In Jennifer Lawrence’s recent Rolling Stone cover interview, she was discussing her breakout performance in 2010’s Winter’s Bone. The role scored Jennifer a Best Actress Oscar nomination, and everything has been uphill in her career since then. During the interview, J-Law discussed a particular scene in the film in which she guts a squirrel. Quoth the J-Law, “I should say it wasn’t real, for PETA. But screw PETA.” Ooooh, girl. So of course, PETA is now calling attention to this quote (a quote that was so shocking and controversial, everyone ignored it until PETA brought it up) and calling out the J-Law:
PETA is ticked off at Katniss Everdeen.
In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Hunger Games star Jennifer Lawrence opens up about her gross-out, squirrel-skinning scene from Winter’s Bone, the gritty 2010 flick which earned her a Best Actress Oscar nomination. According to Lawrence, 21, that moment wasn’t faked in the slightest.
“I should say it wasn’t real, for PETA,” Lawrence told the mag. “But screw PETA.”
Needless to say, PETA didn’t take too kindly to Lawrence’s joking remark.
“She’s young and the plight of animals somehow hasn’t yet touched her heart. As Henry David Thoreau said, ‘The squirrel you kill in jest, dies in earnest,” the organization’s president, Ingrid Newkirk, told Gothamist Tuesday morning. “When people kill animals, it is the animals who are ‘screwed,’ not PETA, and one day I hope she will try to make up for any pain she might cause any animal who did nothing but try to eke out a humble existence in nature.”
[From Us Weekly]
Look, I like animals too, and I understand the whole “who am I to judge the soul of Mother Nature” and all of that. But we’re still talking about squirrels, right? They are glorified rats, only dumber. These are the creatures who are too dumb to move out of the road when they see the car coming a mile away. J-Law knows what I’m talking about – she grew up on a Kentucky farm and she’s comfortable with A) gun culture and B) the daily life-and-death decisions of farm life. I don’t think she’s some anti-animal-terrorist. I think she’s just like, “F–k it, it’s a SQUIRREL.”
UPDATE: Okay, so apparently there are lots of squirrel-lovers out there. Here’s the thing: I live out in the country, and I grew up around and in farm and hunting culture, just like Jennifer. I am not saying – and I don’t think J-Law is saying – “Squirrels are dumb and no one cares, so kill them.” It’s just that I’m not personally going to get upset if I see or hear about a dead squirrel. I see dead squirrels by the side of the road every day. I also see dead groundhogs, deer and assorted woodland creatures by the side of the road often enough and I can’t stop to mourn every one of them, you know? Oh, and as several people pointed out, the dead squirrels used in the film were bought off of a hunter who had already killed them. So yes, the film used actual dead squirrels but Jennifer didn’t kill them and the squirrels were not killed expressly for the film.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Like PETA has any credibility left….
Maybe she wasn’t talking about PETA but PEETA…
Spoiler alert!
Or “pita,” you know, throw in a little squirrel, salad and Gardini’s dressing, could make a good wrap.
PETA’s president summed up the public’s general feelings when she said “when you kill a squirrel it’s the animal who is screwed, not PETA.”
So many people hate PETA that their very existence endangers animals. I would never intentionally harm an animal but anytime I see a celeb in fur I know how pissed off PETA is and it makes me smile and giggle and order new leather shoes. (Okay I might have ordered the shoes anyway.)
PETA – the Scientologists of the Animal Kingdom.
@smith that may be the best thing ive heard all day…
“PETA – the Scientologists of the Animal Kingdom.”
YES!
I disagree with the above criticisms of PETA. I support them as an organization on the basis that they produce a lot of evidence of animal abuse practices. Why is that a bad thing? I remember in college I saw a documentary they produced that highlighted the plight of chimpanzees in animal testing facilities. I don’t see a problem with raising awareness about these issues.
Personally, I support the Animal Legal Defense Fund because I think the best way to enact change is through law, but I don’t have any problem with PETA or their values. I think making a mockery of their efforts is counter-intuitive considering that violence against animals is directly related to violence against humans, along with the public health crisis that is our present mass produced meat/dairy market.
First, I’d argue that PETA isn’t that extremist, and secondly, non-extreme measures don’t exactly get a lot accomplished in American politics. While I may disagree with some of their positions (such as veganism), I don’t think it’s bad to improve farm animal conditions (which can only benefit public health). It’s not like PETA is going to rule the world anytime soon and they’ll never have the power to turn everyone into vegans, but at least they are an organization that gets their point across, which is more than I can say for a lot of activist groups.
@HoustonGrl so you’re OK that they kill the animals they crow about “rescuing”, supports kill shelters and is a proponent of breed specific legislation?
I am not big on PETA either, but I have been opposed to the fur industry since I was a child. The unnecessary cruelty that the animals on these so called “farms” endure might change your mind about “giggling when you see a celebrity wearing fur” because it “pisses PETA off.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpXA1OT3gRk
When I see a celebrity wearing fur, I think that they are a callous, self-absorbed schmuck. It does not make them look glamorous.
@Ol Cranky…I haven’t heard of PETA killing animals they claimed to rescue, but perhaps you’ve seen something I haven’t.
Yes I support breed specific legislation. I’m not sure why that has a negative connotation to you. I have volunteered at a dog shelter/wildlife rehabilitation facility for several years. I have completed dog training classes, and I can tell you first hand that different breeds require different owners, and what I mean by that is varying degrees of responsibility. Certain breeds, particularly Pit Bulls, Dobermans, Rotweillers, among others, require a greater commitment from their owners based on the animal’s inherited traits. Ensuring that animal ownership operates under those confines actually protects the animals. If a Pit Bull bites a child, then they are often automatically euthanized, so responsible ownership can help prevents this.
Finally, kill shelters? No, I don’t think anyone “supports” kills shelters. Have I worked in shelters where animals have been euthanized because of severe illness? Yes, I have. Is it sad? It’s heartbreaking. That same shelter also had an intake of 100,000 animals that year. But when you are confronted with limited resources, and have a dog that could spread distemper to 10 healthy dogs and you cannot risk spreading the disease to other animals…I’m simply clarifying the justification. I’m not saying it’s “right”.
Would you rather that PETA not exist? That PETA, or other organizations can only exist if they are perfect or docile? That there be fewer animal rights organizations?
My point is, if that’s the case, there’d be more cases of animal abuse and neglect, not less.
@Houstongirl, PETA has “rescued” and euthanized thousands of animals per yer, is in favor of kill shelters and one of their ad campaigns compared the slaughterhouse practices to the holocaust, doing a split screen of cows and Jews.
If you want to support animal rights, I’d suggest the ASPCA.
Your comments are idiotic. I support PETA.
@HoustonGrl as referenced PETA is notorious for killing the animals it rescues (it hypes the rescue but doesn’t usually hype what they did after the “rescue”)
While I agree there part of being a responsible pet owner is know what you can and can’t handle/support in the dog you get and you should get to know common behavioral patterns/issues with the breed you have (i.e., all dogs need to be socialized with animals and humans early and often, but some breeds are prone to “de-socialize” without maintaining frequent socialization activities whereas others are not; people should be aware of the full size and power their dog can achieve to make sure they are able to remain physically in control of their pet in the event they face a situation in which great training and follow through didn’t prepare them for) but that’s not what BSL is about nor is an animal’s or owner’s actual behavior/commitment considered in BSL.
PETA does support kill shelters and they do say so. They seem to think “open admission” shelters, because they routinely euthanize animals which gives room for another admission are a better solution because no kill shelters do get filled up and that routes other animals to open admission shelters (that will kill them if they’re not adopted quickly enough). Sounds like an elliptical and illogical argument to me.
Lastly, yes, I would prefer PETA not exist – I think they do more than good (come to think of it, I don’t think they do good) & I think they’re hypocritical
screw peta all you want, but leave squirrels alone already! as a wildlife rehabilitator, I know firsthand the lil critters aren’t “dumb”…they are among some of the cleverest animals around; incredibly adaptable and resourceful. true, they’re no match for two tons of automotive steel barrelling down on them, but neither would you be if you were their size, so lay off the squirrels! they’re playful, clever, friendly, sociable, sweet little cuties!
Kaiser, I love your writing, your style, your insights etc. But here, I have to gasp. Yes, maybe so, maybe F*** PETA, maybe they go overboard. I actually quit my membership with them a few years ago. But please don’t say stuff like that, like squirrels are dumb etc. A squirrel is a living being. OK – let me be radical here – I know this will incite rage and loathing, but I actually am whole-heartedly convinced: we are ALL living, breathing, sentient BEINGS, with a beating heart and a soul. Just because another creature is small, much smaller than homo sapiens, does NOT mean it is less worthy. And why is there “roadkill” in the first place? Because of our human technological arrogance (=cars and such) which is no match to the innocence and – yes – purity of an instinct-guided animal like a squirrel. I drove through the whole state of (tiny) Rhode Island last year to take an injured baby squirrel to a wildlife rehabilitation clinic.
