"If you are going to watch The Cove, there's a scene that almost made me cry. Try guessing which scene it was then tell me ok? "
- This was an sms I sent out to a few of my close buddies. So far, Mingli got the scene right.
It is such an inspiring movie. I urge anyone who says or regards yourself as animal lovers or cares about the animals/environment, please, watch this movie and spread the words. These kind of movies doesn't come by often and it takes a group of very very determined people who put so much in the line to bring out the truths to us.
The movie made me think so so much. I watched the movie on Thurs, it is Sunday now, been thinking about the movie since then till now. I just knew I gotta blog about the movie and the thoughts that came after movie. It is not easy to blog about this. There's just so many stuff that goes through my mind. SO........if anyone of you who was convinced by my sms-es to watch this movie but yet to watch, pls STOP reading this and plan for a day to watch it, then come back here to read this and share your thoughts about The Cove, after you have watched it. (and by this, I mean you, Sheril and Seow Li)
I've always regards humans as being materialistic. Face it, we are. And by being materialistic I don't mean luxuries, I'm referring to the 'essentials/basic necessities' that all humans should have.. The house that everyone should have, the car, the food, the savings, and so many other essential stuff that we uses everyday, those are some of the many things that we tries of achieve from all our hardworks. Life has been a curse of working and buying since we were born.
Then, what about the materials to feed our souls? The sense of purpose in life (apart from getting that house for the family and paying the mortgage for the next 30-50 years), the firm believe in a cause (again, I am not referring to a house or a car, maybe building a family yes, but still, a house and a car is included in the package, that's where the eternal curse comes in), and the sense of self fulfillment that are not attached to the social norms that were imposed on us.
Work now has been a numbed part of everyday life that I goes through for materialisms. I work to get salary every month, with that salary, I buy stuff that made me happy, cameras, computers, air tickets, meals, get togethers etc. I am an animal lovers, all of you reading this should know that I am. But, frankly, almost none of my working moments can make me shout out "I love my job! I am surrounded by animals everyday!!!" No. It is not the case, was not, guess never will be.
By now, guess it is only sensible to clarify that I am not really against holding wild animals in captivities. I am utterly dead set against unnecessary cruelties towards animals. Killing sharks by the millions every year for the fins that have no nutritional values (and friggin expensive piece of junk), live skinning of animal furs for the mink coats for those rich (or self proclaimed rich brokes), eating a fish that are still alive with 70% of its body immersed in hot boiling oil, all these are unnecessary for our survivals, and yet most of the times people have to work their asses off to pay for all these that brings about unnecessary cruelties against animals.
The general public are just too engrossed in their everyday lives to pay enough attention to other stuff thats happening to the world that we live in. The melting ice caps, the depleting forests, the extinct species, the murky waters in the city that was once blue and clean and edible, the shorter life span of the population, the ever increasing percentage of people who are depressed and the list of the global epidemics brought about by globalisation goes on and on. Talking about globalisation, it appears to me that globalisation means the world are coming together to work more like the way the developed nations have been doing. Cut your trees, build your factories, create jobs, gets the market pumping, send more of your staff abroad, adopt different cultures, get rich, buy stuff. Let me know if anyone of you come across any nations who asks their populations to adopt the lifestyles of the people who leads their lives in moderation.
I've strayed. Now back to animals in captivities.
Like I say, I'm not against it, nor am I endorsing it. I know that if done the right way, keeping animals in captivities could spreads the message out that wildlife are beautiful and should be respected and they are depleting by the day (thats the main reason people pays to watch these animals in captivities, if they abundant everywhere, who would have paid to see them behind glasses?). Blessed are the ones who learnt to love animals through some encounters at the beach or the forests, not in zoo or aquariums or Nat Geo.
It would have worked perfectly if zoos or aquariums do their parts in educating and getting the words out. Rather than including some environmental messages just to cover their asses from those animal lover activists. But sadly, most of the time, the main reason to build these facilities are to sell the admission tickets. It is always an investment in the form of an arm by a successful company. Pure animal lovers and activists are generally poor, mainly caused by the lack of time and efforts directed towards working to get the next bulk of gold. They need some big bosses to build these facilities to employ them.
Questions: How many out there who starts to love the environment caused by nature programs he/she saw on tv when they were kids? How many out there who goes the extra miles for the environments rather than clocking in extra hours for the OTs and commissions? How many out there who are against whale shark in captivities but eats shark fins (sorry, cant help it, this person just came to mind)? How many out there who thinks I am starting to babble away nonsensically?
I should stop and wait to read other's blogs about this movie and the issues.
Oh, by the way, guess I should end this post by giving the answer to the question I posted to start off this entry: Which scene in The Cove that touched me deepest. - It was the last scene where Ric O Barry went it to the meeting venue of the International Whaling Commission with a TV screen strapped to his body showing footages of the mass slaughter of dolphins in Taiji. It was the look of determination, a firm believe in a cause, the drained out look of an old man who have gone through so much working for the dolphins for the last 35 years, the sense of achievement (not an achievement to be joyed over for) for having successfully brings to light the things that were happening in Taiji that has been denied to the public, the hint of remorse of someone who is regarded as someone who almost single-handedly propelled live dolphin shows into a business that it is today, all these can be seen in the minute or so footage at the end of the movie. It touched me so deeply.
Cheers
ahtiow
