Short Video on Urban Farming: Nest-spresso - Saturday Night Live
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0O0ooXnyQMw
This short Saturday Night Live Video uses a comedic method to explain urban farming and "technology" that could make farming easier as it pertains to hatching chickens in an urban environment.
Short Video: Did Animal Planet Mistreat Its Stars to Fake Reality Drama?
YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vY0a-nafqAE
The short video talks more about the mistreatment of animals within an Animal Planet TV program called "Call of the Wildman". Have you heard of it? The short video breaks down the reality of how animals are treated versus how they are portrayed on television with the help of a YouTube network called "Mother Jones."
Lemming Suicide Is A Myth That Was Perpertuated by Disney
Article Link: http://io9.gizmodo.com/lemming-suicide-is-a-myth-that-was-perpetuated-by-disne-1549040246
The following article speaks more about a Disney wildlife nature docummentary entitled "White Wilderness." The article touches base on an animal called lemmings, which are small rodents that are usually found in the artic within the tundra biomes. Within the docummentary, lemmings were protrayed as drowning themselves while following their heards. However, it turns out that during the process of making the film, a truck full of lemmings we brought for the film and thrown into the Artic Ocean in order to mislead viewers. (**Please watch the short video in the article that shows a preview of the actual Disney film).
Short Article: Snake expert says "Turtleman" show staged cottonmouth scene
Article Link: http://www.wkyt.com/home/headlines/Snake-expert-says-Turtleman-show-staged-cottonmouth-scene-210160881.html
The following news article goes into detail of "Turtleman," a man named Ernie Brown Jr., who is in Animal Planet's "Call of the Wildman." The article explains how the show is staged and misleading to viwers. Although the show may be entertaining, it is misleading and could put children, for example, in danger and who may mimick what they see on this particular television program.
What is portrayed through media sources may not always be reality. As an aspiring television producer, I hope to use media as a source for education as well as for entertainment. However, as we have seen in these videos and readings, entertainment may compromise education and ethics, where both entertainment and education are not balanced. For these reasons, the use of media can have the potential to mislead viewers on what farming, nature, and wildlife is, which can result in further sterotypes and ignorance. These programs and films make we wonder if there is even any potential to balance education and entertainment, while reaching a greater audience.
So now that you have seen these videos and read up on articles on media portrayals pertaining to farming, nature, and wildlife, it's time to put your thoughts and expereinces into action. Before our activity on Thursday, I want you all to answer the following questions in the comment section:
- What do you think about the Saturday Night Live video as it relates to urban farming?
- What kind of farming, nature, or wildlife shows did you watch throughout your lifetime?
- Based on the presented articles and videos, was this the first time that you heard about these unethical acts in the tv programs and films?
- If you were to create a film and television program to accurately present farming, nature, or wildlife, what specifically would that look like?
I think the SNL video really shows how people in society now and days want things at an instant. It also shows that we do things but we really don't know how it works or the factors that contribute to the production of things. I can remember watching shows like zaboomafoo or Steve Irwin but other than that I didn't watch shows that involved live animals or nature in general. No it wasn't the first time I've heard about the cruel treatment of animals in films and tv shows. I would like to look at the treatment of immigrant workers who keep us all alive by picking and growing our food.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting, Kylah!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was growing up, my parents didn’t believe in letting us watch what they considered to be “trashy” television (meaning most sitcoms, Disney channel shows, or basically anything that wasn’t educational or didn’t have some sort of artistic value). This meant that we watched Animal Planet all the time. In particular, we watched a lot of stuff with Jeff Corwin, who is a conservationist. When we were kids, he had a show called “The Jeff Corwin Experience.” If you’ve ever seen “The Crocodile Hunter,” it was pretty similar in tone to that, although it was about Corwin traveling around primarily in tropical areas. He would make jokes and be silly, but the show was ultimately educational. He talked about the animals that he was interacting with and why it was important to help them thrive.
