Crikey
by Scott Hardie on December 16, 2009

I saw a trailer for a new Free Willy movie coming out soon, starring Bindi Irwin. They're going to cash in on that kid for as long as they can, before she breaks down and can't be Miss Junior Croc Hunter and more. Maybe working in the same career that killed her dad is good for her psyche; who am I to be skeptical?
This got me thinking about the hypocritical Free Willy movies themselves. They're about whales trapped in lagoons, and get turned into local attractions by greedy entrepreneurs, until brave youngsters do the right thing and free them back into the wild. But the movies themselves trap and exploit these whales for profit, making any kid viewer an accomplice to animal abuse while pretending to abhor it. The makers of the original film went to some lengths to get the whale Keiko released into the wild -- but only after a letter-writing campaign for years by the fans.
Who will write a letter for Bindi?
One Reply to Crikey
Logical Operator
The creator of Funeratic, Scott Hardie, blogs about running this site, losing weight, and other passions including his wife Kelly, his friends, movies, gaming, and Florida. Read more »

Signs and Wonders
Driving through Georgia now. Just passed a plain yellow billboard saying The God with Moral Fault, amazon.com. Hidden agenda? Go »
Manly Pastimes
"So what did you do this weekend?" "I went drag racing." "Really? Go »
Upstream Color
Every since seeing the strange and poetic Upstream Color, I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. I highly recommend it if you're in the mood for something weird and beautiful. After a very limited theatrical release in April, it jumped straight to VOD in May, and now it's on Netflix Streaming and Amazon Instant. Go »
And If You're Not Careful, You Might Learn Something
Ten things I learned from watching the entire run of The Cosby Show over the last few months on Netflix streaming: - Cliff wasn't the only one who wore wild sweaters. - Seinfeld was celebrated as the "show about nothing," but this show had even less plot. Entire episodes just riffed for twenty minutes on Vanessa fretting over a test or Theo having a crush on a girl, nothing more. Go »
Pug Life
A friend recently contacted Kelly and me out of the blue to ask if we could take care of her dog for six days while she was on vacation, since the arranged sitter was suddenly unavailable. Neither Kelly nor I have experience taking care of dogs, and we're definitely not dog people. I was attacked by a dog when I was little and I've never been comfortable around them, especially any dog large enough to leap up from the ground and reach my face with its teeth. Go »
Jackie Mason | December 19, 2009
[hidden by author request]