The majority of species in the animal kingdom are arthropods (insects/bugs). They outnumber mammals by far and are very important in most ecosystems. The holier-than-thou animal activists cry crocodile tears over a squirrel, but wouldn’t think twice about stamping on a cockroach or killing a spider. Only the cute fuzzy critters get cared about.
(I’m no insect advocate here. Just pointing out the hypocrisy that only cute animals are protested over).
I’ll give to World Wildlife Federation, Sierra Club, Greenpeace, etc. PETA is a cult of extremists who do not at all seem “loving” towards animals. They don’t. They seem to like the game. They don’t support animal rescue. They don’t support pets. They don’t support anything at all realistic in this gradually deforested world.
Their stance on horses…Jeebus Christ, how many wild place exist anymore for horses to roam upon? Deer are constantly getting killed in roads and taking drivers with them because, for better or for worse, we’ve chewed up the earth.
They are just not realistic and seem more interested in being fashionable and punk rock than actually accomplishing anything of value at all.
So, yeah, screw PETA
Yes! I totally agree with her.
+1. Screw PETA.
Same. Ingrid Newkirk is a heartless bitch. Anyone that supports or actively tries to defend PETA just needs to do the absolute smallest amount of research on them to see what hypocritical asshats they are. 99% of animal activists know this.
Look, if the scene and/or reality indicated the squirrel was SKINNED ALIVE than yeah, that would really stress me out.
But it wasn’t. So really – who cares? I also grew up in the country (we didn’t eat squirrels) and wildlife is wildlife.
There’s this thing called a FOODCHAIN.
Well then, you shouldn’t have a problem if a crocodile or shark eats one of your friends, hypothetically speaking. We’re also part of the FOOD CHAIN, you know. People, with their double standards, would hunt down and kill that crocodile or shark for vengeance, when that predator was just behaving naturally in its habitat. As you said, wildlife is wildlife.
I don’t romanticize the natural world but I do have empathy for the suffering of its inhabitants. And that empathy is not just reserved for my fellow humans and my pets. Anyone who has spent enough time with animals learns that each one has its own unique personality.
Nature is a vicious bitch. Animals and humans can do cruel things to others and to their own species. Some people here are a bit too dismissive of the suffering of other forms of life. Do they think humans and what they label as “intelligent” creatures are the only ones who experience fear and pain?
Also, many people who eat meat choose to be ignorant of the cruelty in factory farms. There are more humane ways to kill those animals for meat. Of course, most in the meat industry are not interested in being humane. They are interested in easy profit and the callous cruelty that often accompanies it.
Jennifer’s comment was thoughtless. She may not like PETA, but don’t paint all animal rights groups with the same brush. I am also disappointed with Kaiser’s comments. Squirrels are not glorified rats. Rats are not dumb animals. Both are clever creatures that developed the intelligence and skills necessary to survive in the wild. Cars are a recent addition to this world, so wildlife did not evolve through the centuries to deal with them.
Aww, but squirrels are CUTE! Like all the little lambs we, err… regularly eat. (Well, not me so much!)
Grey squirrels are essentially no better than tree-rats and a pestilential nuisance that have taken over the UK and reduced the native (cuter) red squirrel population to a handful of small colonies.
Apparently they’re also a sweet and tender low-fat meat – according to Dolly Parton – so if we could get everyone eating them we could reduce their numbers and have a healthier, slimmer human population.
Win-freaking-win! So yes, screw PETA.
All this is almost like saying “oh this person is better than the other, so we should just kill it”. You know, you should just stop making excuses for this girl’s dumb shit and your own dumb shit. You guys at this site are pathetic. Yeah, I should just stop coming around here.
You’re right..till a certain point. Squirrels are rats and dumb? I don’t think anyone has the right to judge and to say ‘this animal is ugly or dumb so it’s okay to kill it’. Wtf?
And seriously, this has really hurt her image. At least I don’t like her anymore.
this has hurt her image??? Are you kidding?? Tell that to the box office.
Yeah because even if few, with this she lost fans. Me included. That was really heartless not to say dumb (yeah because if you think like that and are a celebrity you might as well shut up).
She definitely gained a few fans for saying that too!
Jennifer Lawrence is definitely in it for the long haul…her career may slip a bit after the Hunger Games ends (like harry potter, twilight stars, etc.) but she’s proven herself to be a promising actress who’s quite refreshing.
P.S. the squirrel was dead already – this was addressed in the few days the movie was released.
Seriously, I didn’t even know who J-Law was until someone suggested that I resembled her – so had to look her up. Let’s just say I was COMPLETELY flattered by the compliment, J-Law’s adorable. And I can’t stop staring at her breasts in the first photo. Wish I resembled her in THAT department!!! As for squirrels, God help the silly squirrels, they are not exactly nearing extinction. And, altough I never had a taste for them, my red-neck brother keeps his freezer stocked full of them, and rabbits and deer, etc… Guess it’s a Southern thing. Trust me, for that one squirrel killed, there are a million frollicking around looking for nuts in the world’s back yard. It’s all good people.
Please. The box office isn’t big because of Jennifer Lawrence. People didn’t watch the movie because they were fans of her, they watched the movie because they were interested in the movie.
As for the comment. I don’t think we get to say who deserves to live or die, or what animals deserve more life than others. Who makes us the authority on life? From an omniscient perspective, we have no more right to be here than animals do, and we are no more special. You can say and do whatever you want, but let’s call a spade a spade.
I bet the “box office” would not have looked as impressive if this interview would have come out BEFORE the opening of the movie.
She made her money so it’s time to start saying dumb and “shocking” crap ala Megan Fox. Sigh idiots.
Haven’t seen the movie and I’m not going to see it.
Again, not really seeing where J-Law made any statements about the rights of animals to live or die. More accurately, she was responding to a question about whether or not they used a real squirrel in that specific movie scene, and she knew that no matter what she said, PETA would likely over-react, which they did. So, all this holier-than-thou crap about animals’ rights to life, is ridiculous and is taking her comments out of context, which makes those who are twisting her words look just as stupid as they claim she is. Seriously, find something else to worry about – like the rocket that North Korea is launching.
I guess I was responding more to the people in the comment section and Kaiser than I was to Jennifer Lawrence. Miscommunication. My bad.
And since I was referring to the comments on this website–no, I’m not taking Jennifer’s comments out of context. I didn’t intend to address her comments.
As for the holier-than-thou “crap” you speak of? It’s a bit hypocritical of you to take that stance when you then go on to talk about how we should be discussing North Korea, as if ~you~ have a right to dictate what’s worth speaking about. It’s also a bit hypocritical for you to call others stupid and go on to accuse the lot of us for taking things out of context when that’s exactly what you’re doing with your generalizations.
And not everyone stating their view on morality is doing so because they think their ideas demonstrate a personal superiority over other people. Sometimes people speak out because they feel that something is wrong. Not everything everyone says involves their ego.
Blah blah blah. As someone else on this thread suggested…”stop clutching your pearls” and consider that maybe – JUST MAYBE – J-Law isn’t some demonic squirrel serial killer, and was simply answering a media question where her words didn’t come out the way some folks would have liked. She’s human…and it seems like she was handed a dead squirrel as a prop in part of a movie that people paid to go see. If it wasn’t her, it would have been Wynona Rider or the next best chick answering the same damn question. Honestly, if they would pay me a million bucks, which would certainly help feed my 2 babies, I’d skin a dead squirrel (trying not to vomit at the thought). But, instead I buy my meat nicely prepared at Krogers. Wonder why PETA doesn’t picket the grocery stores? Now, there’s a thought worth pondering in this debate. I don’t mind being called a hypocrite – I’ve been called worse, but I’m still gonna put my 2 cents out there. I’m just making conversation (and suggesting alternative topics for folks on the verge of hysteria)…this is the internet for Christ’s sake. So, g’nite girls and squirrels! May we all meet a better fate than the squirrel at the center of this topic.
I would say that humans are the dumbest creatures of all.
I agree.
Without a doubt.
and cruelest of all
Yes, yes, and YES!
Love it, k. We think we’re SO immensely smart with all our friggin technology. Yeah right. We’re far, far from the pinnacle of evolution. I guess we have another couple of million years to go before we’ve reached near-enlightenment.
People usually have this attitude though.
If the animal is cute, fluffy and can be posed for calendars then they really care about their welfare.
If the animal is unattractive, inconvenient, or annoying then there’s far less concern.
Also, no animal is ‘dumb’, some don’t have any idea how to deal with humans and cars but they sure know how to do the things that get them through the day and winters.
@k I’d have to agree with you there.
Exactly, my dear, exactly.
^^ That. Exactly.
Actually, as someone who used to be a bench scientist and had to sac rats and mice, I can assure you that rats are not stupid by any stretch of the imagination. They’re also have distinct personalities and, as much as i hated using any animal for research (and doing DNA work, I was lucky that I could just let them inhale halothane to put them to sleep), the rats were much harder than the mice.