As a child, I wasn’t really thinking critically about what I was watching. Broadly speaking, the show had an educational bent, and my parents approved of it, which meant that I accepted it as “good.” Now, though, I’m wondering about the possibility of harm coming to these animals. I don’t think there was anything going on to the extent of the things that you linked to (and I do think that there is a difference between shows created by conservationists and shows that seem to be more “man versus animal”) but that doesn’t mean that the show was perfect. I’m thinking in particular about the emotional distress that wild animals may feel when being held, especially if they’re being held for an extended period of time to accommodate filming. In thinking about my ideal television program, I’m reconsidering why animal shows always seem to show the host extensively handling animals. This may make sense in some situations (I’m thinking of animals that are being rehabilitated and are already used to extensive human contact), but in others it just seems like it’s unnecessary trauma. I understand that this makes for cool shots, and makes us feel like humans and animals can interact. At the same time, though, I’m wondering if it’s really worth it. I think that my ideal television show would require a greater consideration of the emotional trauma that we can (sometimes accidentally) cause in animals, even if we aren’t physically harming them.
As I was going through these links, I was also thinking about the differences in genre within television. Obviously, SNL positions itself very differently than these “reality” programs. Even though as logical humans, we know that we should be critical of all the media that we consume, I think it’s easy for us to turn off this part of our brains. Even if I know that “reality” TV is usually disconnected from reality, I have to admit that it’s easier for me to remember this when it’s connected to the “scripting” of human beings. Thinking about the representation of the lemmings was particularly interesting to me. It reminded me of another animal suicide myth that I’ve heard over time. Has anyone else ever heard that Andean Condors kill themselves when their mates die? I’m wondering where this myth comes from, and sincerely hoping that it doesn’t stem from a similarly sinister place.
• I think that they have a point in that urban farming can be quite difficult. Or at least doing anything from scratch can be a bit of work. We have grown accustomed to looking for that next piece of technology that will take care of our problems. This is most likely the reason that more people have yet to take on urban farming practices. I think that if we had more technology such as the nest-express machine, more people would take on urban farming. Although I do not foresee technology getting too close to the nest-express I believe that new methods and technologies that can improve urban farming can come into light and hopefully encourage more people to take on urban farming.
ReplyDelete• I would mainly watch the discovery channel and shows such as the alligator hunter Steve Irwin and I can also remember watching Zoboomafoo to learn about animals. I don’t think there were too many shows that I would watch that included agriculture.
• No, I actually remember hearing about the Lemmings in high school. I also remember hearing about reporters who are in areas of great catastrophe and don’t do anything to help. They are there to get there scoop and leave. Reminds me of the man that fell into the railway and the person just continued to record instead of helping the man out. He eventually died.
• I think I would want to make it a panel of a variety of people doing work in these fields and just have them talking about current events and how they affect their practices/businesses. These panelist will vary from researchers in the field to people working in conservation and agriculture. Both large scale and small scale.
First of all, this topic is really interesting! I thought the SNL video did something that a lot of other comedians try and do: put a spin on actual things and make a joke about it in an exaggerated manner. I thought it was interesting that they did one on urban farming because although it seems like a crack at what “modern technology” will be able to do, it was also interesting to think about how life was perceived. Those chicks that were supposedly being hatched were alive, as opposed to eggs we eat which aren’t. It almost seemed to make us more connected to food as opposed to separate us, but at the same time it was also separating us from the natural process of things too. I don’t know how well I just tried to articulate my thoughts about this, but needless to say I liked watching the SNL video.
ReplyDeleteI honestly was in love with Animal Planet growing up; I watched all of the Animal Cops shows that saved all the abuse animals. I also watched anything that had cute puppies and kitties on it as well. However, based on what you showed us here, it makes me go back and question what I saw as a kid. I am not completely blind to the horrible things that people will do to animals for money and entertainment- I cannot help remembering Sea World and the scandal with their killer whales. So, I am familiar with these unethical acts, but at the same time it is easy to be familiar with it now and go back and reevaluate your childhood watching those things. If I had to create a new film or television program now I would stick to something less invasive into nature; it is one thing to understand it and be educated on it, but it is another to have to see it up close and personal. My educational show would not have some guy grabbing and harming animals for the sake of “entertainment.”
I think the Saturday Night Live video kind of made fun of people who try to do urban farming. People expect it to be fun and easy but in reality they would choose modern technology to do the work for them. I have watched Planet Earth and for the most part I think that they treat animals respectfully. I have heard that some shows on animal planet are not respectful to animals. I also heard that the movie, “A Dog’s Purpose,” was really cruel to the dogs that were in it. I think anytime where animals are trying to be controlled there is going to be abuse. That is why I enjoy watching Planet Earth that observes animals in their natural habitat from afar. Truth rather than entertainment is what is important and it should be presented to audiences in a stimulating way.
