so are you saying that everything bad that has happened somehow makes us better?

like the real holocaust?

well i’m Jewish and an animal lover and i say fuck you.

we as conscious beings shouldn’t need laws based around animal cruelty because we should have the brains to think “hey, this is wrong.” But we are too damn lazy to actually teach the new generations how they should really act, benevolently.

and don’t bother responding because i ain’t coming back to this blog, my first time anyway.

Death to the pain bringer!

The issue with using pig intestines is just not necessary. There are other ways to get the same effect without having to harm a living being. But the whole cast issue, should not even be relevant. So they wanted to eat a burger? So what. Even though I believe in animal rights and I myself am a vegetarian, I feel that it’s a personal choice that should not be forced onto anyone. So if the cast wants meat….let there be meat. Because let’s come back to reality here, the whole world is never going to stop eating meat. It’s been this way since the dawn of time and it’s not going to stop for any of us.

Ryan: I do not subscribe to the philosophy that watching violence makes one more prone to commit it. My son is a very sensitive kid, but has played shoot ‘em up stlye video games for years. I myself am enamoured of vampire flicks, and will still cry watching news footage of the suffering of real living beings. Both my son and I got started down the veggie road when we accidentally saw the KFC slaughter house video. Although he has not gone entirely veg, he still refuses to eat chicken unless it’s made from soy and only soy. He draws a very firm line between real violence and ‘fake’ violence, and always has. I believe that people who do commit acts of atrocity against humans or animals probably already had that inclination to begin with. However…I see no reason to use animals or animal parts in films that highlight or even espouse animal cruelty. Now that you’ve brought this up, I’ll be watching for it in the future and voting with my dollars.

On the topic at hand, I must say I was somewhat surprised to see horror films come up here. Outside my close circle of friends (amongst whom my boyfriend and I are the only vegans), I don’t often run into any other horror fans, especially not people who like giallos. Personally, I am a fan of all things horror—I have a collection of classic supernatural fiction, and my film library tends toward the macabre of all sorts.

So far as how to handle the graphic and exploitive animal cruelty featured in Cannibal Holocaust, I’m reluctant to offer “advice,” as your choices are yours alone, but I will share some of my thoughts in hopes that they help you.

Granted, that footage is terrible; how anyone thought that was a good idea is beyond me, but as you pointed out, at least graphic sequences like those paved the way for the animal safeguards now in place. A small consolation, but it is one more small step on the road toward a just world.

As for how to handle your interest in these films, I think you have to ask yourself a few questions, foremost among them being whether or not watching a horror film that features animal by-products or animal cruelty (simulated or otherwise) is compromising your reasons for being vegan. People who aren’t horror fans often don’t understand why we watch what we watch, which is fine; I don’t understand how people can sit through more than one Merchant Ivory production without falling into a coma. At the end of the day, you are the one who has to decide how it affects you. Things that make you uncomfortable or, worse, make you feel as though you are transgressing the principles by which you choose to live, are things that you can certainly live without.

There are tons of horror films out there that are (more) animal-friendly, so while you may have to bid your Cannibal Holocaust DVD adieu, there’s more (and better!) where that came from!

I became vegetarian for ethical reasons when I was 12, then spent much of my teens playing gory, violent video games. I was still playing those kinds of games when I converted to veganism. I never bought the line that violence in media necessarily leads to violence in hearts and minds (though it seems logical to me that there would be _some_ connection). However, at some point, after becoming a vegan and a Buddhist, it made sense to me to try the experiment of not consuming gore and horror. It’s been maybe ten years since I saw a scary movie or played a violent game. I can’t say the change has been revolutionary, but I like the results enough to stick with it. Your mileage may vary. It’s possible that shock and horror affect me differently than they do you.

I also want to highlight the very insightful question Eric asked on his blog: “Is seeing someone’s innards on-screen all that vital?”

Good points in your first paragraph… the only thing I can think to mention in response is that there’s likely a lot of wasted food that’s thrown away beyond what the inviduals involved with the movie would have eaten on their own. Just the nature of food service, you know?

With regards to the influence of movies, music, and entertainment as a whole, I see your point. And, yes, some people are particularly affected by these stimuli. Fortuntely, I feel like I’m mature enough and informed enough to be able to separate what I watch from my actions and beliefs. I mean, I grew up watching incredibly violent movies and listening absurdly violent music, but I’m about as docile as one can be and eventually chose a vegan lifestyle despite those things. Perhaps, though, it was because it wasn’t necessarily a “steady diet,” but mixed in with more conventional horror films as well as less aggressive cinema and music. Maybe that balance is necessary.

That said, there is arguably an ethical inconsistency with owning and financially supporting a movie like Cannibal Holocaust. I think I agree with you on that point. But I’m not sure.

As a side note, when I attended Exhumed Films showings regularly (they’re a group that shows cult horror films on the big screen for true horror fanatics), I noticed that the ratio of vegans and animal rights people was significantly higher than in the general population. When we had potlucks, the majority of the stuff was vegan. It surprised me as much as anyone! One night — when Larry Fessenden came to show two of his films and do a Q&A session — SHAC members were even invited to come and hand out literature and I distribued Farm Sanctuary brochures. The audience was surprisingly receptive to the message.

But I have a more fundamental point. Watching horror movies fills the mind with images of brutal violence. Horror movies make violence seem less abhorrent, more acceptable. Unpleasant, but not *abhorrent* (how can you truly abhor something you routinely pay someone to produce for your pleasure?) I’m not saying that people who watch Psycho are more likely to be murderers, but I am saying that people who ingest a steady diet of movies featuring eviscerated pig intestines, torture of live animals, and general brutality probably aren’t going to be the first to come around to the message of a cruelty-free lifestyle.

Sometimes we have to make hard choices, in order to be consistent in our ethics. Dropping certain types of horror movies from your library might be one of them. I don’t mean to criticize you, a stranger. I _do_ mean to support you, as a fellow vegan. You’re a good guy. I like your blog. I want you to have as peaceful a mind as possible, which is what I want for people generally.