Zoo

Photo: Wildaboutmovies.com

Sexual activities are constantly regulated in today’s society. Specifically, powerful institutions (such as government or religious institutions) try to mandate the rules about sexuality and what is considered entirely appropriate. After watching the film, “Zoo,” a number of different thoughts spun through my head.

The movie is based on a real case of beastiality that occurred a few years ago in Washington. One man died after having sex with a horse on a local farm in his town. As the film progresses, the audience learns that there are many men in this town that experimented with beastiality. The men in the film explained how technology played an important role in their lives. The Internet allowed the men to find other men that were interested in beastiality. Ironically, the Internet and current technology appears to have made more people disconnected with each other. However, in the film, the Internet has actually helped these men realize that there are more people in this world that share similar sexual desires. The desires are not considered to be part of society’s norm and are basically taboo in a sense.

In the film, some lawmakers claimed that the men abused the animals. Since animals do not have the ability to consent, people thought that the men essentially took advantage of the horses. The beastiality cases were considered tantamount to child abuse cases. Children and animals are innocent and cannot determine the morality of something. While watching the film, I found it hard to accept that the men would want to engage in such an activity, but at the same time, I saw that some of these men found a greater connection with animals than individuals in their own species.

During class, we discussed how an alarming story in the news was just overlooked by many people. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention predicts that 1/3 of all Americans will have diabetes by the year 2050. This is extremely serious, and as a country, we need to rethink about our eating habits. As a nation of overworked individuals, many people are always looking for a quick and easy meal. Fast food appears to be a good option, but how many people really think about the future health consequences a person may face after eating a big, juicy Big Mac?

A few years ago, I visited my family in India. While walking the streets, vendors were selling fresh vegetables and flocks of people were fighting to get the best vegetables available. While eating meals during my visit, at first I did not like the taste of the food. I later realized I did not appreciate how fresh the vegetables and food really was. I was so used to frozen vegetable and processed foods that I had a hard time adjusting eating real nutritious food. After returning to New York, I could not eat most of the foods that I once relished. It is unfortunate that it is more expensive at times to buy vegetables at the grocery store than it is to buy a “Happy Meal” at McDonald’s.

The correlation between diabetes and beastiality might be hard to connect. It seems that as a nation we have accepted that more cases of diabetes will be part of our future. The numbers are frightening, but this is something that people might even considered normal. It could be possible that one-day beastiality will be accepted and the rare cases that we learn about day by day might become a part of the norm. However, I am still not sure it is something that I can completely accept; maybe it will take some time.

-Nidhi