ReplyDeleteI thought the SNL video was hilarious and really spot-on in making fun of people for whom "farming" has become a status symbol and a form of entertainment--but who really don't want to get their hands dirty or to do any actually difficult, tedious, or uncomfortable work. I think I found the spot so funny because this is one of my pet peeves.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't allowed to watch much television as a kid, so most of my nature and farming education came from running around the farm and woods. I've seen some good farm-related documentaries (Food Inc., King Corn, The Real Dirt on Farmer John, Seed: The Untold Story), but I often feel like even these films just scratch the surface of the issues they present---and they so frequently end on an overly simplistic positive note like "vote with your dollar, change the world" that leaves me unsatisfied. I guess there's only so much complexity you can cover in one film, though, and probably film-makers fear that if they don't end on some kind of positivity, people won't want to watch.
I guess I'm not surprised that the "reality" shows involving animals are just as staged as those involving people. It does make me lose just a little more faith in humanity, though, to read about these cases. It's not just the animal cruelty--it's the whole idea of portraying an event as if it's something it's not. And if these shows are a primary source of education for some people, what distorted views of reality are being created? Even though these shows are about wildlife, not farming, I see a connection between the ways that farming is portrayed through advertising and media--sometimes either glorified or vilified in ways that don't portray reality.
I have a vague memory of a documentary I watched maybe in the late 1990s--it was called "The Farmer's Wife" (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/farmerswife/etc/synopsis.html) and it told the story of a farm couple in Nebraska struggling to keep their farm and their marriage together in the face of crop failure and the ensuing financial uncertainty. I remember being really moved by the film because certain parts of it mirrored my family's experience so closely and I didn't realize that other farm families were struggling in that way too. (It sounds like the making of the film was quite the struggle too: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/farmerswife/film/). I would like to see more "reality" shows like this one--shows that actually document what it's like to farm, day in and day out, that what farmers have to deal with and what impact that has on their health and their families.
SNL bit made me chuckle! It definitely brings out our penchant for instant gratification and inherent slow nature of farming. On one hand, I think this is definitely the problem of individuals – we can make an effort to be more patient and perceive things in tempo of natural progression. However, it is wrong to point finger at the novice urban farmers themselves. The instant gratification is an artificial thing that has been imposed upon us by the consumerist society.
ReplyDeleteI don’t think I have watched any shows about farming. But regarding nature, I grew up watching a lot of documentary-y programs about wildlife. I knew that sometimes the people would come up with artificial conditions in order to film a dramatic scene (e.g. constructing barriers for preys so that the lioness can reach their prey more easily and within the eyesight of the camera operator), but this is the first time hearing about straight-up animal abuse.
I think the biggest question I have is whether accurate depiction always captures the essence of those that are being depicted. If I were to only worry about accuracy, it will have to focus on the physical labor, the nervous spring frost nights, and the feeling of soil sliding under your hand, and the pure joy of harvest. But such feelings are hard to capture visually I think.
I would love to see documentary series on different permaculture designs – each hour-long episode will cover one permaculture farm, with farm’s owner and the show’s host walking the audience through the reasoning behind the specific farm’s design. I would find it very inspiring to have visual from these places.
The SNL video reminded me in a way about vertical and computer farming and how some people might view it when there is not much information out there. Both the nest-spresso and computerized farming seem like a quick fix that many people are interested in but no one actually fully understands. The video framed this idea comically at the same time as invoking this thought process about sacrificing natural processes and full understanding for convenience.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I have ever watched a farming show, but I have always watched a lot of animal shows and movies. I used to have vet show marathons whenever I was sick and have always loved movies who's main character is an animal.
I had heard about the unethical treatment of some animals in movies but had never even considered the possibility of unethical treatment in tv shows shown on animal planet. I am especially surprised by this because animal planet is supposed to promote animals and the whole premise of the vet shows is to help injured animals, not harm them further.
If I were to create a tv show, it would somehow distribute information about farming practices for the environment and farm workers. The show would somehow also be engaging enough that the kids would hopefully just automatically learn how to support farming, agriculture, and small-scale producers.
