Sunday, May 20, 2012

Viewer advisory


I saw a few episodes of Alaska: The Last Frontier. The scenery is reminiscent of where I grew up, although we were spared the Arctic winters. The show is about an extended family who live off the land in Homer, Alaska. 

What’s funny is that after each commercial break, before returning to the show, Animal Planet runs a content warning about how some viewers might find some of the images “disturbing.” It might not be “appropriate” for some viewers.

Let’s see. There’s a scene in which the family eats the milk cow. You don’t actually see them shoot it. You just hear the gunshot, then see a BBQ. There’s another scene in which someone shoots a squirrel, cooks it over an open fire, and eats it.

Are these the sorts of “disturbing” scenes which some viewers might be too squeamish to watch? Do they really need a viewer advisory to protect them from being traumatized by what they see?

This illustrates how out-of-touch environmentalists are with the environment. Hunting game and butchering livestock was how our not-so-distant ancestors put food on the table. If you lived off the land, you can’t order delivery tofu burgers.

But, of course, most environmentalists are hitech urbanites. They don’t live off the land. They live in climate-controlled condos and eat processed food.

Keep in mind that Animal Planet also has the usual run of nature shows with lions, sharks, snakes, and crocodiles eating animals alive. That’s far more graphic than watching a hunter shoot a rabbit or pluck a chicken.

Environmentalists act like every wild animal is a pet dog or cat.

1 comment:

  1. It's also telling that killing an animal for food warrants a advisory warning, but not the trash that passes for entertainment on any typical prime-time drama or comedy on regular network television. Times...they are a changing.

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