Such a frustrating disappointment

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Should be watched by everyone in the US and to people who want to know more about how animals are treated, as the things that happen in this film happen all over the world.

Early on, Earthlings, a documentary film by Shaun Monson, presents striking images of Nazi genocidal atrocities towards Jews, which elicit a curious cognitive dissonance in the viewer's mind - certainly the Jews were cruelly "treated like animals", but on this occasion we are moved to ask a different question: should even animals be treated this way? Or did the Nazi treatment of Jews stem in fact from the socially accepted reduction of animals to mere objects? From there on, it goes on to discuss the extent of modern society's pervasive speciesism, successively covering five expanses: Pets, Food, Clothes, Entertainment and Science. The ordering of this sequence is cunning and effective, and it helps Monson make his case about the endemic nature of speciesism in our society.Earthlings speaks to our innate sense of compassion. Something that is there inside all of us, but needs a reawakening. It is a movie that examines our spiritual conscience, personal evolution and so much more. I did have to prepare myself before I watched it mentally not to cry through the entire movie. I managed to get by with tears welling up in my eyes, and some trickling down my face, but that was unavoidable. If you have at least a bit of a heart within you, this movie is going to make you cringe at times and evoke some serious emotion, but that is not a good enough reason not to see it. I'm not going to attempt to describe the ghastly scenes in Earthlings. There were parts I missed because I had to turn away. At other times I acted like a little kid watching a horror film, covering my face with my hands, only watching what could slip through the cracks between my fingers. But this is no horror movie. Earthlings is real. Yes, it is inconvenient to find this out. Yes, it is going to make you rethink your ways, and yes, it may lead you to make some major changes in your life, but that is what evolution of the human being and spirit is all about.As a production, Monson's Earthlings is a meticulously crafted work, featuring narration by Joaquin Phoenix, a moodily effective musical score by Moby, and rare footage from inside the animal factory farming industry that must have been difficult to acquire, giving it the right atmosphere and the right facts to really drive the message home.Earthlings forcefully, sometimes disturbingly, reminds us of an essential character of our consciousness, something about ourselves that our culture often dismisses: compassion and empathy. Along the way it shows and tells some inconvenient truths that most of us would probably prefer to avoid, laying bare a mass hypocrisy that we mindlessly accept. Earthlings shows us what is right there to see, if we would only look directly and honestly.

The documentary is definitely a must watch (hence the 7/10 rating) and it certainly contributed to changing my attitude regarding meat consumption.However it must be said that its stance when it comes to experiments on living animals has a fair bit of flawed reasoning and misrepresents facts. It suggests that animal testing leads to wrong conclusions (that this is the norm, not the exception) and suggests that clinical investigation is the ONLY valid kind of investigation while experiments on animals are an "insult to true science".REALLY?! these statements are completely false; What would our understanding of biology/medicine be in the absence of model organisms like mice, macaques, fruit flies or nematodes to work on? What would our understanding of genetically-predisposed disorders and their treatment be in the absence of transgenic model organisms? Besides most experiments on animals are conducted in humane conditions and surgery is generally done under anesthesia. How can such basic/translational science research that is conducted under the approval of ethics committees be dealt with on the same level as slaughter of animals for food? their stance on experiments on living animals therefore is miseducating/misinforming to an often naive public and an unwarranted villanization of animal research which has had bad repercussions and lead to vandalism in the past.

I used to eat meat. I still do, but I used to too.Okay, I can sum up this film up as such: shocking vegan propaganda.Yeah, it shows a lot of awful true events that happen to animals in this world. Unfortunately when talking about this it withholds all logic and reason, instead relying on pure emotion.It makes it seem like the only way to help the animals is to go vegan. Unfortunately, we have evolved in such a way that our diet really does require meat. There are other issues with global veganism as well, but let's stick with that one. We need meat. We won't stop eating meat. Do we have any other solutions? According to the video, no.According to facts, yes! Many people would rather know where their meat comes from. For example, I buy my meat from a few local farms where one can plainly see how humanely the animals are treated. Why not support places like that? Because it won't shock. We'd rather show you these horrors that happen in Turkey. Great.Oh, and we get no benefit from animal research? Yeah, scientists are surely just a bunch of sadists. I do agree though that we would learn more about a substance's effects on humans if it were tested on humans, so! Here's the sign-up list, which chemical would you like to test, sir?Animal testing is necessary, but it CAN be done humanely. We have people come into the lab on occasion to make sure the mice are in the proper cages with proper comfort and everything. But that won't shock either.As the top species, humans require far more resources, and we should be allowed to sacrifice other creatures for the sake of our advancement. However, as the top species, I think we also have a moral duty to make those animals' stay on this planet as pleasant as possible. But that might be too logical for some people.If you're an emotional thinker and want to be shocked and disturbed, watch this. If you'd like to see sound arguments and logical solutions, don't bother.