Like with everyone else, I thought the SNL was hilarious and unfortunately reflected a lot of what is happening right now. As a society we look for instant gratification (ex. I get so pissed when my wifi is not working as fast as I want it to be, when in reality even “slow” isn’t even THAT slow). Even looking at advertisement, when it comes to food and other products, the lack of time to prepare it is a major selling point. Farming, urban or not, is hard as we are finding. It involves daily dedication and commitment that is “glorified” and a “status symbol" (the whole image with small scale farming that we covered earlier in the class I think) but not thought out.
ReplyDeleteI AM SO PISSED ABOUT THE LEMMING. I’m pissed about everything else too BUT I’M SO PISSED BECAUSE I THOUGHT IT WAS A RESEARCHED HERDING BEHAVIOR AND IT’S NOT. Faking results really gets me. I knew about the Sea World scandal and countries trying to provide cetaceans non-human intelligence status.
I watched a lot of Sir David Attenborough filmography, because I believe he narrated for national geographic (or for some of them) and my mom bought a packet of National Geographic Animals series. We didn’t have cable in China growing up, not that my sister and I could’ve understood it anyway. I’m really hoping Sir David Attenborough never did anything like this because child Na Young is going to be devastated. I also watched a TV show in Korea that had been… going for twenty years at this point, almost. It’s called Animal Farm (I don’t think they were trying to make a reference to the novel) where they do all kinds of things. They do all kinds of things, such as rescuing abused animals, highlighting animal mistreatment laws, airing funny animal videos, rescuing wildlife, and much more. It’s a major combination of things. I feel as if it would’ve surfaced by now if they being unethical with their animals…? And it’s not THEIR animals. But then, you never know I guess.
Whenever we watch an animal documentary, there is some sort of narrative. Sometimes there is justice being served or moments of mercy and compassion shown between animals. If we were to create a film/television program to accurately present farming and wildlife, I don’t think such narrative will be included. Nature doesn’t give shit. It is… unfeeling. Lions won’t mind eating the lamb and life/death keeps rolling.
I think the SNL video is pretty funny and spot-on when it comes to hipster urban farmers, who are into the practice more because it is trendy and less from actual passion. It’s like Amy was talking about this week at the farm; getting frustrated because of something like cabbage moths and giving up because of lack of patience and/or information. As a kid, I watched a lot of Animal Planet and shows like “Meerkat Manor” were favorites of mine, as well as Disney movies like The Lion King. Something I’ve realized later in life is that these shows and movies always try to make sense of animal behavior in a human context, which isn’t always very accurate to what is actually happening. While I understand that human connections can help make animals more relatable, I think it would be beneficial to try and understand them in their own specific forms of communication and relations to one another. I know a handful of animal rights advocates, so I have definitely heard of the issues with animals used in entertainment before. I think the Planet Earth documentaries do a good (and pretty accurate, as far as I know) job of depicting nature and wildlife, so I would probably model my own tv show/movie off of those.
ReplyDeleteI listened to a podcast the other week that pertains exactly to this question of falsity and inauthenticity in nature programing! It wasn't about the visuals or the mistreatment of animals, though it did mention the lemmings scandal which blew my mind, but about how sound is produced, often artificially, for nature documentaries. They explained that there is lots of awesome camera equipment that allows filmmakers to record animals from a safe distance while looking a lot closer, however that equipment just zooms the image and does nothing to record the realistic accompanying sounds. This gap has created the need for professional nature sound effect producers. In the podcast they talked to someone with exactly that job and he explained the various ways he makes all the sounds we've come to expect from animals in these programs and that I've always assumed were genuine! He explained that most of the time he tries to make his sounds as authentic as possible but sometimes he said that he provides sounds that are entirely false. For example, elephants don't make sound when they walk really, but we've come to expect thundering stomps from them, precisely because of these false sounds! I think this artificialness is SHOCKING and also raises a lot of questions about how media uses and constructs our ideas of nature.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, the media is the most powerful social tool right now that is sending loads of information to the masses, and in the realm of the food and natural world I feel like it is being used to increase awareness to the industrialistic society that we live in and the negative effects of this that we are seeing. This is important for the stage that we are in but I wonder if it is effective in getting people to really connect with true nature, because it is afterall just media.
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