The documentary "Cow" of Andrea Arnold shows every day's endeavors of a cow on a dairy
farm. It brings us closer to the dark truth behind human exploitation of other species, where
our desire of drinking milk makes millions of creatures suffer and live in fear.
This straightforward approach of showing us one specific cow and her way from giving a
birth to death, allows us to empathize and understand what is hidden and invisible to a
consumer of a milk product. It reminds us that we have no right to use other forms of life just
to increase our own comfort. It manages to immerse us into a mind of a cow, living in fear
and with no understanding of her own fate.
A method of no narration or dialogue is successful in providing us with tools that help us to
distinguish emotions from cold thoughts. The documentary has a simple form, yet still, it
manages to be rich in its effectiveness. It succeeds in being immersive, thought-provoking,
moving and leaves us with questions that we need to answer ourselves.
I believe that the film's memo and the statement that it makes are on the same pathway of delivering similar messages related to discovering the incomprehensible human sense of superiority over everything
else.
While the eponymous cow's way of thinking is less complex and abstract than the potential
of the human brain, assuming it is therefore inferior due to that is a result of a rather shallow
thinking. The document shows us that cows' greatest dreams and desires are not all that
different from human ones. As equal to us, cows just want to be happy. Their way of being
happy is to be close to others, surrounded by their family, and by grazing grass in beautiful
clearings amidst nature and good weather. What prevents them from being happy in this
way is a human system based on taking advantage of others and getting rid of them when
they are no longer useful. As long as the destructive and harmful system continues, the
suffering of the livestock will continue. However, not only theirs, because the system in
which we operate ultimately hurts us, humans, as well.
