"Nature is cruel but that does not mean we have to be!"
 

I urge everyone to watch the new HBO Movie: Temple Grandin. It didn't sound that good from the movie description, but I'm really glad I watched it. It's a movie that tells of a mother who refused to have her little girl institutionalized, and how important family support is. It tells of how one woman's struggle with autism and the how she lived by the words, "Different but not less."

The movie is made so well, it really held my attention. I've read about autism before but this really helps you grasp what it's like for the autistic, and why the world around them frightens them so. They think in pictures, and then connect them, and the movie does this for the viewer occasionally, so you're really able to grasp the idea.

Temple has designed over 50% of American's slaughterhouses, they are built with the purpose that the animals should not be frightened, there's no need to brutalize, if done correctly. I'm not sure anyone else could have done this, she understood what the cattle were feeling and understood the details on why they were scared, and she was able to design a system that alleviated their fears. It worked for the cattleman too, who increased profits.

Talking to her old science teacher on why she wants to build a slaughterhouse, she says:

Of course they’re going to get slaughtered, you think we’d have cattle if people didn’t eat ’em every day? They’d just be funny-looking animals in zoos. But we raise them for us. That means we owe them some respect. Nature is cruel, but we don’t have to be!”


Here's the trailer:

That sounds so interesting, thanks for the post.

Thankyou for the post I have a real interest in Autism and have read about this woman so I will need to look out for the DVD.:thumbup:

thanks for the information, will look into it when it becomes available over in the uk. I have two nephews with autisum, a third who is borderline and were still waiting on results with one neice, plus my cousins son is being appraised. I guess theres some kind of faulty gene in our family, I saw a film a few years ago about a British woman and her autistic son who was greatly helped when they brought a golden retriever pup, it helped the child to connect the meaning of emotions to the words. Great film and so sad.

Thanks for the reminder. I LOVE Temple Grandin, and own several of her books. She's fascinating.

I don't get HBO. Do you think this will be available separately for sale or anything?

I believe this is the movie I posted about a few weeks back on another thread. I don't get HBO either, but will find a way to watch this. I loved her books and came to have a better understanding of the world through an animals eyes because of her.

I've also listened to her interviews on NPR a couple of times....always interesting!

After seeing this film, I going to look at handicaps in a different way, I'm not sure it's a faulty gene; maybe it's a special gene that will enable us to understand the world more clearly!

Yes, it sounds like it will be on netflix and dvd's. PBS will be running an edited version of the film this spring, but I wouldn't want them to cut out a second. This film educates in so many different ways. She is truly inspriing, and I would like love to learn more about her and her views.

Amazon.com: Animals Make Us Human: Creating the...
That's my favorite book by her. She's written maybe half a dozen, I haven't read them all.

She also has a website, and does lectures around the country, so maybe you'll get an opportunity to see her in person.

I wish there were more people like this, people who would not just say "ain't it awful," but actually come up with workable plans farmers could implement, and still make money.

Temple Grandin is so fascinating! She was on CNN HLN the other night, and it was so neat. She was talking about cattle and how she developed a "hug machine".

I too would love to see humane solutions for animals...ones that would work for farmers and not cause consumers to pay through the roof.

Tall order? Maybe....but all things are possible. :)

I want to see that, it looks very interesting. I have never heard of her before

Sound very interesting. I am going to watch it for sure.

Thanks for posting.

I wasn't going to post, since I don't know of this person and likely won't see the film. With Ann's post here, I see an opportunity to interject.

I just wanted to mention that the guy that owns Chipotle's restaurant chain only buys his meat from farmers that allow them to roam and live naturally. There was a story about him on TV a while back.

The point is, if a guy that has a chain of restaurants (800+) can do it in an economically feasible way, it should be possible for anyone to. Factory farms would disappear if we voted with our food choices, but we'd probably lose the $1.00 menu. Oh well....

On a side note, I saw an article in a magazine (think it was Rolling Stone) that said that some meat cuts that have been going into dog food are now being used for humans. Gotta wonder what's left for the dogs.....damn that dollar menu :rolleyes:.

Great points, Jim :).

I have to tell you, we are *addicted* to Chipotle :rolleyes:. And yep, the man who owns Chipotle makes really informed choices about sourcing the chain's food - it's very impressive. Here's some info about their food sourcing (also, they talk about the documentary Food Inc. on their site):

Chipotle (story, vision, manifesto)

I'm not sure if this came up in this HBO piece, but I believe Grandin has said the reason she was able to have such a big effect on the beef industry is because there are a couple really big beef buyers in the US (McDonalds, etc), and they mandated that the beef be slaughtered in a certain way.

She said that the situation is actually much worse for chickens (and I believe pigs also), but there's not the same concentration of buyers that makes it possible for a few corporations to affect the whole industry.

The guy who runs a nearby pet store told me that pigs feet used to be super-popular dog treats, but they are now too expensive - they are considered a delicacy for humans! He didn't really see it as a bad thing, more just that chefs in the US are trying to get people to be more adventurous.

Fun fact: lobster has only recently become a delicacy! A hundred years ago, longshoremen had clauses in their contracts that promised they'd only have to eat lobster a few times per week. Got that one from the New Yorker.

There has been so much research showing how much animals (especially horses) help autistic children form relationships and bonds they struggle to form in the outside world! Another reason why animals are amazing:)

There have been everal cases where its been proven how much animals help autistic kids, yet over here rescue organisations still refuse to rehome a dog into families with disabled kids. I know they have to be extra careful in these cases but other organisations have trained people go into rescues to assess dogs for work in such fields, so why not for this? My brother and his wife have had dogs around the boys all their lives, both unwanted pets, one a golden retriever cross the other [current] a Rottie. Just takes the right animal.

this movie is now on DVD. i just watched it the other day. what a great movie! thanks for recommending it. everyone should watch it. :):thumbup:

My husband recorded it from HBO a few weeks ago, and kept after me till I sat down and watched it (I rarely sit long enough to watch a movie at home). I was so surprised, it is a great movie - one that everyone should watch. It is extremely well done, it won several Emmys, including best movie made for TV and Claire Danes won best actress.