The Whaleness Community
Confessions of an Eco-Terrorist
dir. by Peter Brown
Into the Deep: America, Whaling & the World
dir. by Ric Burns
Do you ever
dream of gouging the eyes out of people who abuse or abandon their dogs?
Or rear-ending a fuel-hogging Hummer? If you do, this filmÕs for you.
Or maybe
youÕre a vegan who is Òperpetually pissed off,Ó in the words of filmmaker
Peter Brown. Brown (not a vegan himself) joined the Sea Shepard Society
in 1982, bringing both his childhood kayaking skills and his camera on
board. Now, 30 years later, he has put together highlights from the
groupÕs history of Òaggressive non-violence.Ó
What the Society does is take direct action to stop those
who maim and murder helpless and voiceless marine creatures. Paul Watson,
a Canadian proponent of biocentrism, started out at Greenpeace but left
when he tired of what he perceived as the organizationÕs ineffectualness.
He convinced the head of the British Fund for Animals to pay for his
first ship, the Sea Shepherd, in 1978 and began hunting illegal hunters. Brown was an NBC
cameraman sent to cover the Society, but he liked what he saw too much.
Militant vegetarians IÕve met; pacifist terrorists, I
wondered if that was possible. So the title was a great draw. BrownÕs Confessions
is a welcome change of
pace for those who have watched countless documentaries that leave one as
devastated as the rainforest they purport to protect, or resented the
relentless manipulation of a gut-wrenching musical score. There are very
few tear-jerking strings in BrownÕs documentary, in fact wall-to-wall
commentary dominates the filmÕs soundtrack. There are obligatory scenes
of bloody seal bludgeonings, but Brown balances them with monosyllabic
curses from the perpetrators.
So,
what does the Sea Shepard Society actually do? They fly skull and
crossbones ÐÐ NeptuneÕs fork and a shepherdÕs crook ÐÐ and
start with a ship. A disposable ship. They buy them used, and cheap. You
wouldnÕt spend millions of dollars on your ride when all you want to do
is ram the offending tails of poachers.
ÒShips are not as expensive as you might think, but they are
very expensive to maintain,Ó Brown explains. They have had a few
confiscated ÐÐ but then, the confiscating party gets stuck with the
repair bill.
And
who are the Sea Shepard Society? That would be Watson and his volunteer
crews ÐÐ vegans, and a lot of women, whom Brown praises as having more
stamina and aggression than men. South Park accused the Society of
publicity-hounding, so they made a T-shirt: ÒIÕm a Vegan Pussy.Ó And get
publicity they do.
When
an offending ship identifies them as Greenpeace, Watson radios a
correction: ÒPlease do not insult us by calling us that. We are the Sea
Shepard Society. Over,Ó to loud applause from his crew. BrownÕs narration is full of humor if you can
stand the nonstop sales pitch (the SocietyÕs detractors would call it
propaganda). And the film is 89 minutes of catharsis and inspiration to
some, no doubt, and high entertainment to many others.
Confessions
enters murkier water when dealing with human politics: Brown says that a
native Canadian tribeÕs ancestral whale-hunting rights are enforced
ÒraciallyÓ ÐÐ ÒNo blacks, no whites, no Asians.Ó Oh, really? ThatÕs a bit iffy to this reviewer, who
knows all about how North American racism manifests along visual and
economic lines. Brown also compares the SSS stopping of Japanese drag-net
fishers to Òflag-raising at Iwo Jima.Ó That flag might appeal to his
American viewers, known for their spotty memories.
HereÕs another documentary you can also
watch to bolster your anti-whaling resolve: Into the Deep: America,
Whaling & the World
by Ric Burns. BurnsÕ film on the history of the North American whaling
industry details events that inspired Melville to write Moby Dick, including the YankeesÕ hunt for sperm
whales to light the cities of America in the early years of the
industrial revolution. The spermaceti oil, taken from the bulbous front
end of the sperm whale, accounted for 50 percent of AmericaÕs exports to
England in the 18th century, until it enriched the colonies
enough for them to seek independence. Only when petroleum was discovered in the
hills of Pennsylvania in the 1850s did the whaling industry go into
decline, just in time to leave the spotlight to whalers of other
nationalities who had the benefit of new killing technologies.
ÐÐRika Ohara
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