I have to admit I was too choked up during the final 70 minutes of this film to notice too much, except that primates run amok and threaten to ruin everything, and not to generalize but that sounds awfully familiar. I imagine the filmmakers were saying something about their own impact on our fragile blue ball. I saw this with a couple of people and they found my assessment laughable, but I wouldn’t want to face up to it if I were them either.
That’s not what got the waterworks going for me, though. What stabbed me through the heart was [*spoiler alert!*] the brave canine who was first into the fray, and then first to cross the rainbow bridge in an effort to save his bipedal friends (who, it should be noted, stood and yelled but didn’t follow. Thanks, pals). I defy any hackles not to rise when his final yelps are heard echoing through the night. I myself was so riled, I nearly bit someone (nb: I do not condone biting except in cases of self-defense, or cats).
Attack the Block is one of the best canine dramas I have seen all year, if you can ignore the insensitive people laughing at it.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Pedigree Dogs: Exposed
This is very exciting. I don’t often get the opportunity to link directly to a movie here, but Pedigree Dogs: Exposed is a film that’s been posted for public consumption and it’s really good! It’s a documentary about how show-dog “breed standards” are leading to some very unhappy dogs through inbreeding and hereditary disease. Thanks, American Kennel Club! (The movie’s about the UK Kennel Club, but the AKC’s equally guilty.)
I’ll admit right up front that I’m no fan of the AKC, but quite honestly it’s only because the AKC is no fan of me. This organization in its infinite wisdom feels that white Boxers are not really Boxers at all and therefore no good for dog shows or the breed in general. Now, maybe it’s just because I’m colorblind, but I’m not a fan of judging individuals just because of their color. But the American Kennel Club is!
By the reaction I get from people you’d think white Boxers are rare. We are, but we shouldn’t be -- something like 25% of us are born this way. Because we can’t be entered into dog shows, though (as if I’d want to be anyway), some breeders kill us when we’re puppies. They also do things like crop our ears (not me!) and dock our tails (they got me there) to conform to said standards. Thanks again, AKC!
And why do these standards exist? Not to make a better dog (see the movie) but to appease some self-important muckleheads who wish to impose their subjective idea of a dog onto actual dogs. I think these maroons were what Mark Twain was talking about when he said: “Heaven goes by favor. If it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in.”
There’s a petition on the same site as the movie. I tried to sign but it’s hard to type a pawprint.
I’ll admit right up front that I’m no fan of the AKC, but quite honestly it’s only because the AKC is no fan of me. This organization in its infinite wisdom feels that white Boxers are not really Boxers at all and therefore no good for dog shows or the breed in general. Now, maybe it’s just because I’m colorblind, but I’m not a fan of judging individuals just because of their color. But the American Kennel Club is!
By the reaction I get from people you’d think white Boxers are rare. We are, but we shouldn’t be -- something like 25% of us are born this way. Because we can’t be entered into dog shows, though (as if I’d want to be anyway), some breeders kill us when we’re puppies. They also do things like crop our ears (not me!) and dock our tails (they got me there) to conform to said standards. Thanks again, AKC!
And why do these standards exist? Not to make a better dog (see the movie) but to appease some self-important muckleheads who wish to impose their subjective idea of a dog onto actual dogs. I think these maroons were what Mark Twain was talking about when he said: “Heaven goes by favor. If it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in.”
There’s a petition on the same site as the movie. I tried to sign but it’s hard to type a pawprint.
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