It’s not like it was Secret Squirrel (that is the only cute squirrel I can think of) Maybe because I live in the South-this isn’t a big deal? While I am an animal lover any time PETA’s name is attached to anything I just quit reading..
+1
PETA lose a lot of people’s respect/attention because most of their methods are extreme. They’re extremists, which will distance all but other extremists from them. Sadly they believe that being so “in your face” is the thing that will gain them the most supporters, but for most people it’s a turn off, not a call-to-arms.
So true. I dont really care about animals, and PETA’s tactics make me think all animal lovers are crazy
This is for “phaksi”- I hope you were just trying to get a little attention here with your stupid comment, “I don’t really care about animals”. Thats one of the most pathetic things I’ve ever read on this site.
I don’t care for animals either. Although I don’t think they should be tortured or abused. If you love animals, take care of them. However, I can honestly say I don’t love them, which is why I don’t have any.
I dont see what is so “stupid and pathetic. Marjalane, I was attacked by four dogs in November so yes, I dont give a fig about animals. I don’t care about them, but that doesnt mean I condone mindless torture and killing of them.
I have never been attacked by a dog and I totally don’t care about animals, either. That doesn’t mean I condone their torture or death, but I certainly don’t feel warm fuzzies when I see them, and that doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with me.
Some people don’t care about babies in the same way that I don’t care about animals. That’s fine, too. I don’t have animals for that reason, they don’t have kids for that reason. Live and let live.
I love the “I don’t care about animals” posts. Are you guys on glue? What the heck do you think you are? Plasma screen televisions? Carrot sticks? Billy bookcases? OF COURSE you’re goddamn animals!
Geez I hope none of you work for the public schoolboard or else we’ll have a whole new generation of morons who think they’re “not animals”.
You are animals. You are NOT God’s gift to the Earth.
If anything you’re the plague!
The arrogance is hilarious!
endoplasmic_ridiculum, itr’s pretty obvious that when they say “animals” they mean “other species.” Stop being so pedantic. I was vegetarian for a decade because I won’t eat cruelly produced meat, but I’m unsentimental enough to know animals can be mindnumbingly cruel, too. Anyone who’s ever seen sheep bully one another, crows peck out living infant eyes, a fox attack on poultry, or just a cat toying with a bird knows that.
I happen to love animals, but they’re as cruel and complex as we are – and they eat other species, too, fairly often.
Most animal liberationists I encounter don’t give a stuff about animals. They enjoy feeling superior to other humans, that’s all. If they cared, they’d seek to influence and persuade instead of alienate. Genuine animal activists do the latter, on account of how it works.
And don’t even get me started on animal shelters for cats (obligate carnivores) that feed them cruelly produced meat. One cat is responsible for the deaths of a lot of factory produced, horribly slaughtered animals in some of those shelters. How is that a humane activity?
don’t get me started on PETA (i’m an animal rescuer, PETA is the worst animal “rights” group ever) but I do agree that killing an animal for shits and giggles (ie: to simply gut it for a movie) is pretty un-cool…so is bragging about it
You should get started on them. They kill like 95% of the dogs and cats that they get at their VA headquarters.
I hear ya OlsenTriplet..PETA has the WORST kill record in their shelters..it’s disgusting that people actually support them when there are far far better animal rescue groups…
it’s also sad to hear celebrities stay stupid things about animals…how many people will now think it’s ok to gut a squirrel for fun because Jennifer Lawrence made a joke out of it?
I really wish stupid people would just keep their mouths shut.
I can’t imagine anybody would seriously consider gutting a squirrel because Jennifer Lawrence made a joke about it. That’s ridiculous.
@ Ade:
Not trying to start an argument with you or anything, but I have to say that you’d be surprised by the amount of animals that are killed just because some a**hole saw someone else (that they think is “cool”) doing it.
I remember reading an article about frogs being killed just like they were in Beavis & Butthead — they used frogs as tennis balls or something; they also used firecrackers to torture and kill animals in some episodes and that was emulated by fans in “real life” (there was also something about cats being killed too, but I can’t remember exactly how — actually, I don’t even want to).
There’s also a significant difference between the Beavis and Butthead frog-as-tennis-ball treatment of animals and gutting a squirrel to eat it.
Though the frog would probably be better to eat; squirrels are greasy…
I’ve said too much.
I know that there’s a huge difference — but that wasn’t my point.
My point was that people do kill animals because they’ve seen someone else, that they watch regularly and/or admire, doing it.
In the context of the movie, the squirrel is killed for food and there’s nothing wrong with it. But people may try to do the same in real life, just for fun, just because their favourite actress thinks it’s no big deal or just because they’re “just squirrels”.
Agreed, katiebob.
I also work in animal rescue and am NOT a supporter of PETA. However, they are the only animal rescue group that has any political clout which is sad.
I can tell you that people do torture animals far more than you realize because they hear/see others do it. And in many cases, that leads to a disconnection to life in general and lead to human abuse and torture. (No not all animal abusers become human killers but most human serial killers or torturers start with small animals.)
I have a problem with her “whatever” attitude to life. That is what bothers me. Did the film need to use real squirrels – nope. Do people need to wear real fur? – Nope – there are excellent faux furs out there that most people would not know the difference. Plus if you knew how these animals were treated and killed (many skinned alive) you would not wear fur if you had a conscience.
In sum – PETA sucks, J-Law’s comments were insensitive towards that animal (not PETA).
Skinned alive? Seriously? I’m not saying it’s never happened, but it would be much more difficult to skin an animal alive than dead, and I can’t see a benefit to the skinned-alive method at all. Messier, much more difficult, dangerous…
Kaiser, I’ve heard more than one person talk that way about squirrels and deer – that “they’re too dumb to move out of the way.” But, evolution has not taught them that cars are a danger, only predators. SO I can’t get mad at them and don’t think that they’re dumb.
That being said, I ran over a squirrel a couple of weeks ago because that thing sat so still in the middle of the road, I thought it was a stuffed animal and tried to straddle it – well, it decided to bail out at the last second as it met the insides of my tires 🙁
And I’ll be damned if I didn’t think to myself, “God damn it, you stupid squirrel!! You’re so f-ing stupid!!”
Exactly. I’m not going out of my way to kill squirrels, but when I run one over, I’m not crying about it.
I once saw a squirrel get partially run over by a car in London, then painfully try to drag itself the rest of the way accross the street.
That little critter wanted to live and pretty much all the passerbys who saw the scene recognised the pathos of the situation. A little old lady finally took offer her kerchief and picked her up, then my husband and I drove it to the vet to be euthanised.
I’m a hardened corporate lawyer and I cried. My husband cried. The little old lady was balling. People in the vet waiting room were tearing up. It’s totally normal to cry for a critter that’s been hit by a car.
@endo, that was very kind of you. As I said way down thread, I raised a squirrel, and he became so attached to the family that we couldn’t let him free. He had no fear of our dog or cat and would have gotten himself killed, had we released him. The neighbors used to knock on my door to play with him (captain Nibbles).
Every summer, someone would leave a box of baby squirrels on my porch because they knew I hand raised one. I always dropped them off at the local animal sanctuary because they were usually injured from the fall. One of them was paralyzed and dragged his back legs. Very sad, but I did the best I could by him.
If the animal was killed just for the movie, I find it really sad. And I don’t care if it was just a squirrel.
I think that killing an animal — ANY animal — just for the sake of it sets a horrifying precedent.
For instance, there are videos on Youtube of people killing rats with fire. Some might think: f*ck it, it’s just a rat. Well, there was still (not long ago, not sure if they removed it) a video of a kitten being killed in the same way (and I hope this is the one case where the two young men were convicted). You let (or don’t care if) someone kills an animal for fun, they’ll go for something else in the future.
I find her quote irresponsible, to say the least. And it angers me that I have to agree with what that person from PETA said (the last quote).
I totally agree with you. I also don’t sympathize with PETA, but here I have to agree with them. I really admired her till now. I thought that finally there was a young woman in Hollywood with something interesting to say. In this moment she sounds quite of a dumb mean little girl. She didn’t have to talk about it or call PETA into the subject. She is trying to hard to pass the image of the though tomboy who can use sexy dresses…not working.
Agreed with both of you, I liked her comments but this one seems so unnecessary. PETA like many groups has many flaws but their overall goal is one to be respected, I can understand calling out their mistakes but please little girl, can it with the ‘Screw them’ unless you’re helping or fighting for animals in anyway.
It wasn’t killed just for the movie. She’s said before that a hunter came over with a bag of frozen squirrels he’d already shot and was going to eat.
Thanks for the info. I’m pretty sure she didn’t explain herself just to piss off PETA.
This is the only worthwhile piece of info, still not sure why it had to be about PETA when this was much more clarifying. But hey…maybe she’s trying to be a bad-ass, insert eye roll.
