"March of the Penguins" (SPOILERS) (don't read if not interested in my

[bertha katzenengel]

pathetic emotional life)

I can't read threads about hurt animals. I have to force myself to read threads about animals who have passed on so I can give my condolences. I got so batshit angry at the individual who posted the "pests exterminated" video in GD yesterday. And (unrelated to that video) I now cannot read, listen to, or even glance at anything re: animals + Katrina.

Add to this list the fact that I could not enjoy "March of the Penguins" because I wept uncontrollably when:

the egg died
the baby froze before mom got back
the mom was eaten by the seal (my eyes were closed but I could hear)
the babies froze after mom got back (my eyes were closed but I could hear -- that was the worst)

And I left the theater when the eagle appeared in the sky. I couldn't take any more.

It was all I could do to keep from getting hysterical, as I frequently do when it comes to suffering animals.

Fortunately, Mrs. V. was able to enjoy the film. By now she is used to my inexplicable hysteria and profound sadness. She hurts for me, but I think she's learned largely to block, for her own survival, her sadness at my suffering.

BTW, Mrs. V. said it was "the most profoundly moving film" she's ever seen. The cinematography was fantastic, and if it doesn't win the Oscar for cinem-x, the Academy has its head in a dark, rank place.

[progmom]

1. oh dear.

:hug:

maybe i shouldn't see it. x(

[bertha katzenengel]

4. It's a BEAUTIFUL film. I don't want to discourage anyone from seeing it.

I am SHOCKED that it was rated G. Children can understand what's going on, even if they don't get what Morgan Freeman is saying. I didn't see the predator win its dinner, and I'm not about to ask Mrs. V. if it was gruesome.

I am way, WAY over the top in reactions to things like this. Where a normal person might cry if she hits a squirrel, I have to pull over to the side of the road, and I am literally hysterical -- to the point of hyperventilating when it's worst -- if I see a squirrel in the road. Hopefully this will help you judge better whether or not to see it, progmom.

Thanks for the :hug:. Here's :hug: for you.

[KitchenWitch]

8. They panned to the large group of penguins

So you did not get to actually see the eagle wrestling with the baby penguin.

[philosophie_en_rose]

2. Oh. I can't watch Animal Planet.

It's too hard to watch, even when the animals are later rescued.

:hug:

[bertha katzenengel]

5. So, I'm not alone.

Good to know. Kinda. :hug:

[philosophie_en_rose]

15. No one is alone.

{Cue the Sondheim} :)

[bertha katzenengel]

17. "Into the Woods?"

sang a couple of songs from that in a chorus -- some of the best memories of that seven years.

night, rose :hi:

[philosophie_en_rose]

19. Yep.

I've never seen the whole show, but I saw Bernadette Peters singing "No one is alone" on television and parts of the show on PBS.

[SoCalDem]

3. I am still 'traumatized' by "Old Yeller"

I cannot bear to see animals in harm's way:cry:

[bertha katzenengel]

6. another heard from

:hug:

but like i said, i know i'm way off the scale. :shrug:

[ofrfxsk]

7. I wanted to see that movie when it came out but I know I can't take it

either. It happens. It's real life but shit, I know it'll just make me even more depressed.
I haven't watched any of those videos where animals were killed. I guess I'm a huge wimp. I think it would disturb me more than it would help them. I'm taking solace in donating to noahs and hsus. It seems that some are being rescued but yes, I'm really upset about all of the cats and dogs and others left behind. It breaks my fucking heart.

[derby378]

9. Oh, for the love of Pete...

I hate to see animals harmed, myself. All of our critters at home are rescues, and they're spoiled rotten.

But this is a nature documentary. As much as we might hate it, sometimes the odds are stacked overwhelmingly against a particular critter.

Although the deaths in March of the Penguins were sad, they did manage to demonstate the hardiness and tenacity of the emperor penguin tribe as a whole. I actually shed more tears looking into the face of that beautiful little penguin baby than I did at the death scenes.

Maybe I've just developed a thick skin, but I see the same parallels in the human world, too - especially in the Katrina aftermath.

Hang in there. We're gonna make it through this life in one piece.

[bertha katzenengel]

13. Dad, is that you?

:eyes:

I hear you. I don't want you to think the :eyes: indicates that I don't appreciate what you wrote.

I guess I just should've added "i understand nature and the need for predation and the need for other critters to feed THEIR young."

The fucking BUT is the overwrought, hysterical, uncontrollable reality of my life.

Gotta go now. 'night, Derby (and thanks for the last line in your post)

'night, all.

[alarimer]

18. Sharks and eagles have to eat too

Of course I am a biologist so I tend to see predation as just a part of nature. Generally the ones predator get are inferior somehow- they are ill or weak or old. Survival of the fittest and all that.

Penguins are amazing, though. Emperor penguins have to travel so far to reach their breeding grounds, past all kinds of predators, then they spend months taking turns caring for the chicks without feeding.

[XemaSab]

10. It's not an eagle

It's a skua.

Hey, they have cute babies too:

[bertha katzenengel]

12. if I'd stayed in the theatre when it made its appearance, i guess i

would've known that. it is a beautiful bird. the seal is a beautiful mammal. and that's a cute baby.

[XemaSab]

14. I know, I'm a sap too...

but as a biologist, one creature's death is another's life.

I don't eat critters, but I have a pet snake, and the snake needs to eat. It's a tough one for a softie to reconcile.

[RevCheesehead]

11. Aw, Bertha...

bless your ever-lovin' heart! :hug:

[bertha katzenengel]

16. BTW, allow me to say to lampooners everywhere, a pre-emptive

FUCK YOU. Take this post. Make it the butt of your jokes. "Look at this pathetic DUer's sob story. What a tree-hugging liberal! She's probably a vegetarian too!" (you would be right about that).

Your making me the brunt of your jokes doesn't hurt me One. Little. Fucking. Bit. So go on and play your childish games. I hope that one day, when some unpleasant, uncontrollable aspect of your own life pops up and bites you in the ass, no one around you is callow enough to make fun of you.