Customer Reviews

EARTHLINGS

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It would be easy for a review to focus entirely on this documentary's visuals. For they are overwhelming. I suspect some persons even would scorn the documentary for "subjecting" us to these images, at least so many of them. But I think this would be misguided. For, with only a few exceptions, the documentary does not use its images in a way that's sensationalist. They merely document the conditions to which many animals are subjected. The problem, I think, is that we -- as a society -- actively avoid looking at any images documenting our treatment of unwanted pets, animals raised for meat, animals used for entertainment (e.g., circus), and animals used in experiments. Given this, Earthlings is simultaneously overwhelming and overdue. By itself, this is enough to recommend watching the film. However, the documentary is much more than this. Its creators obviously are attempting to provoke us to think. This is apparent within the first minute, as its prologue introduces its viewers to core moral principles that have defined the animal liberation movement. And it does this wonderfully. Its ability to articulate these principles clearly and concisely would make this film great supplemental material for any course covering its topics (I plan to show Earthlings in my community college applied ethics class when it examines Peter Singer's "Animal Liberation.") This prologue frames the film's visuals as they document our treatment of unwanted pets, animals raised for meat, animals used for entertainment, and animals used in experiments. It does this so well that rarely does a minute pass without the film challenging us to question some of the fundamental assumptions seemingly guiding our present treatment of these animals. This point is punctuated at the film's end, which challenges us to rethink our understanding of animals, our relationship to them, and our co-existence on earth. In the end, the film is provocative in the best sense I can image. It does not merely ask us to memorize its concepts. It beautifully immerses its philosophical content within its medium (Through the wonderful harmony of its visuals, Moby's subtly haunting music, and Joaquin Phoenix's minimalist, yet impassioned narration) in a way that challenges us to rethink how we live our lives. Many are likely to be disturbed by this challenge (As a life-long meat eater, I understand how difficult it can be to respond to this challenge). But it is doing nothing more or less than educating us! While the film is not perfect, and it does seem to be guilty of some pseudoscience -- especially with its seemingly hyperbolic denials of the knowledge acquired through vivisection -- those of us who are saddened by the educational opportunities missed each and every day on television and film are likely to find Earthlings an inspirational reminder of such media's educational capacities.

The movie starts with a warning for those with weak stomachs about disturbing graphic images. This is not an idle caution, at least 60 minutes of this 95 minute film would be enough to ruin anyones lunch. The film is broken into five subject sections above and beyond the intro and recap: Pets, Food, Clothing, Entertainment, Science. If you are too tenderhearted to see the gore or want to show this film to children, try watching the first and last 15 minutes of the film.

Philosophically the message of the movie mimics a quote from "The Outermost House" by Henry Beston who wrote, "We need another and a wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals. Remote from universal nature, and living by complicated artifice, man in civilization surveys the creatures through the glass of his knowledge and sees thereby a feather magnified and the whole image in distortion. We patronize them for their incompleteness, for their tragic fate of having taken form so far below ourselves. And therein we err, and greatly err. For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren; they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendor and travail of the earth."

Like most people I walked through life knowing I was turning a blind eye to animal testing,animal consumption, and the like... taking my kids to the circus and feeling very guilty for it. I am the Father of 4, after viewing this movie my wife and I immediately became vegan, that was 7 months ago.. We regret nothing.
There are 2 quotes from the movie that spoke to me, the later is taken from a Harry Beston novel.

"Every animal is the psychological center of a life that is uniquely their own."

"We need another and a wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals. Remote from universal nature and living by complicated artifice, Man and civilization survey the creatures through the glass of his knowledge and sees their by a feather magnified and the whole image in distortion.

We patronize them for their incompleteness, for their tragic fate of having taken form so far beneath ourselves. And therein we err, and greatly err. For the animal shall not be measured by man.

In a world older and more complex than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendor and travail of the earth."-Harry Beston 1888~1968

What we do to animals is wrong, most of us just wont say it out loud.

This is the saddest movie I've ever seen. Phoenix's somber voice and the tragic, graphic images and music make for a very surreal experience while watching this documentary. It is saddening but ultimately it is determined and you will come away feeling the need to make a change for justice and equality between our close-knit earthlings.

I am in utter disbelief, and I am saddened that I wasn't educated earlier. Upon watching this movie, I instantly became a vegan. For me, there was no other option. I must say that I was depressed for days following watching it. I cried myself to sleep at the thoughts of the pain and torture these animals have endured. I was horrified and mortified about the way we abuse the animals on our planet. Thank goodness my eyes were openeded. This movie is incredible but it will touch you and you won't be the same after. Once we learn better, we do better. And I plan to do better for life. Please share this one with those you love.

I have seen a lot of videos documenting animal abuse. This is probably the best one I've seen. This film is excellent. Although it is difficult to watch, the narration is thought provolking.

For those of you who are too afraid to see this because of the graphic animal abuse...just remember that they have to live through this violence each and every day, every minute and every second. We owe it to them to see it. Because the more we see the more we know. And the more we know, the better we can speak out against it.

On behalf of the billions and billions of animals who are suffering today right this second...may your voice be lended to them. Their life depends on it.