I couldn’t have said it better. I don’t think that PETA are the non-plus-ultra animal rights protectors but making fun of killing animals is insensitive and in her case maybe also a sign of being immature.
And it is INHUMANE to have no empathy for the pain that any creature feels.
Perfectly said, I’m not sure what’s funny about her statement that she felt it was good to phrase it that way.
Ah, humans (actors, grips, stunt people) have died on movie sets due to the incompetence and neglect of other humans. The powers that be stand to earn $150 million or more, chances are… they’ll kill a squirrel.
Or maybe it was fake, but she’s saying “Screw PETA” to piss them off. I would too. If I were a celebrity, I would stand on my soapbox and tell people to support a BETTER animal rights group.
I believe it was a real animal — and felt really bad because the movie is indeed very good. I waited till the end credits to see that “no animal was harmed during the making of this film” but nothing showed up.
The scene looks very realistic. (In the scene) she also teaches her brother how to skin it.
It was already dead Eve. They didn’t kill it just for the movie. She didn’t explain herself just to get a reaction out of PETA and it worked.
@ T.C.:
I know, I read the updates (wish I knew that while I was watching the movie).
I still hate her quote though. Mostly because she reduced all animal rights organizations and all people who care about animals to PETA. That’s unfair and a downright ignorant thing to say.
I don’t like PETA but she didn’t need to qualify her statement with comments about PETA, because they latch on to any comment and milk it.
Her comment only makes her seem colder. Unnecessary really, for a 2010 film.
Aww, leave the squirrels alone! I hope she was joking. Killing an animal for a movie? Is that allowed?
I am so disappointed in her comments. Screw PETA? As if PETA is the only group that cares about animals? What about all the other, arguably saner groups? To kill an animal for a movie is shameful. She just lost a fan.
You said it better than I could.
Agreed.
Anyone who doesn’t like these fake animal rights attention whores at PETA gets points in my book. They euthanize over 95% of the animals turned in at their shelters.
I think that PETA ends up alienating more people (and thus hurting its cause) than attracting people, but I don’t think they euthanize animals for kicks. The sad fact is that there are more animals than homes. Hopefully as rescue and adoption get more and more support we’ll reach a day where all shelters are no-kill, but we aren’t there yet.
Not 95% hun…..even the animal control center where I live doesn’t come close to those statistics: http://www.petakillsanimals.com/
Agreed. I don’t like the attitude of ‘well its dumb so whatever’ I’ve seen so many abused animals who’s owners have the same attitude. Including people who own dogs and cats.
I’m not saying that the life of a squirrel changes the world but I think you should respect life in general, and avoid killing when unnecessary. Let’s face it the only reason people quantify animals that way is because in their minds ‘Animal I can pet = worthy life, Animal I can’t = kill it, whatever’.
Winter’s Bone is a really good movie and JLaw & John Hawkes (he also got Oscar nod- plays her uncle.) are amazing in it. Believe it or not, I learned about how poor the people of this region are from Brad & Angelina- their JP Foundation is a major backer of Doug Pitt’s Care to Learn, which gives teachers/schools a pot of $$ to buy tooth paste, shoes, food, clothes for kids from this region who come to school in need. Thus, they are portraying poor, starving people in the movie & the squirrel is killed for food. I’m not sure if their was a lot of “gratuitous” squirrel killing on set, but, the film was low budget, so they probably had little time for animal death pranks.
John Hawkes is incredible isn’t he? Such a talented guy.
It is not because an animal is stupid or ugly that it should be OK to kill one. Let us imagine if this theory was applied to human beings ; do not forget we are supposed to be ‘animals’ too..
Thus said I understand your more general point and agree with it.
I agree. If humans were treated the same way as the majority of animals – domestic or wild – are, there would be more of an uproar over this type of stuff. Jennifer Lawerence is a tool – as are the majority of celebrities. Perhaps we should not care when one of THEM dies because most of them are stupid, shallow, selfish losers. An animal – whether it is a dog, cat, or squirrel – feels physical pain, same as you or I, and therefore does not deserve to be tortured or killed, nor does their death deserve to be ridiculed or treated as insignificant. I am a vegetarian and have been for many years because I do not believe that animals are ours to eat, wear, or experiment on. And a side bonus to being vegetarian is that I have had excellent health versus when I used to eat meat (not that I ever ate much of it. I usually are chicken and even then, only in small amounts. Grosses me out that I ever ate any meat though.) Anytime I hear of an animal being killed due to the selfish actions of a human being, I am sickened and heartbroken, as well as ashamed to be human. Humans think that this planet and all of the species/resources on it, are for their own greedy consumption when really, we should be sharing our world with the other creatures on it and affording them the same respect we expect for our own “dumb” species.
As far as PETA goes, I think it began with good intentions (and likely still does have good intentions as far as getting people educated on the cruelty enacted on animals for meat, leather, fur, experiments, etc) but it has become a joke. I do support local animal shelters, especially those that are “no kill”. I also support wild life conservation efforts and international animal rescue organizations.
I wish more people would do the same – perhaps if they did, there would be less of these insensitive comments from imbeciles like Jennifer Lawerence, and more compassion for the innocent creatures being stripped of their dignity and lives.
Forget about Jennifer Lawrence’s comments, she is obviously young and immature. (And someone above me mentioned the animals were dead before the shoot so she could be joking- needless to say a bad and tasteless joke)
But Kaiser? Just because squirrels are dumb & basicaly rats they deserve to die for a movie? That dumb creature has a right to live as much as you and I do. Level of intellect is irrelevant. It may not be my business but I’m really disappointed in your comments:/
“That dumb creature has a right to live as much as you and I do. Level of intellect is irrelevant.” I second that emotion, mudik. Yes, if I am starving I will kill and eat a squirrel. But there is a spiritual dimension to this – we should be damn grateful to the animals we kill for food, and treat them with the respect they deserve and do everything we can do to allow them to live their lives in somewhat of a natural manner. Of course that is not what happens because it might cost a company some money. Blasphemy!
In the same way, we should respect our own species but I would argue that given the way the powerful treat the powerless is profoundly disrespectful to ourselves and to the animals we live with on this planet.
So @tommy won’t lose sleep over “pestilent rats losing their lives when there are humans in Africa dying in droves” – what bs. Do you really give a sh*t about the African tragedy? Call me skeptical. What are you doing for those suffering humans? Yeah, that’s what I thought.
Could this offhand callousness be an extension of our callousness to our fellow humans? Some of these posts seem to suggest that. I’m with @kimbob – an advocate for the “still small voices of the animals.” This actress is just a silly kid and I don’t take what she said with any seriousness. It’s so crazy that we expect a young person to have anything of importance to say just because she’s talented and we like her in a movie. G’damn people – how long have you been reading this site?!
And btw @RhymesWithSilver, I have also worked with mice and rats in a research capacity. You say: “one nutjob can destroy millions upon millions of dollars in publicly-funded research on AIDS, Parkinson’s, MS, strokes and other diseases by letting go of a few rats or mice.” Really? I have one of those listed diseases. And I do not want animals, any animals, sacrificed on my behalf.
Much of the research I was involved in was headed by unscrupulous PI’s who lied in their research to conform with the expectations of their funders, which were often pharmaceutical companies. Guess what, pharmaceutical companies are not interested in curing diseases, but managing them so sick people will limp along ill and buying their drugs. Personally I reject those immunosuppressive drugs that are the ONLY treatment for my condition because they don’t work, they don’t fix the underlying problem, and they cost tens of thousands a year.
Rejecting Big Pharma has been great for my health, btw!
Wake up, people! We no longer must rely on animals for our food. But I wouldn’t deny some fat American their delicious surf & turf. That would be cruel.
I think it’s egotistical to say, “it’s only a dumb squirrel.”
GOD knows, as a species, humans have done a lot of sad sh*t: Pointless wars? Nuclear weapons? Pollution? Slavery? Genocide? Racism?
Yep, we’re so much smarter than the dumb animals.
😉
I can only imagine some superior alien civilization saying about us, “Hey, they’re only humans–some of the dumbest beings ever!”
I understand what you guys are saying, and both Kaiser and I love animals. We live in a place where hunting is very common, though, and it’s hard not to see it like this. These slippery slope arguments are weak, IMO. A squirrel is not the same as a human. Should we all turn into buddhists and not kill any flies or ants in our homes? I know we’re talking about a mammal with a brain, not an insect with a nervous system. As a meat eater, I cannot condemn hunting. We’re not saying it’s ok to kill animals for sport, but when they’re meant for meat (and this squirrel may have been eaten for meat afterwards according to what some of you have written) how can I say it’s ok to kill animals in factory farms but it’s not ok in the wild?
-Edit- Please see Kaiser’s update, they didn’t kill the squirrel for the movie, a hunter brought the squirrels to the set, which he killed for meat.
But they killed it for a movie…for entertainment. Not for food.
