Seeing Through the Fence

Humanity's true moral test, its fundamental test, consists of its attitude towards those who are at its mercy: animals. And in this respect human kind has suffered a fundamental debacle, a debacle so fundamental that all others stem from it.

-Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Seeing Through the Fence ended with this quote, and it struck me because this idea is the base for my involvement in animal rights. The matter in which we treat the innocent, human or non human, is a measure of our morality. Animals will not do anything to us. They will not overpower us. We will never be their slaves. With this knowledge, the power we have over animals is endless, but it is not necessarily right. The compassion we extend to the innocent, knowing that we will not necessarily benefit from extending this compassion or be disadvantaged from the lack of it, evaluates humanity's goodness, the extent of its morality.

Although the technical quality of the documentary was very poor, as you can see in the DVD cover pictured below (Eleni Vlachos shot the the film with a Canon Mini-DVD), the content was excellent.

The film was organized into ten parts, each part consisting of a statement that many people in attempt to discredit vegetarianism (and failing in doing so), and followed with discourse from several views about this statement. Some of these include the idea that god gave humans the right to eat animals, the idea that meat is healthy and necessary.

One of the statements was even “meat just tastes too good to give up.” One thing I loved about this documentary was its candidness. Many animal rights films (such as Earthlings) thrust horrible images right in your face. Although for some, this is enough to take the issue seriously, for others, they just completely shut down. Seeing Through the Fence was refreshing because it talked about the issues seriously (and with humor) without pointing blame or forcing guilt on people. Overall, I think it was extremely effective. It reminds me of another animal rights documentary I have seen, Peaceable Kingdom. Peaceable Kingdom is all about compassion and good feelings. It is not negative or scary. I think this approach is a much better way to get people talking about issues, rather than scaring them so much that they change.

At the end of the screening, Eleni asked us, "What prevents ethical principles from being advanced to action?" One person said that convenience is an obstacle; another suggested that the problem doesn’t feel real enough to take seriously. I suggested that change is uncomfortable, and many people don’t want to change their lifestyles. I don’t think anyone knows the answer to this question, but it is something worth pondering. After all, when societies fail to act when witnessing immoralities, civilization ceases to exist.