animaswereharmed-blog

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No foul play

American Humane Association ruling after the death of three horses in Luck

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HBO’s LUCK

In March of 2012 HBO cancelled the show Luck, a drama about horse racing. Three horses died during the filming of this show. Although PETA received information that “the production used horses that often were elderly, broken-down, underfed and potentially even drugged”, the AHA approved the film and said that no guidelines were broken. 

This is a case where CGI would have dramatically decreased the amount of stress placed on the horses. However, Milch, a director, did not want to use simulation, calling back on Spielberg’s concern about authenticity. However, Milch went further than Spielberg, or as far as we know he did, when he raced the horses up to a third of a mile at one time for up to three times a day. 

Despite the death of three horses: one after rearing up, flipping over, and hitting her head on the ground, one after severely fracturing a bone in his leg, and one after receiving a similar bone fracture, the AHA’s investigation ruled that “no foul play” occurred.

If these horses were wandering an open field would these deaths have occured? The answer is obviously not. The ruling of the AHA not only poses concerns about filming on set but also what happens off of set. If animals are dying during filming, (or injured to the point of where they need to be euthanized), and the AHA is unconcerned, what is happening when they are not watching?

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This quick short is meant to placate the concerns about animal welfare in the filming of War Horse. There are many ironies present. No matter how well we treat the horses, should they be used on a set to tell a human story?

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Hollywood and “Slow Thinking”

Hollywood blockbusters are created to make money. The Hollywood film industry is fast paced and many productions coming from California are fast paced as well. They are meant to be entertaining; the kind of film you watch for 2 hours and then leave the theater, never to be thought of again.

I encourage you to think about them. Not only about their “deeper meaning” (if there even is one) but also about the animals involved. These animals were present to contribute to the film. They told the story that the director was trying to tell, they contributed to the entertainment. However, animals are not meant to be used in this way. It is important for us as an audience to carefully consider the use of animals. Do we have any right to take a wild animal and train it for our viewing enjoyment? Because we are higher on the food chain or more intelligent or more capable should we use whatever resource, living our not, to make ourselves happy?

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How Humans View Animals: Anthropomorphism

Animals are depicted in films in usually one of two ways: cute or scary. Many films show that animals are “just like us” or “our best friend” or that they need saving. The flip side of this coin is the films that show animals as villains, i.e. evil dogs, wolves, bears, etc. 

Animals are not “just like us”. This viewpoint causes all sorts of issues as an animal’s needs are wildly different from a human’s. Animals rely on instinct and many times need wide open spaces. There are more than one accounts of trained animals attacking or even killing their “owner”. This is not because the animal is inherently evil, or even violent. Instead, the animals are forced to behave like humans, causing a defense mechanism. They are trying to protect themselves from unnatural orders and surroundings.

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Improvements

There are obvious improvements in the film industry since Jessie James and Electrocuting an Elephant. The treatment of animals has improved much in part due to their non usage. CGI, or computer generated images, has changed the game for many animals. Through the use of CGI, any animal, real or imaginary, can be made to look real. These images can be based upon previous live footage of animals, taking away the need for actual shooting. 

However, there are directors that oppose the use of CGI. Steven Spielberg claims that “CGI is artificial and audiences can tell”. He states that he only used CGI in two shots in his film War Horse, and it is pretty obvious. Whether or not he is correct, “authentic” directors still insist upon the use of live animals as much as possible. The AHA is not always monitoring on set, and they do not monitor the animals when they are not filming. The chance of abuse is high, especially with animals that can be easily replaced, such as cats and dogs.

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The Jessie James Incident

Jessie James, a 1939 western was the film that got the American Humane Association involved in the Film and TV industry. One of the scenes involved Frank James, played by Henry Fonda, and his brother Jesse, played by Tyrone Power escaping a group of assailants by riding their horses off of a cliff and into the river. 

The jump killed the horse. It either drowned or broke its back. 

There were many protests and eventually the Motion Picture Association of America let the AHA oversee the filming of animals and establish guidelines for their use.

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No animals were harmed in the making of this film...

This saying has become a part of our pop culture but do we really know what it means? 

The American Humane Association was founded in 1877 to protect all types of animals, both domesticated and wild. They began to work in the film industry after the Jessie James incident (to be discussed in the next post). In order for a film to be approved by the American Humane Association, and receive the well known phrase no animals were harmed in the making of this film the production has to pass several guidelines. 

However, this organization cannot be trusted. According to the Los Angeles Times, many films have received the AHA’s stamp of approval despite allegations of animal cruelty and injury. PETA also states that their seal of approval is, “extremely misleading to producers and audiences alike”. Their number one claim is that the AHA is not an animal rights’ group. The AHA does not protect the wellbeing of animals, it simply determines if there was any abuse during the filming of a movie. 

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Topsy the Elephant

While not a horse, Topsy is an important animal in the film industry that needs to be mentioned. Topsy was born in Southeast Asia around 1875. She was captured and smuggled into the United States shortly after. She performed in various circuses throughout her life and earned a reputation as a bad elephant. In 1902 she killed a spectator, James Fielding Blount, in Brooklyn at the Forepaugh & Sells Brother’ Circus. Accounts vary but a somewhat drunk Blout seems to have wandered into the tend and thrown sand in Topsy’s face and burned the end of her trunk with a lit cigar. Topsy then knocked him to the ground and crushed him with her head, knees or foot. There are reports that she killed two other trainers but it has not been proven. In 1902 she also threw a spectator into the air while being unloaded from a train. He had provoked her by “tickling” her behind the ear with a stick. Topsy was moved around between circuses but the nail in her coffin occurred when her drunk handler, William Alt rode her into the Coney Island police station where she made quite a commotion, causing the police officers to hide in the cells. Alt was fired and Luna Park decided they did not want the elephant and since no one else did, they had to euthanize her. 

In January of 1903 there was an announcement that Topsy would be publicly hanged and spectators could watch if they paid the 25 cent admission. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals forbade the public hanging. Thompson and Dundy, the owners of Luna Park, decided they would strangle the elephant with ropes as well as use poisoning and electricity, since a previous elephant execution in Buffalo failed. A film crew from the Thomas Edison film company recorded the event. Topsy died on Sunday January 4th, 1903. The actuality is below- VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED

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Humble Beginnings

One could argue that the film industry began because of horses. In 1872, Eadweard Muybridge, an English photographer and pioneer of the motion picture industry took on a job from Leland Stanford, a businessman and owner of racehorses. Stanford wanted to solve the popular debate of whether all of a horse’s hooves were in the air at the same time while it was trotting or running. Muybridge set about answering this question buy using cameras. He set up 12 cameras around a racetrack to take a series of pictures. When these pictures were “played” in order, they showed that a horse’s hooves do indeed leave the ground at the same time. (see below)