This film isn't a conspiracy theory. It's not some weird, skewed perspective on how animals are treated on a daily and hourly basis. It's a harsh, open-eyed presentation of facts, and the facts are horrifying. Phoenix narrates a broad array of footage detailing homo sapiens appalling mistreatment, torture, and slaughter of animals. The footage is often difficult to watch, and some images will stay with you for a long, long time. This is the first time, for instance, that I have seen footage of a live skinning of a dog in China. Words can't describe my visceral and emotional reaction to this, but it should be seen. As Phoenix says, quoting Ralph Waldo Emerson: "You have just dined, and however scrupulously the slaughterhouse is concealed in the graceful distance of miles, there is complicity."

This film offers footage that most people would rather not see, and rather not contemplate. But, as the saying goes, "we must not refuse to see with our eyes what they must endure with their bodies." _Earthings_ presents a straightforward record of our daily, appalling mistreatment, murder, and exploitation of animals--for food, for entertainment, for so-called science, most importantly for MONEY. Everyone who benefits, perhaps unknowingly, from this cruelty should watch it, and judge for themselves.

This should be essential viewing.

Earthlings shows things no sane human wants to watch, things that make you wince, that make your heart shrivel, that leave you feeling drained and stupefied at the horrors perpetrated on a daily basis for nothing more than satisfying the interests and tastes of individual homo sapiens. Many may describe this as a film about animal rights, but the subject is not so much animals as it is humans, not so much about rights as it is the struggle to live compassionately.

Earthlings opens by laying out its assumptions, beginning with the premise of specieism, a variation on the human habit of assigning heightened moral value to isolated features of our own species, such as race, nationality, or sex. In asserting special rights, humans justify the treatment of animals - as they have done with women or certain ethnic groups - as creatures of less value, less worthy of respect, as in fact not creatures at all but property.

The filmmakers proceed to look at five ways in which animals serve humans: as pets, food, clothing, entertainment, and research subjects. There is a narrative of sorts, but the of images of cruelty and horror tell the real story, a story of suffering on a scale so unimaginable it is overwhelming. Even more disheartening is that much of this suffering is caused not because people are starving, or naked, or without other means of enriching their lives, but because we like the taste of flesh, we like the feel of leather, we like the thrill of the hunt. This is suffering caused for nothing more than fulfillment of sensual desire.

I have been a vegetarian for nearly two years, dating back to my first six-month visit to Nepal, a country with low sanitation standards. I stopped eating meat for health reasons. I was not and have not been an animal rights activist, though I do have a great fondness for and interest in animals. I came to this film with an open mind and heart; I now feel traumatized. I don't blame the filmmakers for this. They have simply shown me what is and made me aware of things I ignored. As the filmmakers point out, it's not so much that these truths are hidden. Most of us prefer not to see them.

Consider this. Earthlings officially premiered in 2005, which means it has been in circulation for at least three years. But if you google a search string of [earthlings review] you will find most returns are from sites about vegetarianism or animal protection. No reviews from major media or major critics, despite the fact that the producers (without the help of a distributor) put the film in a number of theaters in order for it to be considered for an Academy Award nomination. At the internet's two largest movie databases, IMBD and Rotten Tomatoes, the latter has no listing at all, the former no links to external reviews.

If you are prepared for an emotional and intellectual challenge and can withstand the pain of seeing animals, while still alive, having their throats slits, being burnt, beaten, electrocuted, shot, or gassed, then you might like to view or purchase a copy of the film here. A streaming version good for one week is available for US$2.99.

"Man's fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; man has no advantage over the animal. Everything is meaningless. All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return."
Ecclesiastes 3:19-21

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I always thought an organization like PETA was full of *&%#. I thought animals were treated justly and only *&%holes like Vick abused animals. My eyes have been opened in a most un-Godly way. This film is very disturbing, very soul shaking. I will probably never view the world as I did prior to this film. I never believed people could be so cruel and viel. The level of suffering is hellacious. Animals just mutilated while still alive and fully aware and in intense pain. Men sadistically killing these animals with no regard that they feed and clothe us. They keep us alive and they die in intense pain without reverence or gratitude. Is it too much to ask they die by a kind and just hand with minimal pain???? That isn't our way anymore is it? We are a violent, greedy, me first society. My family and I have decided we will no longer support this barbaric process. We will only buy meat from a home grown farm where we know what the animal eats, how they live and, most importantly, how the animal dies. And if we can't do that, we will live without meat. We will not starve, there is plenty of food other then meat. It has been three weeks and I still can't get the visions of the treatment of these animals out of my thoughts. Please watch this DVD, spread the word, ask people to get the DVD and watch the film. This cruelty must stop!

It took me 2 weeks after receiving it to actually watch this....I kind of knew what I was in for. I bought this after watching the documentary on Ingrid Newkirk, I had decided after viewing that to go vegetarian, but did not think I could manage being vegan...but after Earthlings I am proudly a vegan.

The one thing that brings home the message is the juxtaposition of happy animals in their natural habitat and the horrid, hellish lives animals live at the hands of humans. I cried the whole movie, to see these animals abused, confined, ripped from their families, confused, scared, and in agony was heart wrenching. I've lived on this planet for 32 years, and until now that is 32 years that I have been complicit and this torture, and thankfully I have now changed my ways.

One can argue that there is much human suffering in the world, and that is true, but suffering is suffering and animal suffering is no more or less important than human suffering. I know this is kind of rambling, but I'm still a bit shaken up since wathing this yesterday. All I can say is if you watched this, and did not even contemplate changing the role animals play in your life, then you are a monster.