What happens when a dog’s purpose goes beyond entertainment
Disturbing footage reminds us of need for rules, but also the merits of animals on screen
Dogs and cats do not want to be movie stars.
They just want to be loved. These two simple truths could go a long way in safeguarding Hollywood animals.
Although four-legged stars are better off today than in the past — starting in 1903 when Thomas Edison basically made a snuff film with the horrifically self-explanatory title, Electrocuting an Elephant — controversies still occasionally bark at our conscience.
On Wednesday, TMZ obtained footage of a German shepherd named Hercules on the set of the upcom- ing film, A Dog’s Purpose. In the video, shot in Winnipeg two years ago, Hercules resists as a trainer tries to force him into a tank of thrashing water.
Hercules claws at the edge. He tries to bolt. He is clearly terrified. The human reaction to the clip was swift: PETA called for a boycott of the film. The red-carpet premiere scheduled for Los Angeles this weekend was cancelled. Amblin Entertainment and Universal Pictures said they are investigating.
And those who worked on the film expressed shock and dismay.
“While I do not know all of the details and cannot speak to the level of care and caution that went into this moment (as I was never on set for the making of this film),” wrote actor Josh Gad on Twitter, “I am shaken and sad to see any animal put in a situation against its will.”
“People have to be held responsible for this,” producer Gavin Polone told Deadline. “It was someone’s job to watch out for this kind of thing. Why didn’t they?”
That someone is usually a rep for American Humane Association, which started the “No Animals Were Harmed” system of Hollywood oversight. In a statement to E! News, the animal-welfare agency said: “We are placing the safety representative who was on the set on administrative leave immediately and are bringing in an independent third party to conduct an investigation into this matter.”
So in less than 48 hours after the video surfaced, multiple investigations were launched and nobody ducked responsibility. Most workplace safety inquiries involving people don’t move this fast or with such urgency.
The reaction this week also qualifies as night-and-day compared to a time when animals were treated as studio props. The leaked footage of Hercules balking at the edge of churning water, as disturbing as it is, becomes positively upbeat when inserted into the grim catalogue of animal injuries and deaths on many films, including the 1925 version of Ben-Hur, Pink Flamingos, Cannibal Holocaust, Oldboy, Stagecoach, Land Without Bread, Manderlay and Dry Summer.
Horses detonated with dynamite. Real cockfights. Chickens decapitated. Disembowelled cows. Mutilated sea turtles. An octopus eaten alive by an actor. Donkeys slaughtered. Cats tortured. And all of this depraved abuse, it should never be forgotten, unfolded for the twin purposes of profit and entertainment.
The question becomes: should animals ever be used for our amusement?
The activists who recently cheered the end of the Ringling Brothers circus after 146 years or mourned the shooting death of Harambe or plan to boycott A Dog’s Purpose next week will answer, “Absolutely not.”
They believe animals should never be relegated to captivity or coerced performance, whether it’s inside a zoo cage or under the big top or flanked by trainers on a film set.
But the issue is little more complex, even if you’re an animal lover, as I am.
In fact, you could argue that we need more animals in popular culture precisely to remind us of those that are not. The irony of Hercules’ ordeal — and he’s fine today — is that this kind of oversized reaction often brings us as close as we ever get to thinking about the nameless creatures, in every part of the world, that are abused each and every day when cameras are not rolling.
When alarming new reports suggest half of all primates now face extinction, when we’ve never been more removed from our food sources or are generally too preoccupied with our own miserable problems to spare much concern for the other species in our midst, a loss of biodiversity in arts and recreation seems terribly unwise and potentially harmful.
It’s easier to appreciate the majesty of tigers after you see one.
The systems now in place to protect Hollywood animals like Hercules, the ones that didn’t exist when Edison killed Topsy the Elephant at Coney Island more than a century ago, serve a function beyond the immediate welfare of those animals.
When activated, when the publicity cloud descends, these systems also remind us that we are not alone, that our treatment of animals is not an abstraction. It is a reflection of our decency and, ultimately, our humanity.
In this context, however unsettling the situation, a dog like Hercules is elevated from furry actor to the role of global ambassador. He becomes a crucial aide-mémoire that reads all animals, even those without agents, are worthy of respect. vmenon@thestar.ca
This kind of oversized reaction often brings us as close as we ever get to thinking about the nameless creatures