Beyond "The Cove"

I had a hunch that I just had to watch the movie documentary "The Cove." All I knew about it was that the movie was made as almost a covert operation because it exposed the story of the annual slaughter of thousands of dolphins in a small cove in Japan. If you know me, you know that I have to get myself emotionally prepared for violent movies, but I was able to steel myself quickly for this one (and not just because small movies like this don't last long, even in the smaller art house movie theaters). No, I was OK to see this movie because I took some small comfort thinking I knew about the topic and now that I've been a vegetarian for three years, I thought the movie would make me feel even more self-righteous, and who couldn't use that ego boost every once in a while?

Well, I was all wrong. The movie was harrowing, but not at all as graphic as I expected. In fact, footage of such slaughters is more disgusting on the (late) evening news or in some nature documentaries (the kind that warn you about graphic content in the commercial bumpers). The most violent part of this movie was actually quite artfully filmed. But the harrowing sense of danger and the most disturbing part of it all was the interconnected web of issues this movie presented. There was no righteous indignation from me: I felt as ignorant as ever. The movie exposed the links between consumerism, economic power, political manipulation, media and government cover-ups, environmental arrogance, the devaluation of nature, and the species-centric conception of "intelligent life" we have all been trained to believe. Best of all it showed the effect that a very mall number of committed activists can have. Let's hope that effect is a long-lasting one that does everyone and everything a little better.

And if you didn't know that I'm a wimp about scary movies, then you probably know that I'm a huge marine biology geek/fan. When I lived in Los Angeles, I even had a season pass to Sea World in San Diego for two of the three years I lived there and thought nothing of a 2+ hour drive (one way) on a weekend to go watch some marine park shows for a few hours. But this annual dolphin slaughter is a byproduct of the marine park/marine mammal in captivity consumer demand. So guess what? I've given up on them all. Yes, you read correctly: I choose not to support any place that holds captive marine mammals. That means no more Sea World for me. No more Atlanta or Shedd or Baltimore or Mystic Aquarium. Really. Hard to believe, I know. But once you've been informed, you can't choose to go back to decisions based on a lifetime of ignorance.

Watch the movie "The Cove" and learn for yourself. Or check out the web page with more information.
Save Japan Dolphins Coalition

The first post: why?

I'm sure I'll come back to this question many times. But a conversation a few months ago with a great friend included the idea of posting "lessons" online in some kind of blog. I dismissed the thought quickly, perhaps too quickly, concluding I had nothing to teach anyone. But as I thought more and more about it, I realized the error of the arrogance of that hasty assessment. We learn lessons from strangers, from casual acquaintances, from newspapers, from TV shows, from current events, from pop culture, from politicians, from movies, from songs, from food, from families, and from all experiences. So who am I to say that nobody can learn anything from me and a silly little addition to the world wide blogosphere? And perhaps more importantly (and admittedly more selfishly), I will probably learn more from doing this than you might from reading this. Maybe that's the now unhidden/named agenda in these online explorations of mine. So here goes...