mudtitan

"Who's here for self improvement? ... See, that's your first mistake; you should be here to learn self-acceptance."

"Self-hatred, guilt. It accomplishes nothing. It just stands in the way (of) true change."

I won't go into unnecessary personal details, but I needed this episode, right here, right now. I suppose I have a character limit to meet, so here goes a little story about why this episode means so much to me.

I started watching Breaking Bad about two weeks ago to fill a void in my life that was growing by the day. This is unusual because I hardly watch TV shows at all. After entering that low point, I knew that I needed something to clear my mind. Based on glowing reviews and friend recommendations, I decided that I might as well give it a shot. What could I lose? I was immediately hooked, watching episodes per day, sometimes upwards of five or six! Then I began to become busier and more overwhelmed by, well, everything. I felt like I needed the numbness more than ever, to completely escape reality. Then I hear the quotes that began this review. Again, I will spare the personal details, but I needed that so badly. This review does no justice to the impact "No Más" just had for my outlook on life.

I suppose all of this goes to say, "you never know what might change somebody's life" or "sometimes you don't know what you're looking for until you've found it." Those match how I'm feeling now.

Needless to say, the humor of Ari Aster's "TDF Really Works" is juvenile. In all honesty, it felt nothing short of a bad YouTube skit. The best thing I can say about this short is that I laughed a little, though some of that was due to cringe. To think that this was released after "The Strange Thing about the Johnsons" is mind boggling.

Rating: F+, horrible.

Dominion was so close to being the best documentary I've ever seen. Of all things, I first heard of this documentary from a Mr. Incredible meme. It was the last film shown, so I checked it out. It has a 9.0 rating, and I saw that Joaquin Phoenix narrated parts of it, so I put it in my watchlist. Come to find out, the documentary was available in 4K on YouTube for free. Though horrifying, all adults should watch it. It's insightful at worst, transformative at best.

Not for the faint of heart, Dominion mostly shows behind-the-scenes footage of how animals are mistreated in slaughterhouses. The documentary moves on by segments from one breed of animal to the next, which results in some monotony but also shows that the cruelty happens throughout the entire animal industry.

The only film that has had a greater emotional impact on me than this is Schindler's List. Similarly, Dominion created a perpetual sense that I needed to cry from beginning to end. Now, I've listened to my fair share of heavy music with completely indiscernible vocals, such as Acrania's "Disillusion in a Discordant System," but I have yet to hear anything scream in such agony and fear as those pigs in the first segment. That was chilling.

Dominion dispels any ounce of belief that "maybe this cheeseburger is different?" or that "maybe this cow was treated humanely?" The uncensored footage is brutally convincing, and it perfectly shows that the meat and fur industries are more monstrous than you would assume.

As moving and frightening as it was, there is no answer to the predicament presented by Dominion. Sure, you could become a vegan, but what will that solve? In fact, I actually considered this, but I realized that I am one person out of billions. The lack of my monetary support will do nothing to end the abominably cruel treatment of animals. How about some legislature to ban it? It would never pass. People enjoy animal products far too much to change their lifestyles. There are wonderful alternatives out there, but people will by and large refuse to adapt because they're simply used to it. Perhaps if every adult watched this documentary, as I suggested, more attention would be brought to better the treatment of animals.

As striking and powerful as the message of Dominion is, what is a realistic solution? Perhaps only time will tell. On the other hand, if the amount of casualties in every human war combined is equal to the amount of animals killed for for food every three days, do we really have that kind of time?

Rating: A.