintentionally harmed. And what if you were the AHA representative, do you ruin this film's accreditation because of the accident? What of those in which animals were intentionally harmed and a blind eye was turned for the sake of money or greed or some other illicit relationship? I think there should be a differentiation in status, but neither should be elevated to full "no animals were harmed in the making of this film" status.
On the other hand, though, how specific should the accreditation get? And frankly, who are the people putting heavy emphasis on the discussion? If a group of animal rights activists are lobbying for animal protection then a clear line of politics is getting in the way, but who's to defend them if not the activists?
This is absolutely horrible! I can't believe all of these films have gotten away with such animal abuse. It is completely immoral and unfair to treat animals in films in such an inhumane way. Of course, animals are not humans and should not be treated like humans. However, when you look at how the humans are being treated on a movie set, and compare that to the way the animals are being treated, it is a bit pathetic. Films should really pay more attention to the way they treat all of the performers in their productions, not just the humans.
Wow. Well this was a horrific and depressing article. I honestly had no idea how bad the abuse of animals is in the entertainment industry. I took the "No animals were harmed in the filming of this production" seal as enough. But it appears that the seal does not necessarily mean that animals were not harmed. Many of these animals were not only harmed but killed as a result of the filming of various productions. Something really needs to be done so that these movie producers cannot get away with the continued abuse of animals.
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