Thinking Animals: Witness the world through a screen

Over the spring break I've been watching a lot of documentaries about different social, environmental, political and economic issues. For me personally, the most powerful moments in each film came when I witnessed (if only through a screen) the undeniably real images and sounds that primary source (or firsthand, unmediated by intrusive editing or narration) footage offers. These emotional, educational, inspirational moments have included seeing insects stoically endure a brutal rainfall, US soldiers shoot endless rounds at invisible enemies, humans speak with raw clarity during interviews, and in general, human and nonhuman animals suffering, enduring, learning, fighting and dying.

This last sentence might make my journey through documentaries seem kind of dark and morbid - and it has been - but life on this planet is frequently sad and always strange. We need to see reality in order to react properly to the problems it presents us. Though mediated through a screen and a narrative, the realities and problems documentaries present us can become powerful, intimately profound experiences that demand a reaction.

But before you check out the following movies, have you watched EARTHLINGS yet? If not, do it. Seriously, DO IT NOW.

Anima Mundi

This is an excerpt from the film by Godfrey Reggio, director of Koyaanisqatsi. With music by Philip Glass. You can watch the half hour long experimental documentary here.

The Witness

Watch The Witness online

Microcosmos

Watch Microcosmos online

Food Inc.

You can watch Food Inc. on Netflix's Watch Instantly thing, if you have access to that.

These next few films might not seem directly related to the human-animal relationships, but each implicitly deals with vital themes of animal studies and as such, frequently invoke or involve animals in the narrative. As of right now, you can watch all of the following online with Netflix.

The Botany of Desire

Proposes that plants use and adapt for humans in order to proliferate.

Restrepo

Really fascinating, disturbing film. Relevant, interesting scene: US soldiers kill and eat a local farmer's cow. When elders demand compensation of $400, the higher-ups refuse and pay them in food instead. This is an inherently unfair bargain as cattle in this area of Afghanistan are used for their milk and labor, and generally forbidden from being slaughtered - these soldiers blatantly disregarded local custom and then repaid their mistake with consumer goods (an inappropriate compensation for a being valued for her productive and laboring capacities). Themes of control, power, objectification and comparative technological advantage are also relevant.

Objectified

Discusses industrial design processes, material culture, consumerism, mass waste, inefficiency and alienation from the means of production.

Collapse

More a character study than propaganda about the collapse of industrial civilization. Michael Ruppert makes a convincing, terrifying argument. I see the common attitude towards animals as a significant aspect of the dominant human ideology of control and presumed supremacy that has justified gross environmental exploitation and destruction. This one's really fascinating and highly recommended.

Watch Collapse online here.

MORE MOVIES
These aren't quite documentaries, but nevertheless are relevant, compelling films (Not available on Netflix).

Baraka