Saving Endangered Species, For Now

There is an Australian movie out at the moment called Red Dog.  The movie is about a red dog.  Some critics claim it can't be real Australian movie and have cited as proof  the fact that it doesn't make you want to kill yourself and it has been seen by more than seven people not directly connected with the production.  These are quite legitimate arguments but on balance it has to be admitted that the movie is probably Australian.

The most interesting thing about this movie is the sudden explosion in the popularity of red cattle dogs.  Apparently half the population of Australia have contacted their local pet shop to see about getting themselves one of these rusty companions.  Which is proof, if proof were needed, that people are really stupid.

Don't misunderstand me, the red cattle dog is a fine member of the canine community.  They're incredibly loyal, intelligent, affectionate, hard working and would make a great pet for anyone with a couple of kids and a large back yard.  If you live in an inner city apartment you would be better off with a goldfish.  Sure a goldfish won't fetch the paper but they're also less likely to crap on the rug.  At least not without taking a really deep breath first.  No, what I have a problem with is the human habit of latching on to something we see in the movies and deciding we can't live another moment without it.

In twelve months or so the animal shelters are going to be full of surplus to requirements red cattle dogs.  Yet that initial urge to possess is a powerful one indeed and like any normal human I have come up with a way to turn it to advantage.  There is nothing new about this of course, advertising agencies have operated on the same principle (possibly a poor choice of words) for decades.  However advertisers have a problem.  While product placement in movies is very useful the audience is at least vaguely aware that they are being marketed to and this dulls the message.  Sales go up but manufacturers are unlikely to see a rise of red cattle dog proportions.  At least they won't until somebody comes up with a funny, quirky yet heartwarming tale where the lead character is a can of coke.

So what could get the lead role in such a movie?  Two obvious answers present themselves; children and animals.  Since the marketing and sale of children is, for the moment, illegal let's focus on option number two.  Red Dog is the perfect example of a marketing drive for red cattle dogs.  People who hadn't heard of red cattle dogs before this movie are now trampling kids in the stampede to the petshop.  There seems to be no reason why this shouldn't work with other animals as well.  Animal welfare groups could commission heart warming, feel good movies about whatever endangered species they're concerned about this week and create an explosion of well being towards said animal.

It is important to note that I don't intend that they should make documentaries on bears in cages or harpooned whales.  That sort of thing may preach very well to the converted but it just leaves most people depressed while at the same time revealing the activists for the hectoring wanna be dictators they really are.  What is needed is a movie that makes people feel really good and associates the animal in question with that feeling.  Happy Feet that idiotic cartoon about the tap dancing penguin got a little closer to the ideal but spoiled it by being too preachy.  Am I the only one who wondered how many humans were going to go hungry simply to preserve fish stocks for a penguin with St Vitus's Dance?  Also you may note that the observers drew entirely the wrong conclusion from the dancing penguin.  They saw it dance and assumed this was because of pressure on its feeding ground whereas the movie made it plain it was due to pre birth brain damage.  The message I took from Happy Feet is that people must starve so penguins can live and environmentalists are idiots.

No, what we need is movies like Red Dog or, going back a bit, Lassie and such like.  The sort of movie that has people walking out of the cinema empathising with the animal in question.  This outpouring of well wishing can be harnessed to create better conditions for the animal and make us all feel a bit better about ourselves.  A win win situation really.  Of course in a year or so our animal shelters are going to be full of okapi, siberian tigers and blue whales.  At that point, let's face it, we're probably going to kill them.