Dolphins/Documentaries.

I really enjoy using my blog as a platform to share issues that I am interested in, not just design that I am attracted to.

Ever since watching the 2010 Academy Awards, I have been interested in watching the documentary The Cove. I love documentaries. Anything that enlightens me to a new issue or viewpoint is something I'd consider viewing, or reading. The Cove discusses the slaughter of dolphins in a small community in Japan. Many Americans and animal rights activists are outraged at the concept of killing massive numbers of dolphins for human consumption. Within this cove, so many dolphins are killed at once, that the entire cove of ocean turns blood red.

At face value, this concept is horrific. How could a community so willingly and repeatedly kill such innocent (and smart) animals, in such a gruesome way, let alone eat them afterward? To Americans, and most westerners, this is disgusting. Although I still haven't seen it, many people applaud the movie for raising awareness for the issue, and for being a well-produced documentary in general.

A couple of my friends saw the movie, highly enjoyed it, and quickly declared how "The Japanese are shady. They're just shady."

Excuse me? Hang on. This is when I stopped to reconsider my position on the support of this film. Any film that debates an issue, but portrays an entire nation as "shady" cannot be good. Now, I'm the type of person that genuinely and truly delights in stereotypes. I think they are (in general), fun, accurate descriptions of race, culture, and gender. Yes, there is room to be offended, but stereotypes develop for a reason, and they have truth to them. I'm Mexican, and personally can relate and make fun of Mexican stereotypes, simply because they are often true. It's not a big deal, embrace it. But I digress. The stereotype promoted in this film is not positive, if it convinces mass amounts of people that an entire nation supports the practices of one small town.

I'm not going to get into the debate about the ethics of dolphin hunting, because so many people already have, and have done so more eloquently than I ever could. But what inspired me to put in my own two cents was this post from AllLookSame.com. Please go read it before (or after) forming an opinion on The Cove and the views that it promotes.

My final thought is this: who is to judge what is culturally acceptable and unacceptable to eat? I think, (with the exception of human flesh) there is no "true" culinary standard that the entire world has to abide by. Because an individual's culture deems it "okay" for dogs to be pets, doesn't mean that a different nation shouldn't be able to consume them. What if that second nation typically regards chickens as suitable pets (an animal that Americans consume by the millions)? There is no limit to a human's affection, these pets could be just as dear to them as our puppies and kittens are to us.

Ok. Anyway. Go read that blog post from AllLookSame. It's great.