"Canada's Shame"

Please Note: This 45-second video contains graphic images.

In my last post I pointed out how PETA’s reliance on spectacle can lead to the invisibility of the animal. Today I want to focus on a brief video PETA produced in which the animal is visible. If there is an iconic image of the animal-rights movement, it may very well be that of a Canadian hunter about to club a baby seal. The startling contrast between the seal’s cuteness and the carnage left by hunters looking to sell a seal skin coat greatly contributes to PETA’s appeals to save the seals. In this post, I explore the significance of the video’s music and cutting, and how the video shapes the identity of baby seals and hunters.

The video’s opening music underscores the baby seals as tranquil animals at peace with nature. The woodwind score is light, ethereal, and happy. One could easily imagine it serving as the background music to a scene of the countryside in spring--that is to say, emphasizing nature's rebirth. This mirthful music, however, shifts to the steady beat of a drum after a helicopter flies over a baby seal. Before examining the significance of the drum beat, it is important to briefly note that the camera angle of this helicopter shot positions the helicopter as though it were a predator overcoming its prey (the seal). The speed and grace of the helicopter stands in direct contrast with the clumsiness of the seal as it ambles toward the viewer.

For most of the video, the drum beat falls on the exact same moment as the cuts between scenes (the only exceptions are during the written text). The first time we see a hunter, his hakapik makes contact with the seal at the sound of the beat. While this theme is not developed in every instance, the drum beat may connote hunters swinging their hakapiks, thereby connecting the drum beat with violence. A metaphorical type of violence also exists in the connection between the drum beat and scene cut, inasmuch as the viewer’s gaze is abruptly cut short with each pounding of the drum. Significantly, the first few clips of a hunter hitting a seal are some of the bloodiest images in the bunch. These first few clips quickly drive home the point (no pun intended) that the violence is disturbing. They also help the audience imagine the spray of blood during distant shots.

Finally, it is worth examining the portrayal of the seals and hunters. As noted above, the seals are seen as tranquil, cute creatures. They are also portrayed as fully cognizant of the danger they are in. This is suggested by the seal scream and the blood-red “Canada’s Shame” icon. In this icon, the baby seal is shown craning its neck up in recognition of the hunter. More importantly, it has its mouth open wide, as though it were screaming in terror or pleading for its life. Not only are the hunters portrayed as violent, the scene of one slipping and falling in his eagerness to kill suggests that they are also clumsy. The emphasis on clumsiness or incompetence in animal abusers is a common strategy employed by animal rights activists. Beyond serving to refute those who would argue that hunters, scientists, farmers, etc., kill animals efficiently so as to minimize pain, it undermines the ethos of those who hurt animals. It is hard to respect someone who cannot do his or her job properly.