Innocent Essay on Vegan Ideals Somehow Makes Natalie Portman a Rape Apologist
Classy, Attack of the Clones-surviving ingenue Natalie Portman is everyone's unimpeachable dream girl, but apparently the actress has an inner vegan activist waiting to get out (I blame you for this, Devendra Banhart). In a HuffPo editorial, Portman wrote today about how a read of Jonathan Safran Foer's Eating Animals turned her from a timid vegetarian to an ardent vegan who's not afraid to confront her meat-eating friends. Though such a sentiment might be a little insufferable in a "Williamsburg sliding scale" kind of way, somehow, online pundits have divined from this fairly unremarkable argument that Portman loves rape, or something.
Here's the key passage:
I say that Foer's ethical charge against animal eating is brave because not only is it unpopular, it has also been characterized as unmanly, inconsiderate, and juvenile. But he reminds us that being a man, and a human, takes more thought than just "This is tasty, and that's why I do it." He posits that consideration, as promoted by Michael Pollan in The Omnivore's Dilemma, which has more to do with being polite to your tablemates than sticking to your own ideals, would be absurd if applied to any other belief (e.g., I don't believe in rape, but if it's what it takes to please my dinner hosts, then so be it).
So, despite the fact that Natalie Portman is clearly quoting a Jonathan Safran Foer quote of a Michael Pollan analogy, the following game of blog telephone occurred.
First, Portman's original HuffPo headline:
Then, Jezebel came up with a take:
E! took it from there:
And Oh No They Didn't brought it home:
In conclusion, because Portman is a vegan who's quoting someone else thirdhand, she clearly loves rape, hopes that meat eaters always get raped, and fought hard for the inclusion of a rape subplot in Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. Got it. Nobody tell these people that she signed the Team Polanski letter, OK?
Jonathan Safran Foer's Eating Animals Turned Me Vegan [HuffPo]
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Comments
I agree with Brad,
and secondly, to all of you who think she's comparing rape with eating meat.. to a certain extent, you might read it like that. What Nathalie Portman is actually doing though, can be compared to a socalled "Reductio ad absurdum." She's merely pointing out peoples often inconsistent behaviour:
Starting from the implied preposition: "it is alright to do something unethical that's unethical for me if it pleases my tablemate", we can derive the statement "[it is alright if I eat meat even though I find it unethical], if and only if it pleases my tablemate"
Now, we can also say instead of [eating meat], [killing], [rape] etc. etc, just anything that's UNethical
"[it is alright to rape even though it's unethical for me], if it pleases my tablemate"
But that statement would be ABSURD to accept, just like Nathalie Portman points out! It would be ABSURD and WRONG to accept rape.
Meaning that that implied preposition: "it is alright to do something unethical if it plealses my tablemate" is wrong because it leads to absurd conclusions if it were true.
If anything, Nathalie Portman is very against rape in her article!
At the very least animals raised for man's enjoyment are "slaves". They are confined against their will. Add in that most are artificially inseminated - Bingo!... you have "rape". Their lives are also forcefully stolen from them... Some even call this "murder". The analogies aren't that far of a stretch, if you consider that nonhumans have the same desires for freedom from pain and life as we humans do.
It's just a matter of seeing things objectively. And not shrouded in the emotions of what we were indoctrinated to believe about "farm" animals since birth. Maybe it's time to go beyond what we were taught to think about some animals... cows, pigs and chickens. Anyone who has a dog, cat, bird or hamster knows they enjoy their lives and don't wish to be killed. What makes "food" animals so different - aside from what culture has made us accept?
It's easier than ever to go vegan - Maybe the right time is now?
The holocaust was far worse than any rape, and Isaac Bashevitz Singer (himself a survivor) compared the holocaust to meat eating.
"when it comes to animals, every man is a Nazi." - Isaac Bashevitz Singer
Based on the fact that she signed that Polanski petition, I'm forced to conclude from her Huffpo pro-vegan piece that she's definitely down with veal.
As a vegan...I agree that it was a really poor choice of words and poor choice of analogy. However, speaking of disconnect...what about the disconnect going on with what you put on your plate? Factory farming is the worst in animal cruelty, make the connection between causing unbelievable suffering for your own enjoyment.
Um. Natalie actually *is* a rape apologist. She is one of the many idiot celebrities who signed the petition supporting child rapist Roman Polanski. Her analogy is therefore hypocritical as well as completely stupid and offensive!
Clearly you don't care that you give the impression that you were raised in a gutter.
There is a word for attributing the ability to suffer and feel pain as greater in humans than other mammmals. It's called speciesism. From Merriam Webster:
Pronunciation: ˈspē-shēz-ˌi-zəm, -sēz-
Function: noun
Date: 1973
1 : prejudice or discrimination based on species; especially : discrimination against animals
2 : the assumption of human superiority on which speciesism is based
Speciesism: Pronunciation: ˈspē-shēz-ˌi-zəm, -sēz-
Function: noun
Date: 1973
1 : prejudice or discrimination based on species; especially: discrimination against animals
2 : the assumption of human superiority on which speciesism is based
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." — Mahatma Gandhi
Natalie Portman is the most overrated actress of her generation, and one of the most overrated of all time. I have NEVER seen the amazing talent that the press and critics keep insisting she has, and yes, I've seen the movies in which she's allegedly "brilliant." I thought she was decent, but nowhere near brilliant. And blaming the "Star Wars" prequels for her "not fulfilling her potential as an actress" or whatever is getting really old. She hasn't fulfilled her potential as an actress because she doesn't have the TALENT to fulfill it. Pure and simple.
I don't like Portman. I think she's a spoiled little snot who everyone dotes on because of her physical beauty. I don't think she's that classy, either. Sure, she's smart -- she graduated from Harvard -- but she has a remarkable ability to put her foot in her mouth. And I'm sick of her being "untouchable." She isn't. She's a human being with flaws like everyone else. And if she's sniping at people who eat meat, I like her even less. I hate self-righteous vegetarians/vegans who take it on themselves to lecture meat-eaters like they're the meat-eaters' parent or something. Go away, little girl, and mind your own freaking business.
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