Happy Feet
I’m not very bright. When I sat down to watch Happy Feet this week, I was expecting a movie about a penguin who learns to stick up for himself and do what he loves regardless of how the majority may feel. I know it’s more of a kid’s movie, but I was in the mood to watch something light-hearted and I thought the movie might have a good message. Boy, was I wrong. The movie started like I expected, but it quickly turned into environmentalist propaganda.
I’m very disappointed in myself. The clues were there. Penguins, Antartica, the fact that the movie comes out in today’s culture, the text on the back of the box that I didn’t read… all signs that suggest that the movie might have an environmentalist position. But no, I said, “Oh, a penguin that loves to dance!” and picked it up. Shame on me.
Hi, I’m Mumbles. I can’t sing, but I sure can dance! Why do you want to kill me?
Shame on the makers of this movie too, though. If the purpose of a movie is to push the idea that we should treat animals as if they had rights, I think it’s really dishonest to portray animals as if they were fully-rational humans that just look different than us. Animals aren’t humans. They don’t talk, dance, sing, crack jokes, or do anything that would elevate themselves to the same rights as humans. Penguins are just animals, and to sacrifice ourselves in any way (including lowering our prosperity in the tiniest bit) for their sake would be immoral and wrong. There are fish out in the sea, and if the penguins want them they’ll have to get them before we do.
I can think of one interesting question that this movie could brings up. If penguins really possessed rational minds like they did in the movie (essentially making them humans that just look different), should we change how we should treat their habitat? I don’t think it changes anything one bit. Just because penguins suddenly can think and talk does not give them rights that even humans don’t have: To claim vast amounts of land only because they want to live a penguin lifestyle. There is one quick shot in the movie of an environmentalist that wants to ban all fishing within hundreds of miles around Antartica in order to preserve the penguin food supply. Just imagine if we treated all of the millions of the different species of animals with that same respect. There would be nowhere to live!
I don’t think that people should kill animals or destroy the environment just for the heck of it. I just refuse to acknowledge that we should budge one inch in our quest for prosperity and happiness for the sake of animals. People come first.
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