I Won’t Watch Anything That Involves Animal Cruelty
It doesn’t matter if it’s fictitious or not; I’m not down with it
I’ll never watch The End of the F***king World, The Stranger, or Don’t F*ck With Cats, even though I normally enjoy watching movies and TV shows about serial killers, young adults, or true-crime.
I’m still undecided about Tiger King.
I can’t stand to watch any kind of animal death or animal abuse, even if it’s fictional or necessary to move the plot along. I love reading suspense and mystery novels but will immediately stop if there’s too much foreshadowing regarding a sweet dog, or a cat with a little too much personality, because I know that at some point that pet will be killed to raise the stakes.
Besides my personal aversion, I think harming an animal just to make the bad guy more despicable is lazy writing. Animals aren’t disposable and shouldn’t be used as manipulative devices — even if no animals are harmed in real life.
Although I can’t force filmmakers, novelists, or screenwriters to not include any kind of animal violence, I can avoid putting myself through the anguish that I feel seeing it. I’ve experienced the loss of a pet and it’s not something that I want to go through vicariously. I also don’t need inspiration for more nightmares…
