Change Your Image
coyle-troy
Reviews
The Ghosts in Our Machine (2013)
Unexpected Surprise
I watched this movie as part of the Documentary Edge Festival in Auckland today. I absolutely loved it and can't rate it highly enough. It will definitely appeal to those who are already converted to the idea that animals are treated as another nation, which we appear to be at war with. However, I think it will also appeal to others who try to understand the world around them and why there are so many people so very passionate about exposing the horrors of animal exploitation. We constantly complain about how the media keep us ill informed of the real issues, yet so many people are not interested in viewing any images that reflect the horrors of reality. This documentary shows the difficulty of engaging the mainstream media in such issues and through the eyes of someone who has chosen to dedicate her life to exposing reality in an attempt to get people to change how they perceive and interact with animals. We also get introduced to a range of very unique animal personalities, such as a rescue cow and her calf, and a rescue pig and her gorgeous rambunctious piglets- they all live in an animal sanctuary now. We also get to lock eyes with those who are not so fortunate- and we know that their fate lies with changes in market attitudes, such as not buying fur, not eating meat, not visiting dolphinariums or zoos. It seems like a massive challenge; to change consumer behaviours that are so ingrained in people's psyche but at least Jo-Anne McArthur is trying.