#evannalynch #vegan #scifi #comedy

Producer: Henriette-Mercedes Spiering; DP: Rob Jarvis; Editor: Jim Page; Casting: Zita Zutic Konak @ ET Casting; Costume: Isabella Van Braeckel; Makeup: Tabiatha Mae-Bo Li; VFX Sups: Daniel Cuevas. Qian Han. Josh Barham. Allar Kaasik; Composer: Raphael Fimm; Band Leader: Harry Maund; Vocalist: Natalie Oliveri; Sound Designer: Dom Lee; Sound Mixer: Michalianna Theofanolpolou; Special thanks: VegFund. Raw Capture. ET Casting. Brunel Uni. SHL Lighting.

This short comedy was inspired by a friend claiming chickens were slaughtered towards the end of their natural lives. I tried to keep it fun rather than labouring points (like pigs being smart). People seem keen to let me know when they think I've failed, but at least one person stopped eating meat after watching it. In case you're confused, the aliens are aware of predation but are surprised humans would still choose to eat animals. The reference to Chinese, like Japanese and Canadians, refers to inhabitants (and the Yulin Dog Meat Festival specifically) rather than ethnicity.

COMMON ATTEMPTS TO DEFEND MEAT EATING:

I didn't address these arguments in the film as I was blissfully ignorant that people used them to justify their support for animal suffering, but hundreds of repetitious comments later… this article explains why meat eaters feel the need to defend their choices/attack vegans: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-motivated-mind/202307/14-ways-meat-eaters-let-themselves-off-the-hook

"Other Animals Eat Animals!"
Other animals have no choice, lack moral agency, and act on instinct. Other animals routinely commit infanticide, while some eat their young. The logic of basing your behaviour on what other animals do is clearly flawed, or we should have no compunction in eating babies with our genitalia out (which I believe is frowned upon). Here's a great drama short that imagines humans copying the natural animal behaviour that is rape: https://youtu.be/poxl0K9UrP0

"We're Meant To Eat Meat!"
We evolved as omnivores, but there is now no need to consume meat (please also read https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/does-humanity-have-to-eat-meat/ and https://edition.cnn.com/2024/04/30/africa/morocco-ancient-humans-paleo-diet-scn/index.html regarding the meat-made-us-human myth, or note that Neanderthals consumed more meat than our ancestors). The scientific consensus is that a meat-free diet is healthier, with research dating back to the 1960s (Adventists). The Southern States also made the "natural" argument to defend slavery, which had existed for millennia, with the majority thinking it fine. Clearly, neither a historical norm nor the majority view is necessarily the correct or moral one. Rather, ethics are usually formed by cultural ethical relativism (and the meat industry). Einstein referred to humans being imprisoned by delusion in their inability to recognise animals as worthy of compassion.

"Plants Are Alive Too!"
Humans have to eat things that live, but plants are not sentient like animals. They do not have brains, pain receptors or feelings. If you can't see the difference between a cow and a cowslip, please read this paper – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8052213/ – which debunks the research that has led to some meat eaters claiming plant sentience in a desperate attempt at deflection (while ignoring that more plants go to feeding livestock than humans). It is worth noting that trees bear fruit specifically to be eaten (no livestock wants us to eat them), while the argument that eating one life form is no worse than eating any other life form is to also argue people should be eating golden retrievers: calling vegans hypocrites for distinguishing between the plant and animal kingdoms while distinguishing between different orders of mammal is beyond absurd. Indeed, this whole tu quoque argument is so inane I'm surprised I have to address it.

"Vegans Kill Animals Too!"
Not true. Animals are killed while harvesting crops, but the data is poor: populations are counted before and after harvesting, so animals that simply leave (research suggests the majority) when the combine harvester approaches are ignored. Regardless, not only is killing animals not the purpose of arable farming (and tens of billions more animals are killed in animal agriculture each year), but more crops go to feeding livestock than to feeding humans, so meat eaters are still responsible for more of these deaths than vegans (even before the animals are slaughtered for their meat). A vegan diet results in far fewer (at least 10x) animal deaths than other diets. Ask any AI model.