I think you’re missing the point…if the animal was just killed for the movie (and who actually knows the truth about that) then, that is very different from hunting, where you actually consume the animal. Killing an animal for no real reason?? not ok…Killing an animal for a movie? even worse.
There are a lot of people who won’t kill insects in their home either. Myself included. If it’s a spider I leave it alone, its not hurting me. If its a roach or something along the lines that I don’t want in my home I will put it outside, why kill it when there’s no reason to? A lot of the negative comments you got from this was because you basically said a squirrels life isn’t as important as other “smarter” things lives. You obviously don’t get that because you are now saying the same thing about insects. The point many of us are trying to make is that any living thing with feelings and a brain should be respected, whether it be a spider a squirell or anything else. If someone thought you were dumb should they be able to kill you because they deem you insignificant?
@celebitchy-what slippery slope argument? There was none in my response. I didn’t say anything about not killing animals for food, and turning into Budhhists, running around saving flies, and whatnot. Where you got all that from, I have no idea? You are reading something into my comments that simply isn’t there.
I just don’t think it’s okay to designate an animal as “dumb” and not worthy of any consideration. It’s okay, it’s only a ___________. It smacks of pure ego. After all, “dumb” is a very relative term, considering that the inteligent human species is capable of destroying so much with wars, pollution, and nuclear weapons. Yep, when it comes to self-destruction on a massive scale, those “dumb” animals can’t quite compare!
Kentucky in general has a hunting culture. My husband was born and raised near JL’s hometown and was brought up with a sincere love of nature and respect for wildLIFE. He doesn’t hunt for sport, but rather for the fresh air and comradery. On the rare occasion he kills it’s for meat not for thrills (didn’t mean to rhyme there). We don’t even have a mounted “trophy” in the house–thank God. I realize this isn’t the Southern hunter stereotype we see on TV, but in this area it’s pretty common sentiment. This is probably JL’s norm, too!
And really, PETA? Weren’t they just being blasted for the ridiculous flour bombing stunt a couple of weeks ago? They don’t seem to try too hard anymore to make good decisions to garner any sort of respect or credibility. I have no idea what JL was thinking when she made this (unfortunate and sort of thoughtless) offhand comment, but I took it that she was referring to their counter-productive behavior and overreaction to nearly everything involving animals, no matter what the situation.
We comment on the way she dresses and that she must not have a styling team yet. If that’s the case, I’m sure she doesn’t have anybody yet coaching her on what she should and should NOT be talking about. She’s young and silly still, and don’t all kids go for shock value? She’ll be embarrassed of her youthful candor soon enough, just like the rest of us. Doesn’t mean she doesn’t have a right to her opinions, but it’s probably good advice to keep controversial comments to herself for now.
EDIT: Sorry for the novel. That was MUCH longer than I meant it to be.
Kira: This is the best comment on the thread, thank you. It’s just dumb, so kill it. WTF?
@ celebitchy: you say Kiser loves animals? after everything she has stated in her article and comment. i don’t think so.
this girl is young.
hm….what’s your excuse?
She said it wasn’t real! It’s called ACTING. And I agree with the remark about PETA. There are better animal rights organizations to give money to.
it WAS “only” a squirrel, but it’s a freaking life, dumb or not. this twit shouldn’t joke about it. it’s one thing to kill an animal for survival and food, quite another for fun/sport.
Am I the only one that read this as screw Peeta and laughed? Anyone?
Yes! I did too 🙂
PETA regularly kills animals. I agree with Jennifer, screw PETA. PETA thinks they are above reproach but they are the worst and I believe they are only in it for the attention; not saving any animal lives. As much as they throw paint on celebs wearing fur, I wonder how many people at PETA wear leather shoes and belts. However, I do support my local SPCA where I got my little guy.
This is not just about PETA, I don’t agree with their methods too, this is about killing a squirrel for a movie and then brag about it ‘I should say it wasn’t real, for PETA’. For PETA? What about for you? Was that supposed to be cocky? It was just dumb.
The dead squirrel was from being hit by a car and they used it for the scene, but people do in fact kill squirrels for meat as depicted by the movie. PETA euthanizes an enormous amount of animals, many times not bothering to find them homes first, so yeah, screw PETA. They think they can bully everyone into promoting them as if they are the end all, be all. I have much more respect for someone who kills/skins their own meat than someone who goes to the grocery store to buy theirs, not knowing how it got there.
if there are people on this planet who sabotage the well being of animals its peta. seriously i can understand everyone who gets annoyed by animal rights campaign because of those peta people.
i love animals and thats why i will never side with peta.
If she was flipping off animals, that would be offensive. But she said, “Screw PETA.” I assume that’s because PETA — although it may have started with the best intentions — has evolved into an idiotic organization. Naturally, PETA being PETA, they’re acting like she hates squirrels, all animals, nature in general, and Henry David Thoreau.
Yes-thank you. This!
Thanks for that! Agree. I may have dearly loved all my pets but I eat meat and my family has used lifesaving medication that was tested on animals and I do not want to pretend I would not do that again in a heartbeat. I am surprised how many people like to claim that ANY animal is just as dear to them as their kids. We decided not to get a new dog after ours passed as this coincided with a trip to Africa where we were witness to starving children and decided that a monthly contribution to a child’s life would be a better idea. If you want to save cats instead please do so but don’t judge people. I also kill mosquitos with a fiery passion but would also cry for any rabbit hit on the highway.
I hate squirrels and I don’t care whether they live or die. We had flying squirrels taking up residence in our attic. We gave them every possible, HUMANE, chance to leave. The pest people installed1-way doors. After 2 months they had to trap them. Got 15. Yuck! And they have ruined our attic/insullation AND caused about $5000 worth of damage up there. So yeah, squirrels suck!!
You sound really cool – can I hang out with you? *eye roll*
Yes, because squirrels were born and live to invade your attic; because squirrels understand your reasoning as to why you installed a door and “gave them a chance to leave.”
Sing it, Kat!
well if you love animals so much, why don’t you pony up the 5k to repair the damage they caused.
It takes a super cool person to insult someone via a gossip blog. LAME!
AJ, I think you need to reassess your understanding of the term, “insult.”
I’m just pointing out the errors in your way of thinking, which is…you can’t reason with squirrels. To think you can is, well, silly.
error in my way of thinking? Are you for real? You think you can tell people how to think? Who do you think you are? Take your holier than thou attitude and stuff it up a squirrels A**!
Oh gosh AJ, Please forgive me!
You keep reasoning with those squirrels – let me know how that works out for you.
I’m with AJ on this, if you don’t like the squirrels being evicted from an attic then pay the 5k for the damage THEN (speaking for me here) Id shut up. But if you can’t/don’t want to then let her voice her opinion.
Hatsumomo, good thing you’re not me.
Both of you have missed my point entirely.
I’m not condoning the damage the squirrels had caused or do I have anything against evicting them; I’m trying to get AJ to realize that you cannot reason with animals, which is exactly what he described doing.
That’s all. But thank you.
@Katyusha: You seem to have taken AJ’s post literally. However, sometimes we use certain seemingly illogical phrasing in order to be entertaining or silly or wry. I don’t think AJ actually tries to reason with squirrels and/or expects them to be anything other than animals.
I completely agree, AJ. I’m not going to lose sleep over pestilent rats losing their lives, especially not when there are humans in Africa dying in droves by the minute. Priorities, people. Priorities.
@Tommy,I agree with you about priorities. Although, if I may go totally off topic, I have a problem with your ‘humans in Africa dying in droves’ statement. Your statement implies that we’re dying in huge numbers around here.(In Africa.I won’t go into the issue of lumping us into a whole continent.That’s for another day.)Anyway, we’re not ‘dying in droves’.
That said, I hate squirrels. Wouldn’t want them to be killed or tortured though.
wtf @AJ.
It’s not like the flying squirrels meant to trash your attic. You installed a one-way door for them to use? Did you give them a goddamn instruction manual to go with it? What kind of redneck hell are you trapped in?
Kat makes perfect sense.
Endoplasm, Exactly! You got my point!!! Yay!
@ Cirque 28 – I’m fully aware of what I was saying; if AJ installs a door for them to leave, he’s reasoning with them to get them out of his attic. Squirrels have no idea that the door is meant for them or even probably know what to do with it – let’s be honest.
I LOVE squirrels! I put them in my Top 40 Favorite Animals 😉
They are amazing acrobats and personally, if I ever ran over a squirrel I would be very very upset.
Ok I used to have a pet squirrel I rescued named Lord Pistachio and I still think people are making too much a big deal about this. But I lived in the country too -my dad and I went ground squirrel hunting in New Mexico because they are so overpopulated.
that name cracks me up
@Eileen, hehe. My pet grey squirrel was Captain Nibbles!
You and Eileen get the top prize for the best pet names, EVER.
Haha Capt’n Nibbles! I had a cat at the exact time I had the squirrel named Capt’n Hook because his tail was broken into a hook like someone closed a door on it-another rescue.
