MovieChat Forums > Year of the Dog (2007) Discussion > As a vegan...

As a vegan...

posted 15 years ago by germite
7 replies | jump to latest

I despised this movie. I think it made anyone who cares about animals and/or animal rights look like either a nutcase or a spacey hippie, and all of the characters ran the spectrum of mildly irritating to completely obnoxious and worthy of a righteous frying pan to the face (Hey! Laura Dern's character! How'd that frying pan feel in your FACE?!!).

In fact, the only character I kind of liked was John C. Reilly ... the hunter. While I'm sure some of this was due to Reilly's own natural charm inhabiting the character, and though this guy had his own agenda, he seemed the most level-headed, sane, and pleasant. Regina King's character was a distant second.

I know this movie wasn't really about veganism and animal rights but more about a woman going through a transitional period of loss and realizing she has no love or emotional ties to the world. At the same time, though ... good god Mike White made vegans look like fruitcakes. World, we're not really fruitcakes. Honest.

Sheezus...

"Stwike him, Centuwion ... vewy Wuffwy!"

[–] liutenantsalt 15 years ago

>>I despised this movie. I think it made anyone who cares about animals and/or animal rights look like either a nutcase or a spacey hippie, and all of the characters ran the spectrum of mildly irritating to completely obnoxious and worthy of a righteous frying pan to the face<<

. . . so, you disliked this film because it was accurate?

>>Mike White made vegans look like fruitcakes. World, we're not really fruitcakes. Honest.<<

Vegans believe that it's morally akin to murder to kill one animal for it's meat and/or fur, but it's perfectly acceptable to kill hundreds of insects, rodents, birds, game animals ETC ETC ETC for a crop harvest.

Vegans believe that all animals should be granted the EXACT SAME RIGHTS as human beings, despite their inability to comprehend or enact these rights, much less live side by side.

Mike White doesn't make vegans look like fruitcakes; your beliefs and actions make vegans look like fruitcakes.

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Bullseye_in_Training 13 years ago

Uh.... vegans and animal activists DO NOT believe its ok to kill bugs, rodents, or any other animal for a crop harvest or any other reason. AND IN NO WAY do animal activists think animals should have the same rights as humans .... we just want to see all animals treated well and not killed.

Having said that, Year of the Dog didnt offend me at all. I am a huge 'animal freak' and didn't find Molly's characters actions to portray 'me and my people' as nuts.. I really felt like she had just hit a low place and was grasping for control, trying to make a difference. She unfortunately went about it in rash ways (hiding in john C Reily's house and taking in far too many dogs), but she was simply trying to make a difference.

[–] cbartal 13 years ago

Slightly tangential, but I will pull it all together by the end, I promise.

I saw Fiona Apple in Chicago a few years ago at an outdoor venue in the late summer.

Throughout her show there were hundreds of flies buzzing around the stage.

At one point after a song she said, "I feel terrible having to kill all these flies".

The flies were a constant source of annoyance.

Now I know that Fiona is a committed animal activist.

But the fact is that she could have left the stage at any point during that concert instead of continuing to kill the flies. But she made a choice. She wanted to finish the show and collect her check. She weighed her own self gratification against the act of killing hundreds of flys, and her own gratification won.

She redrew her own line in the sand that night in the name of making money.

If her moral line is so flexible in her own world, how can she sincererly draw the line in the sand for others?

Still, I love her songs. I just wish she would wake up.

[–] Bullseye_in_Training 13 years ago

Why were the flies dying? I dont understand why she felt she had no choice.

[–] zill_o_the_wisp 15 years ago

Why don't you choke on some honey.
Looks like another humorless militant drone has buzzed into the Year of the Dog board again.

Sorry it wasn't the sort of propaganda you may have wanted. Sorry they didn't make all meat eaters look like ignorant inhuman monsters and all vegans look like hip, saintly, enlightened, selfless warriors for a new world.

Too bad that Mike White had to go with his instincts about what reality is, in his view. Glamorized portraits of a minority are harder to do in comedy. In fact, has that ever been done successfully?

There's some mistake. I'm not a member of the Columbian Record Club....

[–] egoangel18 14 years ago

Umm not all vegans are fruitcakes. Some just keep their beliefs to themselves & eat what they feel comfortable eating.

i hope you choke on your bacardi & coke!
*Team Landa*