Water for Elephants

I didn’t read Water for Elephants, but once I saw the trailer I knew I couldn’t wait to see the movie. My sister read the book and loved it, so we got out to the movie theater on opening weekend. The movie was really great. The story was touching, the fashion was amazing, the sets were beautiful, the acting was superb (well, except for Reese. I'm not a big fan of hers and she didn't impress me at all) and Robert Pattinson's Jacob was much cuter than his Edward.

In case you’ve been living under a rock, the story is about a veterinary school dropout who joins a traveling circus during the Depression. In the movie there are moments when the elephant is being trained abused and I had to cover my eyes. We all know how badly circus animals are treated. I asked my sister how she was able to read that and she said it’s much, much worse to see it. We knew going into the movie that no animals were harmed. The American Humane Association even gave the movie its highest rating: Monitored Outstanding. But it didn’t make it any easier to watch.

Then I saw this video showing Tai (the elephant who played Rosie) being trained before her role in the movie. It’s awful and very hard to watch. If you can’t watch it (and I don’t blame you), it shows elephants, including Tai, being shocked with stun guns and being beaten with bull hooks. Tai cries when being shocked into performing a headstand. A baby elephant cries when it is hooked in the lip. And an elephant is pinned with bull hooks while someone saws down her tusks.

Elephants should never make that kind of noise. It’s so heartbreaking! I’ve said before how much I hate the circus. I went once when I was about twelve with my aunt. I haven’t been since then and I’ll never take my kids to one. I don’t think animals should ever be trained to perform tricks for human entertainment. They don’t have a choice and it’s not in their nature. Please, please don’t go to the circus!