Earthlings (2005)

Using hidden cameras and never-before-seen footage, Earthlings chronicles the day-to-day practices of the largest industries in the world, all of which rely entirely on animals for profit.

Director:

Shaun Monson

Writer:

Shaun Monson

Star:

Joaquin Phoenix

Cast

Credited cast:
Joaquin Phoenix	...	Narrator (voice)

Storyline

Using hidden cameras and never-before-seen footage, Earthlings chronicles the day-to-day practices of the largest industries in the world, all of which rely entirely on animals for profit.

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Plot Keywords:

animals in distress | violence | animal abuse | killing a dog | skinning alive | 

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Taglines:

Make The Connection

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Genres:

Documentary

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Did You Know?

Trivia

The French version is dubbed by NHL player Georges Laraque (#17 for the Montreal Canadiens). After seeing the movie, Laraque became a vegan and worked with French language coaches to be able to dub perfectly the movie in French. He wanted to ensure everyone could see the movie.

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Quotes

[first lines]
title card: earth-ling n. - One who inhabits the earth.
Narrator: Since we all inhabit the earth, we are all considered earthlings. There is no sexism, racism, or speciesism in the term 'earthling'. It encompasses each and every one of us: warm- or cold-blooded, mammal, vertebrate or invertebrate, bird, reptile, amphibian, fish and human alike.

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Connections

Referenced in El fin de la comedia: Episode #2.1 (2017)

User Reviews

Response to critical comments

I feel the need to respond to some of the criticisms I read in the comments on here. In many of the low reviews people cite two main reasons, they call it vegan/PETA propaganda or they say it is too violent and disgusting. Obviously it is "propaganda" for animal rights activists, that is the whole point of the movie. Everything documentary, book, pamphlet, speech etc. that was directed towards a purpose in the past was propaganda too.

Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech was propaganda for the civil rights movement, that did not mean he did not have a point or he was wrong, but he certainly did not give the arguments of white southerners equal weight did he? Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Susan B. Anthony, and every other human rights campaigner in history did the same. But please remember, none of these now famous civil rights campaigns were universally accepted in the past. Nelson Mandela was put in jail (and not just by the white South African government, the US government supported them for many many years). MLK was shot, female suffragettes were beat up and ridiculed. The pattern is the same, and the documentary identifies it in the first minute. Resistance to the truth Step 1: Ridicule (call it propaganda) Step 2: Violent Resistance Step 3: Acceptance.

For all the others who say its too violent, well that is the point, it is showing the reality of the animal product consumption industry. Do you complain that a documentary about the holocaust is too violent? Get real. Using this as a criticism is honestly sickening and it shows just how detached from reality some people are. Reality does not have a Hollywood happy ending. This is what happens, this is where your meat comes from. Shutting your eyes to the reality and ignoring it will not make it go away. How many Germans simply shut their eyes to what was happening around them?

Yes nature is cruel, yes lions kill zebra and eat them alive. Does that mean that we humans as sentient self-aware creatures are justified in doing the same? It reminds me a debate that Friedrich Hayek and John Rawls had about what constitutes a just society. Hayek said that nature is inherently "unfair" and the sooner "liberals" like Rawls deal with that fact the better off we will be. Rawls brilliantly responded that nature is neither fair nor unfair, it simply is nature, and how we deal with that fact is what makes our society fair or unfair.

I am not saying Earthlings is the best documentary ever, nor do I completely agree with all of PETA or the documentary's positions. I am also not a vegan. This film is difficult to watch, and it should be.

Details

Official Sites:

Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 September 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

Zemljani

Company Credits

Production Co:

Nation Earth

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Color:

Color Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

4 x 1.33 : 1