How did you get your squirrel? I found mine on the ground by a tree-I didn’t know what it was when I found it! It was totally bald and curled up. I took it to the vet to find out! I woke up 2 X’s a night and took it to work with me for 2 MONTHS to feed it cat formula! When he got old enough I took him to a wildlife preservation and they kept him. He was so awesome!
I also had a cat named PimpDaddy Floyd at the same time-he was HUGE and he lost a lot of teeth when he got older-looked like a PIMP! lol
Then after Lord Pistachio I got an iguana named Giovanni-he was awesome too. Floyd & Giovanni were BFFs-seriously. Animals are so fabulous.
.
“Lord Pistachio” and “Captain Nibbles”. Holy crap, that is amazing! Ha ha..”Lord Pistachio” gave me a giggle fit 🙂
I have this weird thought process that rescue animals need to have titled names to make them know how fabulous they are-lol. Being rescued from a shelter or homeless or abused-I want to help them with their self-esteem. 🙂
That’s actually an awesome idea – I rescued a dog about a month ago, but his name is plain ole’ “Leo.”
Maybe his new name will be “Lord Leo Faunterloy!”
yeah because everybody who loves animals does/must support peta. they’re dumb for making that statement. i support animal rights but i do not adhere to that organisation.
PETA is against the No Kill Nation philosophy, which is one that I support. No Kill Nation is trying to minimize the unnecessary deaths of adoptable companion animals. PETA thinks it’s perfectly okay to “humanely euthanize” a healthy animal. They show every sign of actually hating dogs and cats. They vilify small farmers as opposed to focusing on the horrific conditions for animals living on factory farms. Their views are completely skewed.
yup i was shocked to find out about the killing of animals back 5-6 years ago. which is why i stopped supporting them.
Her face is one of the few that looks really cute when she is making faces, and not trying. I love that.
Good grief people! It is NOT like she said “whatever, it’s just a squirrel”. The squirrel had already been killed and NOT specifically for the movie. I used to live in Louisiana and squirrel hunting (and eating) is big in that part of the country. To each their own, you know? PETA is a ridiculous animal rights organization. If you really want to save animals, check out WWF (not the wrestling one). Sheesh…
This isn’t exactly new news, she talked about it ages ago when the movie came out. PETA’s just pissed because a celebrity didn’t fawn all over them for a change.
I love animals, but I can’t stand PETA and their tactics. There are many, many groups out there far more deserving of our support.
Cruelty or death to animals for the purpose of entertainment is always wrong.
I have been an animal activist for 30 years, and deplore PETA. The (status-quo entrenching) media know that PETA is not representative of the animal equality community – yet they continue to get quotes and interviews with them, in lieu of real experts or respectable sources. This was very clear in a recent BBC article about vivisection, where they went to PETA for a comment, rather than the esteemed British Anti-Vivisection League or Doctors Against Vivisection. As expected, the PETA reaction was neither intelligent nor persuasive.
By letting PETA speak for the community, and by covering their ridiculous antics and campaigns (and not other, legitimate ones), the media makes it much easier for people to dismiss animal activists without really considering the facts and arguments.
you people are weird squirrels suck
Well guess what?! If I hit a squirrel..or ANY animal while driving…I’d be TERRIBLY UPSET!!!
One time a cat ran across the street while I was driving and darted underneath my car to the point that one of my tires clipped it…it was totally unavoidable. The cat was still running afterward and I followed it. It ran HOME, and went underneath the house.
I tried to coax the kitty from underneath the house…to no avail. So, I then went to the front door and the owner of the kitty was home. I told her what happened & that her cat was underneath her house. I stayed there until the owner got her cat from underneath the house. We then took the cat to the vet. I offered to pay the vet bill (the cat wasn’t hurt too bad & was going to be fine!), but the owner declined my offer.
A week later I took by the cat owner’s house a case of canned cat food as a gesture of good will. The owner thanked me & was very surprised.
Moral of the story? We share this earth w/all types of animals. Who am I to “judge” just because an animal “doesn’t know the rules” of how to survive w/cars and what-not barreling down roads….seriously!
When people start attributing human qualities/characteristics to animals and contrasting and comparing…..who’s the dumbass then? HUMANS!
I’m sickened by this story, but am somehow slightly optimistic for all the bloggers that don’t agree w/the sentiments of what was written & stated such. I, for one, am not afraid to give my viewpoint even though it may conflict w/the majority. I will always be an advocate for the still small voices of the animals!
I love you! 🙂
Here where I live (Brazil) I’ve actually seen people get out of their way to run the cat over (this one escaped, but many can’t).
Love your comment, all of it.
Yet somehow, you managed to make that story all about you. It sounded like the cat was fine, just scared mostly, and you probably creeped the owner out with your over-reaction. So, if you hit a squirrel, what would you do?
Actually, I would appreciate that someone took the time to care that the cat was okay. My cats are indoor-only, but I once had a semi-feral cat who would get out sometimes. If someone had clipped her, I would surely have appreciated their kindness and willingness to do what was right.
Eve and Serena…thank you for your comments…very appreciated!
My ex ran over cats in residential neighborhoods several times (accidentally and not when I was with him) and, according to him… kept right on driving. He yelled, “WHAT was I supposed to do??” I said, “Stop your car, get out, and make sure someone’s pet is not lying in the street dying a slow, painful death.”
So, good for you Kimbob, for stopping for the kitty! I don’t know that I’d stop if I hit a squirrel on the highway, but I, too, would be bummed about hitting them.
If a guy did this, he’d be my EX too…
And I’m glad there are still people like you Kimbob!
Bless you! If Jennifer Lawrence had 1% of your humanity, she’d have won fans instead of losing them.
Squirrels = fluffy tailed rats. Plus, one of them ate my tulips a few years ago, therefore they are forever on my crap list.
My dog chases them, but hasn’t caught one yet. I hope he does, and I like Jennifer Lawrence for standing up to PETA.
Oh well, they ate your tulip so they deserve to die. You’re really a good person *clap*
I don’t grow flowers so a bunch of rats can eat them, thank you very much. I don’t try to kill them, but I’m not going to boo hoo over them, either.
ok wait-everyone on here upset that she killed a squirrel for a movie-that is not true! When she said “screw PETA” she didn’t mean because she hates animals and was ok that they killed one for a movie, its more about them going nuts whenever one dying is even mentioned in an interview for a movie. The squirrel wasn’t killed FOR the movie-it was dead already.
PETA of course didn’t acknowledge this because they are sh!t starters.
Thats what I see it as too. She just threw in the “Screw PETA”…to piss them off because they are the worst Animal Rights Organization.
+1 What Eileen just said.
I am from Kentucky too so I have special affection for Jennifer and Josh since they both are from KY. It is very common for the teachers to take a week off during hunting week. And you don’t think twice about hearing guns going off since everyone owns one, at leat in the country. I love animals and have been a vegetarian at times and I hate the way the large meat and dairy industry is run these days but I think eating meat isn’t necessarily bad if done right.
I have friends who do life sciences research, and they constantly have to deal with the threat of PETA and similar groups breaking into their labs and messing up their experiments. All the new security at NIH in Bethesda, MD was done in the name of Homeland Security, but less because of Al Qaeda and more because of animal rights extremists. I mean, one nutjob can destroy millions upon millions of dollars in publicly-funded research on AIDS, Parkinson’s, MS, strokes and other diseases by letting go of a few rats or mice. In my friend’s old lab, they had that famous quote from the head of PETA about not caring if AIDS was cured if it involved animal testing pinned up on a bulletin board, to remind them just how determined and scary PETA can be. Jennifer Lawrence should sleep with one eye open!
Animals do not exsist for humans to experiment on – no matter what the reason. Experiment on humans – the diseses being cured are human ones, so why not use humans in the experiments? We could start with using some of the nasty pieces of trash in the prisons – the real winners that rape and murder children, for example. They are complete wastes of space but if they were used in medical experiments, at least they will have done something useful with their miserable exsistence. Animals should not be used for experiments aimed at benefiting humans.
PETA should just get off their asses and start by worrying about all the animals that are killed by the system every day in kennels and that are completely defenceless and are killed because the system refuses to let them free-roam (it’s not like they’re dangerous pitbulls in most cases!), instead of worrying about freeroaming animals that for all purposes have a chance at survival.
I don’t care about Jennifer Lawrence either way, but PETA are a pile of sh-t.
I wanna see her rip apart a bear
I think my problem with PETA is that they’ve turned into a bullying religion. They believe they are right (and I even agree with many of their beliefs). But now, like a religion, they are going out into the world to spread the word to convert either by winning over or by intimidation. I even went to their site and at first it’s like “yes, no senseless pain for animals” but then you dig deeper and you see that this a religion and I stay away from religions because religion thrives of fear, irrational feelings and are often cruel to the spirit of individuality – a mob mentality scares me.
