yvonnewilliams, thanks for this thread.
I haven't seen this film in years, but it has left a lasting impression on me and is one of my all-time favorites.
"How were they allowed to make it?"
As has been mentioned, times were different.
All kinds of cruelties - even to humans - were somehow allowed many years ago.
Sometimes I don't feel like there is much hope for humanity, but in fact we have come a long way (even if we have a long way to go).
The way I look at it, the wranglers that handled the horses on a set like this were no doubt hard core rancher/cowboy types - pros. Horses, on one hand, were just stock (like cattle). Most of us eat cattle and some people even eat horses.
So, horses - in terms of stock - were property to be "used".
Now, I don't think cowboys would treat their own trained horses badly, but I suspect these were rough stock even genuine wild horses from a recent wild horse roundup. Back in the day - ranchers would shoot such animals as nuisance critters. I know its hard for "city folk" to understand, but talk to an old rancher or farmer; they have a different outlook on "stock" - not to mention nuisance animals.
Even in modern westerns, what may look like pretty rough treatment of horses is actually very carefully choreographed using expensive well trained stunt horses (not "throw-away" rough stock); stunts are not quite as dangerous as they appear to movie viewers.
I personally believe that care was taken by highly skilled horse wranglers to avoid/reduce injury to those horses.
But, what I remember was the torment, the terror and anger that "screamed" forth from the captured horses. That was real, not Memorex; disturbing; gut-wrenching.
I feel bad for anyone who doesn't understand how cruel it was to torment those animals to such an extreme. Any viewer that didn't feel for the mare and her colt is, sadly, heartless.
As much as I love this movie, I wish they'd found another way of pulling this off, but I'm not sure they could have - with the same impact (I suppose they could come close).
So, though in-excusable (especially in our time), the result of "using" those poor animals might be viewed in "documentary fashion" - a re-creation of what was once acceptable and why, as our characters decided - it was a heartless practice that should be discontinued. Part of the message of the movie might have been - there is enough cruelty in the world already and - as desperate as our lives may become - we don't have to contribute to it.
And yet, to some extent - the practice of capturing wild horses continues:
It still happens - man still chases down these wild horses, sometimes from the air:
http://articles.cnn.com/2011-01-03/us/wild.horses.government.roundup_1_wild-horses-horses-and-burros-herd-management-area?_s=PM:US
And you can be sure that the horses are terrified; bucking, kicking, struggling to get away; screaming out with terror and no doubt occasionally with injury.
Washington:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,760780,00.html
Wyoming:
http://trib.com/news/local/state-and-regional/blm-wyoming-wild-horse-roundup-starts-saturday/article_2717b815-39da-52cf-b891-472497e2cf2e.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15599367
It is what it is - and The Misfits, like it or not, dramatically illustrated - perhaps like no other - the problems that persist even to this day. So, right or wrong; intentionally or not, the suffering of those animals in The Misfits went on to serve a higher purpose - raising awareness.
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terranova (10)
4 years ago
Yes, and speaking of the evolution of the human consciousness, you can go back a century earlier to find Americans shooting at herds of buffalo from rail cars, and then skinning them for their pelt, leaving the carcasses to rot.
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