Movie Rant: Cowspiracy

 
Thanks to the ever increasing power of Netflix, the documentary 'Cowspiracy' has really taken off. The documentary is now getting this reputation of being a vegan bible, smashing down the meat industry with powerful statistics and cutting interviews, creating many new followers of the vegan lifestyle. I have to say that it does a great job of bringing the issues behind the now global meat industry into the fold, and the way it likes to throw punches at various targets irrespective of status is a strategy I find admirable. I do genuinely believe that producer Kip Anderson wants to make a difference, and I admire his whistle-blower attitude when it comes to this pressing issue. I can't say the same towards his personality, and wearing baseball caps indoors during professional interviews is not a sign that I take this man's points seriously, but then as we're about to discover this man has no sense of perspective. 'Cowspiracy' parades itself as a factual documentary, not some advert from a pressure group, which seems increasingly suspect when you consider that the word 'conspiracy' is integrated into the title. Most conspiracies rely on assumptions to arrive at a plausible narrative that detracts from the stone cold facts. This position of ignoring context is really where everything starts to go downhill.

At its core 'Cowspiracy' is full blown propaganda. Instead of creating a balanced, or even coherent argument to raise awareness for a huge issue, the creators of this so called documentary have fabricated statistics, misrepresented studies, and approached this topic with the sophistication and integrity of deluded activists. It's quite clear why this has had such an impact on the radical vegan community when it bears greater resemblance to 'Mein Kampf' than any serious documentary I know of. Every possible issue surrounding the environment is looked at in the same narrow minded perspective that demonises the meat industry and attempts to convert every human into veganism or face imminent destruction. It presents no realistic solutions, but instead chastises those who believe that meat eating is acceptable. That's a deplorable attitude for a powerful piece of media that should initiate a debate, not slander the opposition by any means necessary.

The worst part is that the slander is so obvious. The interviews that were in favour of the argument were clearly edited to make those involved look like martyrs, whereas the interviewees on the con side of this argument were chopped up to make sure they look like stuttering idiots. Anyone who did come up with a counter argument was just instantly dismissed, namely Allan Savory, who famously instigated a huge elephant cull in Zimbabwe; a forty year old mistake which coincidentally is very similar to the argument put forward in this film, only Savory's cull would be on a much smaller scale. Somehow this single mistake makes every single one of his views irrelevant despite the fact that he might actually know something, instead of being the one who got the idea of making a documentary through a friend's email. The rest of 'Cowspiracy' was almost the same, rejecting any other view on this issue, only stalling to bombard statistics at the viewer. For someone who is easily manipulated this method is obviously going to start ringing alarm bells, but for those who actually bother to verify the statistics used in this documentary there are some very dirty secrets hiding under the apparently untouchable veil of veganism.

Those statistics certainly are alarming, almost too perfect for the narrative of this film. Well, that's certainly the case as almost all of that is either bollocks or just plain misleading. Let's start with that huge '51% of global greenhouse gas emissions' figure. That comes from a flawed UN study that hugely over-exaggerated the ecological footprint of cattle farming and underplayed that of the transportation sector, sampling solely emissions, and not the actual energy intensive process of how that fuel gets in the vehicle. The figure used in this study was so far off the truth that it's since been revised to 14.5%, and that's for all livestock as opposed to just the beef industry. Depending on which source you use this is roughly the same amount that transportation is responsible for, although again this is a figure for raw emissions, and so doesn't take into account the complex process of how that fuel gets in the vehicle. The bottom line is that these refined figures are in the right ballpark, where as '51%' is miles away from the truth There's even been papers written to highlight how ridiculous that 51% figure is. It's not just that figure that's hugely over-exaggerated either, as methane production too is much lower than the level produced by industries, and that figure is including organisms such as termites and horses that produce huge amounts of methane without providing humans with food; well, unless you shop at 'Tesco'. The misleading statistics continue when you consider that the water that goes into that theoretical hamburger predominantly originates from precipitation, with the exact statistic being almost 97%. That statistic about the amount of waste also ignores the fact that cow manure is primarily used as a fertiliser. I don't recall ever seeing any of these clarifications in the documentary, which is more than happy to plainly mislead viewers with statistics that don't represent the true issue.

Another thing I hated about the arguments presented in 'Cowspiracy' was its apparent hatred for charities. This is such an unbelievably hypocritical stance to take when you consider that 'Cowspiracy' itself was crowdfunded; essentially making it a charity. I'm sure the creative team behind 'Cowspiracy' can bang on all they want about how not to trust charities in relation to meat farming, but in reality he's just explaining why this self interested documentary shouldn't be trusted either. And let's face it, on the evidence we have to go by they're in no fucking position to be criticising others about being trustworthy. If you're exclusively funded by a niche market then of course you're going to reproduce the argument they want to hear. It's a real shame the results are slanderous bigotry because if you look at the other side of the argument you get the benefits of a fantastic debate that covers manure fertilisation, the breakdowns of agriculture waste, the positive effects of pastures on an ecosystem with respect to nutrient cycles, and most of all some tasty BBQ ribs that can be mine for a fraction of income. That's the approach an analytical and serious documentary would revolve around, but here every time a positive aspect about cattle farming was brought up it was quickly dismissed in favour of more one sided doom and gloom that fits into the biased narrative far better.

Don't get me wrong, 'Cowspiracy' is an eye opening documentary that sheds light onto an issue rarely touch, even if by doing that we get a one sided debate. However the harsh reality is that this so called documentary is pure slander; a bloodstain on the art of making a factual film. Where's the debate, or at least compromise that a good documentary would set up? This was a unique opportunity to give an in depth look into a relatively ignored issue, but instead they had to manipulate their audience with solutions that just aren't viable and certainly not sustainable. Now I'm not saying all art has to have a positive impact, and trust me I love controversial pieces, but in a film where the creators preach responsibility and searching for the truth I find it very hypocritical that they then find it acceptable to just fabricate information and treat the issue with about as much responsibility and integrity as a moronic activist. How about you treat people's diets with respect instead of just broadcasting a slanderous ideology that goes about its fastidious business by flat out lying to its audience. That is something I cannot tolerate about a film that disregards environmentalists on the sole basis that they eat meat, and this is why 'Cowspiracy' should be disregarded as a serious documentary when it can't even find the heart to include factual information despite taking the moral high ground at every fucking opportunity.