Okay first off everyone being all up in arms and bringing up how humans are more destructive than squirrels is like tripping over Godwin’s Law. In my experience its usually city dwellers that have this rosy view of our little animal friends. People who grew up in the country tend to have a lot more pragmatic view of nature and how we fit into it. Stop clutching your pearls and get over it-if you wear leather or eat meat then you’re living in a glass house and should be careful about throwing stones. The squirrel was killed for food and donated to the film-so it met the same fate it would have met without the film makers using it. Get over it.
As well PETA is full of nut job hypocrites like Newkirk-as mentioned many times they have the highest kill rates around in their shelters. We also don’t see Newkirk giving up her daily insulin shots-which are the result not only of animal testing but usually synthesized from pig’s pancreas. More people should be saying screw PETA.
Agree 100%. I’m against unnecessary cruelty to animals, but if you use animal products you have no business supporting PETA or ginning up a bunch of faux outrage about someone skinning a dead squirrel.
Animals, just like humans, die. Many of them die in the jaws of their natural predators, when they don’t die slowly and horribly of various diseases or accidental injuries. We humans raise some animals to be slaughtered for meat, leather, or other purposes. We owe it to those animals to treat them humanely while they’re alive and to kill them in a manner which is merciful and swift (and these are criteria which go generally unmet in factory farming). It’s absurd to think that a squirrel getting hit by a hunter’s bullet suffers substantially more than male baby chicks which are thrown live into a grinder (because only female hens can produce eggs, and factory farms want to destroy the male chicks as quickly and cheaply as possible) or steers which are slaughtered for meat (remember, if you consume dairy products, that about 50% of all calves are male, and they ain’t producing milk). And gray squirrels are one of the least endangered species imaginable.
I grew up in farming country, and have cared for many animals. I also continue to eat animals, and recognize that, if humans didn’t farm, most cows, pigs, and poultry animals wouldn’t exist. Nature is red in tooth and claw, and we can’t undo that fact by deciding not to be carnivores. I respect people who make that decision and whose behavior is consistent with their ethical belief that animals generally have a right to live, but I don’t respect people who wear leather shoes and eat eggs and milk, yet get all upset because a movie showed what actually goes into producing the meat that most of us eat. (Except the movie showed the process of skinning what you hunt, and most animals killed by hunters have had a much better life and death than most of the animals that end up in your food.)
I love y’all. “Stop clutching your pearls…” This is my new favorite reply to anyone with their panties in a twist. Good stuff folks.
My experience, too. Mine is the first generation of my family to be born an urbanite, in a first world country, and a minority and it’s culture clash writ large. While they would never support animal abuse, they would find the romanticized view and fierce condemnation of people who don’t share that romantic outlook, well…stupid. I don’t know how to sugar coat that. Generally, people in the Caribbean are not sentimental types, for better or for worse. For them, pets aren’t ‘like children’ because it’s a logical fallacy. No such thing as ‘like’ something, it either is or it is not. Actual children can’t be replaced with four-legged surrogates. I’m sympathetic to both sides to a point, but what people forget is that the very notion of ‘animal activism’ is a luxury item. It’s hard enough for so many people to survive, and I can’t really disagree with people who aren’t impressed by privilege only paying attention when it’s scolding time. If they’re being cruel, then their opponents–so to speak– are being callous.
The backlash to her comment is overboard, to me. Way overboard. With one sentence she’s suddenly a demon who gets her jollies off of watching mammals suffer? I’m not convinced. And don’t try to employ transitive property to make me a monster, too.
I can’t get with the idea that as humans we’re just too fundamentally evil to be deserving of grace or sympathy. I’m not taking the fall because Stalin happened, and I’m not interested in dismissing humanity wholesale because the potential that exists within us to do horrible things. I’m not pleading ‘guilty’ to the crime of The Future.
I think we’re bad stewards of our land, but I’m not an unfeeling person because I didn’t hug an elephant today.
We all have our ‘pet’ causes, but one day, only being an animal liker and not an activist became the truest sign of psychopathy. You can have various levels of interest in other issues but if animal activism isn’t one of yours, be sure that that is going to get a stronger response than anything else. Not entirely sure why, but there it is.
The one comment that I’ve heard when talking to Caribbeans or during those times when I’ve been there is the one that would go off like an H-bomb in these parts. The ‘they couldn’t care less about human misery, but look cock-eyed at a dog and the protests start’ standby. Whether a person agrees with this or not, it’s one of those things that they wouldn’t say in mixed company–H-bombs and all. I for one, would like to see someone break that silence because the fallout would be Bumfights-level insanity. I’m not an extremist for either side, but living with one foot in each culture gives a person an interesting perspective.
^^Things I wish I’d typed, #2801.
I agree with all of it.
Squirrels = Disney rats.
Sorry, I don’t like them at all. The dig up our garden and chewed up my baby’s stroller (my fault, I suppose, for leaving the stroller in the garage, but still!). No, I don’t like killing animals for no reason, and I don’t like to see any living creature in pain. But come on! Recently, a cat or something like a cat darted under my car while I was driving at night, and I could hear that I hit it. Sorry, but I am not stopping, on a busy, dark road with my two young kids in the car, to find that stupid cat. Last year, what looked like a good sized hawk flew right into the side of my car while I was driving on the expressway at about 60 MPH. I could see the poor thing in my rear view mirror flopping around, and I could see that another car was about to hit it. I put my eyes back on the road and went on with my errands. Look, I care, but I just don’t care that much.
Just another denizen of Planet Earth, blithely blundering about, Not Giving A Sh-te.
Hitting animals with one’s car happens, and so does being unable to stop and see if the animals in question are okay. But this makes you sound especially callous: “I put my eyes back on the road and went on with my errands. Look, I care, but I just don’t care that much.”
I’m interpreting that to mean that you care as long as the animals never make their way into the path of your car. In which case, if they do, you don’t care. Which means that, all in all, you don’t care.
No, it was more like, I couldn’t keep watching that poor hawk in my rear view mirror, because I was driving. I don’t know what happened, if the car behind me hit it or not. I felt weird and shaken up and sad – it was a gorgeous golden bird. But I could not pull over and help it. If it had been in my neighborhood, or on a rural road, or some such, perhaps I would have tried to do something {I have no idea what}. But in those circumstances – meh?
But squirrels, still – hate them. Nasty things. And they are mean and tough! Go to YouTube and check out Squirrel vs. Cardinal, if you don’t believe me. Those are the kind of squirrels I deal with.
Wow you’re a bit of a hardass aren’t you?
The remark “to find that stupid cat” says something about your character, and it isn’t something good.
I hit a raccoon once when I was driving down a highway at about 60 MPH, and it ran under my car. I didn’t stop because I’m quite sure it was dead, but I didn’t sit there thinking “I’m not going to stop and see if that stupid raccoon is all right, it’s just a stupid raccoon so who cares.” I actually felt pretty badly about having killed it that way.
My family raised a baby squirrel a few years ago, and it was a wonderful experience. We’re squirrel fans for life!
Wow, there are some seriously shitty people on this thread right now. So glad my cat is an indoor cat because some people are just callous shitheads.
Hear, hear…sigh.
I absolutely loathe that human animals somehow believe they have more value than any of the other animals in this world – because human animals are capable of “so much more.”
Well, they’re also capable of “so much less.” Animals may be “dumb,” but you’ll never find a fool among them.
I’d throw a human under the bus before a cow, because both animals being equal in my mind, the cow would never entertain the idea of sabotaging my life, stealing my property, or sleeping with my spouse.
Team cow.
You know how you always hear these great quotes and it will either say, “Anonymous,” or “Socrates,” or whatever?
This is my new favorite one – “Animals may be dumb, but you’ll never find a fool among them.” – Romia
I’m team cow, too.
“Animals may be dumb but you’ll never find a fool among them”. AWESOME! Love this, Romia..
PETA has gotten soo tyrannical. I mean remember when they were pissed at the prez for killing a fly. I mean really?
That was pretty ludicrous. They just ended up making themselves look laughable. Now, if he’d sat there plucking the legs off it, I would have been a tad disturbed. 😉
Notice PETA doesn’t actually go after the backers of the movies? The huge, powerful motion picture companies that will squash anyone? They go after the easy target, an actor (who was almost unknown and not paid some gigantic salary). Though she uttered the words, if they want to see change on movie sets the actors are not the ones to call-out. If PETA has an issue, they should address the writers, producers and owners of mega studios who created the story and put it to life. Oh yea, they’re way too afraid to do that. Too busy throwing paint and running away and yelling that they’re doing it in the name of animality and the greater good of all existence.
ITA with you on this.
I am laughing my ass off at most of these posts.
I can’t believe people get so up in arms about something that she said. Rolling Stone and every magazine chooses to put in parts of the interview they feel is good reading. After the “Screw PETA” comment she could have easily said more about it and about how it actually happened that she ended up gutting a real squirrel. The interviewers have us read what they want us to.
