The Ghosts in Our Machine

 

Tonight while obsessively “browsing” tumblr, I came across this blog post which was reblogging someone saying “No excuses. Go VEGAN!”. The person who reblogged it had added a huge list of sarcastic reasons why veganism sucks. It had been reblogged like 5000 times.

So many of the reasons were just really missing the point. I hear these kind of reasons for why PETA is evil all the time. Yeah, PETA is not politically correct. They relate the treatment of animals to the Holocaust and Slavery. Yeah, they annoy and offend people in the streets. Yeah, veganism doesn’t respect some cultures’ traditions of  lamb eating or what have you.

What I don’t get is, isn’t it more evil to torture and murder living beings than to offend someone on their way to work?

PETA does good things. So do vegans and vegetarians.

It reminds me of that Kurt Vonnegut letter I posted a while back where he talked about his respect for life.

The respect for LIFE itself is the most important thing.

People understand this when it comes to humans, but not to animals. Throughout the history of western civ, all the philosophers and thinkers have spent so much time thinking about what elevates us from our “animal nature”, how we are unlike animals.

But let’s face it. We ARE like animals. We ARE animals. Every person who has ever loved their pet knows this. I guess more people need to spend more time with animals or something to understand what is so obvious to some…. bacon isn’t “bacon”, you know?? It’s a highly intelligent being.

Anyway.

I guess I’m thinking about all this as an introduction to something that I think is going to change a few people’s minds about things.

I’m so excited for it.

It is a film, by director Liz Marshall, called The Ghosts in Our Machine, which follows the amazing animal rights photographer Jo-Anne McArthur as she goes undercover documenting all the ways animals are used and abused by our society.

Isn’t the name Ghosts in Our Machine so powerful. It’s called that after the idea that when our society became more industrialized with big factory farming operations, animals suddenly became invisible in our society, hidden away in these huge factories, with literal killing machines *shudder*, living these lives where nobody really can see what’s going on inside.

Amazing name. Amazing point.

I had been keeping up with this film on their facebook page, but I guess I hadn’t gotten around to seeing their trailer. Or maybe I had seen it, but only after reading all these books about animal issues spurred on by this blog and the amazing commenters on this blog, did it really hit me over the head when I saw it again recently.

The trailer is SO good. The cinematography is beautiful, the music, everything, is like REALLY good.

Also following photographer Jo-Anne McArthur, whose work is so powerful–it’s the perfect angle–as Liz says in the interview, a true David and Goliath story, one woman against the machine, one woman trying to change the world through her art.

Ok so I said it.

I had the HONOR of talking to the director of the film Liz Marshall and asking her a few questions about the film.

I will be posting the interview hopefully by tomorrow for you to listen to. YIKES! I am no Oprah, Ellen or Tyra, but I hope you enjoy it. It was a thrill to talk to the creator of someone doing something so big and important in the extremely important world of animal rights.

I will be keeping you updated on this film, because I can’t wait to see it!!!

In the meantime, watch the trailers… You won’t be disappointed.

Readers, I hope you enjoy, and check out Ghosts in Our Machines website, (they have a lot of cool stuff on their website such as vegan coaching by the way) and their facebook page.

And also HI to all the new readers. I think someone posted my blog to reddit–amazing!!

Whoever did that, thank you. Feel free to like my facebook page where I have been sharing some cool vegan articles, vids, photos and stuff like that from other cool animal-ish orgs.

Ok happy weekend guys!!!