Earthlings

This is such a brilliant piece of work from Shaun Monson and Joaquin Phoenix. Using undercover footage, the film shows what the animals go through to give us the products that the human race uses every day.

The average Joe eats meat, but wouldn't kill an animal himself. He tries his best not to think about how it went from a living breathing pig or cow, to a rasher of bacon or a steak. Many people get through their whole lives protected from the horrible truth. As Phoenix said in the film "If slaughterhouses had glass walls, we would all be vegetarians." Well, this documentary shows what's going on behind those walls. This film is not just about animals used for the food industry, but also shines the light on - among others - the fur industry, animal circuses and animal experimentation.

By avoiding overly emotive language the film has a tremendous impact and the biggest shame is that not more people have seen it - or even heard of it. Please watch this film, and tell others about it. It gives an incite into the things we take for granted.

You don't have to buy it - it's free to watch on google.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1282796533661048967

Watch it all. Take an hour and a bit out of your life for this movie - it will change it. I have been vegan ever since watching this movie.

Unquestionably the most comprehensive look at animal abuses and cruelty ever made. A very sobering look at why animal rights is something we must all recognize. Joaquin Phoenix does a wonderful job narrating (he's a life-long vegan), and brings a solemn tone to the film. The video clips are hard to watch, but are undeniably happening millions of times every day, all over the world. With any luck, people will watch this film and be inspired to reject and prevent this kind of cruelty from occurring in the future. I know I will.

I will give this film a 10, because even though I knew some of the information going into it, the film still covers more aspects of animal rights than I ever though imaginable.

People should be disgusted by this piece because it represents what is true in today's society and what is disgusting. If you cannot kill your own meat humanly, you should not be eating it. Lethargy and turning a blind eye hurts you just as much as anyone. This is the reason for heart disease and obesity being rampant in the USA. If you need to run and kill your own prey (and most often unsuccessful) to survive then meat is a calorie packed choice for your sustenance - if you graze and meander all day (like most couch potatoes and most in the US) than you should be eating a grazer's diet of veggies. Meat from suffering dirty animals is not necessary in a modern human's diet.

And, I disagree with the otherwise eloquent poster below. I have never felt drained or tired from my diet - in fact I feel lean and energetic.... and guilt-free.

In the end, there is every reason to watch this film. It is every persons obligation to know what exists in their own backyard and what they are contributing to. If you are fine with your actions after that - at least it is your informed choice.

I feel the need to respond to some of the criticisms I read in the comments on here. In many of the low reviews people cite two main reasons, they call it vegan/PETA propaganda or they say it is too violent and disgusting. Obviously it is "propaganda" for animal rights activists, that is the whole point of the movie. Everything documentary, book, pamphlet, speech etc. that was directed towards a purpose in the past was propaganda too.

Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech was propaganda for the civil rights movement, that did not mean he did not have a point or he was wrong, but he certainly did not give the arguments of white southerners equal weight did he? Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Susan B. Anthony, and every other human rights campaigner in history did the same. But please remember, none of these now famous civil rights campaigns were universally accepted in the past. Nelson Mandela was put in jail (and not just by the white South African government, the US government supported them for many many years). MLK was shot, female suffragettes were beat up and ridiculed. The pattern is the same, and the documentary identifies it in the first minute. Resistance to the truth Step 1: Ridicule (call it propaganda) Step 2: Violent Resistance Step 3: Acceptance.

For all the others who say its too violent, well that is the point, it is showing the reality of the animal product consumption industry. Do you complain that a documentary about the holocaust is too violent? Get real. Using this as a criticism is honestly sickening and it shows just how detached from reality some people are. Reality does not have a Hollywood happy ending. This is what happens, this is where your meat comes from. Shutting your eyes to the reality and ignoring it will not make it go away. How many Germans simply shut their eyes to what was happening around them?

Yes nature is cruel, yes lions kill zebra and eat them alive. Does that mean that we humans as sentient self-aware creatures are justified in doing the same? It reminds me a debate that Friedrich Hayek and John Rawls had about what constitutes a just society. Hayek said that nature is inherently "unfair" and the sooner "liberals" like Rawls deal with that fact the better off we will be. Rawls brilliantly responded that nature is neither fair nor unfair, it simply is nature, and how we deal with that fact is what makes our society fair or unfair.

I am not saying Earthlings is the best documentary ever, nor do I completely agree with all of PETA or the documentary's positions. I am also not a vegan. This film is difficult to watch, and it should be.

Watching a documentary like this is not an easy thing to do. But it is something that all people should do. The way animals are treated by humans is nothing short of horrific. The sad fact is that people don't want to be educated in this regard. It is far easier for them to remain ignorant. The question that I was constantly asking myself throughout this film, is "how can people work in these places, and inflict the level of cruelty to these animals so blatantly". Perhaps they are numb to it. But I guess the fact that they can become numb to is means that there is probably no hope for these animals at all. The truly sad part is that many of them seemed to enjoy their work. I certainly hope that I am wrong.

This documentary covers *all* facets of human speciesism (a term that is referred to throughout the film). Pets, and pet abuse, animals for food and clothing, cruelty to animals in the name of human entertainment, zoos, circuses. Although I do consider myself to be an educated vegan, I did learn a lot from watching this documentary. The tone in which Joaquin Phoenix narrated was very compelling. You can tell that he is passionate about the subject.

I suspect that only a vegan or perhaps a vegetarian would be able to watch this all the way through. Most people that support the industries that are outlined within the film, would likely turn it off when it gets to the graphic sections, as they wouldn't want to be put off their dinner. As the film says, it's easier to remain ignorant, so that you don't have to battle with your conscience and make the hard decisions.

I urge everyone that gets the opportunity to see this documentary, to do so. It really is an education indeed. It can be purchased on line from http://www.isawearthlings.com/