Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Meatrix: Stop animal abuse in factory farms

This animation video is both a satire and social-environmental commentary on how propaganda through the mass media have blinded many people to the actual situation in factory farms, where many farm animals were living in unhygienic living conditions. It unveils the ugly reality that profit-orientation of commercial farming and mass production of meat and dairy food (including beef, eggs, etc) have unfortunately compromised on the well-being of the farm animals, as well as the health of people who ate their meats.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Meatrix
"In a dark satire of The Matrix, Leo, a pig on a seemingly bucolic family farm, is approached by Moopheus, an anthropomorphic bull. Moopheus shows Leo that the farm he has known is an illusion, and that he is really trapped in a horrific factory farm. Leo and Moopheus then work to break out of the Meatrix and help others do the same, with some help from a third character, Chickity.[4][5] The animated short aims to encourage consumers to purchase organic food products and free-range meats."
I think it is good that the producers of this movie "Meatrix" http://www.themeatrix.com/ are endeavouring to spread awareness of the reality behind factory farming through the edutainment media, because that's the channel or the means to reach out to as many people in the modern society as possible, who are exposed to mass media themselves. This awareness will help people/consumers to make informed decisions, and help address the situations in their own ways, such as choosing not to buy foods that are mass produced from factory farms but instead buy foods from free range and organic farms.

The movie website http://www.themeatrix.com/learn has a section that informs the public on the various issues behind sustainable agriculture and factory farming, such as the fact that many animals in the farm are being fed antibiotics, and so on.
"Because of the crowded and unsanitary conditions on factory farms, animals are often fed low doses of antibiotics. Antibiotics are also used to make the animals grow faster. This is contributing to the growing problem of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in humans."
I think propaganda (or mass media) can work both ways - it can be used to advertise and brainwash people about certain ideas by some corporations, authorities, religious institutions, politicians, etc for their own dubious agendas, or it can be used to educate and inform people about how people, animals, environment, etc have suffered because of unfair systems and how people can find ways to address the issues in their own ways. Mass media - in the form of internet, newspapers, radio, TVs, books, etc - is perhaps a neutral medium, and it is up to people to decide how to use it to benefit themselves as well as others.

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1 comment:

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