(As I was working on this DB I found out that you can watch the full movie online at http://www.earthlings.com/earthlings/video-full.php.)
CLOTHING
As the video says, people wear leather with little to no thought of where it came from. I too own a leather laptop bag and a jacket. Honestly, I didn't really think about it when I bought them; I just got them just because they looked good, and I wanted one. We own leather couches without much thought about their origins. My dad's old car used to have leather seats, which I hated for their terrible smell that made me nauseous. As I look back, I think my dad wanted leather seats because he considered them to be classy. Similarly, to follow a certain fad, many people spend hundreds of dollars to buy leather, which increases the demand for leather around the world.
My couch looks kind of like this
It is really unfortunate what these animals have to suffer to satiate people's want for fashion. As I sat in class watching all the horrible things happening to the poor cows, I couldn't help but yelp, "HOLY S***!" and close my eyes. I am an empathetic person who CANNOT stand watching other people in pain. I flinched and cringed as I saw people treat the cows horribly. When I saw the "tail breaking" part, I could almost feel the pain. When I thought things couldn't get any worse, the "chili pepper" section played... I cannot believe people stick in peppered fingers in cows eyes to make them move! It was quite possibly the shocking part for me.
Indian cows that are usually treated so well have to go through painful journey to be slaughtered for leather.
Watching caged animals for fur go crazy had, for some reason, significantly less influence on me. I did not feel as terrible for watching this section of the movie.
I understand the demands for leather and fur for clothing, but I wonder if it is necessary to treat the animals so terribly. Perhaps people mistreat these animals thinking that these animals are going to die anyway, so why bother treating them with affection and care. However, it is unnecessary to treat them with cruelty as well. I wish people would look at these animals as more than just capitals but as living creatures who also feel pain and suffer like human beings.
ENTERTAINMENT
I did not agree so much with this section, so I will briefly talk about this section.
This part of the movie provided a different view on animal entertainment business, and I agree with few points but disagree with most. I can understand how bullfighting and roping can be torturous to cows and is inhumane, but people also honor those animals for their strength and beauty.
Furthermore, I cannot see the danger in fishing, horse racing, and such. Jockeys take horse racing seriously and for them it is a sacred sport. Yes, horses do get hurt when they collide, but so do jockeys that ride the horses. Horse racing is a competitive sport that sometimes result in an unfortunate accident. And in my opinion, danger in fishing is just going too far.
Just look how serene and peaceful this scene is!! :)
SCIENCE
I had mixed feelings about this part. For me, experiment on animals is something that is unfortunate but necessary for the sake of humanity. Scientists need to test many things for possible hazards on SOMETHING. They cannot use human beings to test if the new product is hazardous, so they must resort to next closest thing to humans: animals. Also, I do admit that some tests are unnecessary and some reach a conclusion of absolutely no value, but they too must have had some sort of merit when the tests began. While it is true that the animals may have different reactions than humans, testing on animals give scientists a general idea of what could happen to humans.
Thank you for suffering in our stead...
All in all, the overlying theme I got from this movie is that we should treat animals with a little more compassion.
