portrayal of dog meat in recent Korean film

[Guest guest]

A recent movie review descibed the film " Address

Unknown " as something having disturbing violence and

scenes of dogs being hung and beaten. Not wanting to

but being compelled to go see it I was pleasantly

surprised with the film, which I believe will be one

of the big box office successes this year. The film

begins with an, unfortunately english only, " no

animals have been hurt in the filming of this movie " .

It is a stirring series of stories which includes the

relationship between a dog butcher and his apprentice,

son of a black American soldier and a Korean

prostitute. It is obvious that no animals were hurt

and there were certain excellent connections made in

the movie - animal abuse leads to human abuse, the dog

meat trade's use of unwanted pets, and the filth and

despicable nature of the whole spectacle of the dogs

death. The strong chorus of " ooo's " from the film

goers witnessing the rough treatment of the pathetic

and beautiful animals made the point on an emotional

level. It was quite a scene too when the black Korean

finally had enough of the abuse and hitched up a team

of dogs set to be hung to the other end of a rope that

hoisted the dog butcher to a similar death to the one

he had formerly meted out. Culture is a powerful force

to change society. Though the movie is not explicitly

against the dog meat trade there could be seen that

implication. That the issue was appearing in mass

culture framed as a clandestine, brutal and disgusting

operation is a positive step to help Koreans re-adjust

the issue in their minds. Though I don't usually think

much of Disney, " Free Willy " was a great boost to the

cause. Hopefully this film will be some aid to the

movement against dog meat in Korea.

 

 

 

Get personalized email addresses from Mail - only $35

a year! http://personal.mail./