Seriously, people. All of the uptight, over-the-top reactions about this non-sense are making me feel much more normal about my crazy life. Rather than any deep thinking, thought-provoking sentiment, I believe J-Law was just talking off-the-cuff, perhaps trying to be witty and not giving her statement a lot of thought. I do this all the time. Thank God I’m not famous. I doubt she had any malicious intent toward the squirrel (which was already dead) or toward PETA… Haven’t you ever said “screw that…” about things that simply weren’t that important to you? Geez. This particular thread was good for a few laughs this morning. Take a Xanax.
This is a pretty popular post- so has anyone heard from Samigirl? Has she had her baby yet?
Anyway, I like squirrels. I think they’re cute and I like to watch them. Sometimes I like going to the park where they’ll come right up to your car and you can feed them french fries.
But yea, screw Peta.
Its not what she said about screwing PETA. She is entitled to her opinion but its that she seems to be saying gutting animals is cool. Its not. Her only excuse is she is young & not very intelligent.
She never said gutting squirrels is cool. She has expressed her disgust at having to do it in pretty much every interview ever because they ALWAYS ask about it.
She was saying “I should probably lie about this because PETA will bully me about it, but whatever–screw the bullies.”
She said on Kimmel after the 2011 Oscar nomination that it was an already-dead, frozen squirrel.
PETA is nuts. Bye.
Maybe I’m blind, but I don’t see the line where people are suggesting that J-Law thinks gutting/killing animals is fun/cool/whatever. She was describing whether or not it was REAL. Any assumptions/inferences made along the lines of “gutting animals is fun or cool” is simply looking for something to b!tch about. She is an actress who was playing a part. If all actors were treated this way, God help those that portray flesh eating zombies or serial killers. People would go bat-sh!t and want to pierce their hearts with a pitchfork.
As you can tell from this lively thread, people don’t really get their panties in this kind of wad about violence against humans. (Unless it’s Chris Brown the dirtbag who won’t quit.) Probably because they’ve been angry before, hit someone before or shown violence against humans in some way. Everyone has. We all know what it’s like.
But when you don’t have to interact with animals often unless they’re domestic pets, it’s easy to be horrified at something you can’t imagine doing because you lack an appropriate frame of reference. We project an innocent personhood onto our pets, and for a lot of people, those are the only animals they really know, so any animal’s death is tragic, no matter the circumstances.
Very true.
I didn’t see it either, but threads about this type of thing are frequently the impassioned versus the bewildered.
Oh J law, how I love you. I hope she will keep being herself and telling PETA where to stick it.
Honestly I think this is what is dreadfully wrong with us as a race. The utter lack of respect for life. Hypothetically how would you feel if say there were life on other planets and they were much more intelligent that us. Does that mean because they are smarter than us that it’s ok for them to skin us because we are dumb and there are 7 billion of us so really we are just basically rats on this planet?
I don’t know what I even bother to comment, but this kind of thinking makes me very angry.
So all she said was that she’s not going to lie about it. What’s the big deal here?
Human beings are animals. Our species is the most destructive, the cruelest, the most pestilent. Reading these truly evil, loathsome comments with their hatred for our fellow animals is so disheartening. Saying that because PETA will be angry over fur wearing gives you pleasure. Actually stating so baldly that the torturous slow death of a sentient being makes you giggle is despicable. Not sharing your lives with other species make you a low, and useess creature taking up valuable space on this slowly dying earth. What awful people. My blood runs cold at the thought that such vicious creatures exist.
My sentiments exactly. You see the true nature of an individual on how they treat those that are “weaker” than them.
So true. I think many things about PETA are ridiculous and I despise the way they exploit women to–well, I don’t even think it’s to bring attention to the plight of the animals, but rather to bring attention to their organization. That aside, they have in some cases at least inadvertently done good, such as bringing light to the maltreatment of circus animals and revealing just how horrific the fur industry is.
I am not a vegetarian, and I come from a family of hunters. But my late father (rest in peace) taught my brother and I respect for animals from the very beginning. If an animal is to be used for food, it is to be slaughtered quickly so as to minimize its suffering. He would have been disgusted by this girl’s offhand comments, which cheapen the life of the animal.
Can’t stand PETA but do loves squirrels and all critters for that matter. We have a yard squirrel, same one for years, and I think she’s quite clever. She has me completely trained to bring her peanuts on command 😀
Again, the high drama is hysterical. For everyone you see wearing leather shoes or a leather belt, an animal had to die. If this fact sends you reeling into a hissy, then there’s something for you – a padded cell and a pain killer. Get real, get over it, get a life.
I completely agree with her. It’s a damn squirrel. I kill at least 1 or 2 a year with my car. I guess PETA will be dousing me with flour and red paint pretty soon.
I’m not a fan of PETA (or PEETA for that matter), but her casual attitude about the life of the squirrel rubs me the wrong way.
Ditto. So far she is rubbing me like a poorly trained massage therapist. That is to say, the wrong way!
I’m pretty sure she was making an offhand joke about the fact that PETA feels they can police anything and everything related to animals. Which they clearly can’t.
I find her blatant disregard for PETA rather awesome.
She’s another young and dumb starlet who wants to shock and is just being an arrogant twat since she feels that she’s the ‘IT’ thing in Hollywood right now.
You’re just Hollywood’s Flavor of The Month right now so how about sitting your ass right over there. That’s a good girl. “Idiot.” *whispers under breath*
Haven’t seen the movie and I’m very happy about that.
I’m inclined to agree with you. From what I’ve seen of her so far, she seems really full of herself. Trying to make herself look cool by being “edgy.” Oh, how rad. I’m soooo impressed.
Seriously? The girl’s got real talent (Oscar nominated)and is well on her way to being a box office star.
Ah, but you will. Trust me. Resistance is futile (I’ve tried to kick the habit myself), and you won’t be able to help but check back in to see what the bitches have to say, and we’ve got plenty. You’ll be back…
Pardon me if it’s been said, because I haven’t read the comments yet, but squirrels are not too dumb to move out of the way of a car. Their eyesight is extremely poor (they do everything, mostly, by smell), so they can’t see an approaching car until it’s almost on top of them. They freeze instinctively because they feel the vibration of the road and suspect it might be a predator. In most cases this is a beneficial defense mechanism. Unfortunately their behaviors haven’t evolved as fast as modern technology. I raised a baby squirrel and he was quite cute and affectionate. He used to hitch a ride on the back of my pitbull or the pant leg of the nearest person when he was feeling lazy.
So sweet!
Awww what a very nice thing you did for that squirrel Mort! I adore our mostly tame squirrel… she runs up my leg and paws furiously at my pocket looking for peanuts. She’ll even sit on my lap and eat them at times. One summer she stalked me endlessly… followed me all over and even staked out the bedroom window waiting for me to get up. Turns out she was pregnant and I had the joy of watching her two babies frolicking all over our yard… sadly no babies since.
Thanks Ladies!
@skuddles, seems like we have a lot in common! Also, animals and children are excellent judges of character, so that squirrel obviously figured out that you’re one great lady!
Oh you are such a sweetie pie Ms Mort – sending a bigass hug your way! I agree we seem to have a lot in common. Us empathetic babes need to stick together 😀
Sorry I didn’t have a chance to reply before now… hope you see this.
I see that she has changed her style, however, I do think that she should put those ‘girls’ away at this age. It is distracting from her talent.
If I had her boobs I bet my karma would be a lot better.
I dont think she is saying ‘screw squirrels’. ‘screw animal rights’ or ‘screw the World Wild Life Fund’, she is simply saying ‘screw PETA’.
In the context of the conversation she makes perfect sense. Trust PETA to take it to the next level. Good on them for being passionate about a good cause, but personally I would support other animal rights organisations over PETA any day.
I absolutely loathe that human animals somehow believe they have more value than any of the other animals in this world – because humanss are capable of “so much more.”
Well, they’re also capable of “so much less.” Animals may be “dumb,” but you’ll never find a fool among them.
I’d throw a human under the bus before a cow, because both animals being equal in my mind, the cow would never entertain the idea of sabotaging my life, stealing my property, or sleeping with my spouse.
Team cow.
Yeah! Team Cow!
And this is why the animal-rights movement has a bad name. Humans are more valuable than animals. The end.
Don’t go throwing people under any buses–you’ll go to jail. And throwing a cow under the bus will total the bus. Lose–lose.
And your response, sweetheart, is why I’m sticking with “team cow.” The end indeed, which will only come about by nature, or more likely, “valuable” human interference. Seriously. Just who the hell do you think you’re more valuable TO?
Humans are pretty valuable to every animal we help out, for one.
You should thank humans for advancing our species to the point that you even have the time to worry about putting subordinate species above yourself so that you feel good. It took eons of hard work and toil to get us here. Sabertooth tigers were fast. And not very friendly, I’d imagine. Yet we survived and they bit the dust.
Tonight I’ll have a drink and toast my fellow man, thankful for my spot at the top of the world. And I’d eat a steak right now, too, but I’ve already eaten a delicious sub with ham, capicola, and salami. But hey–there’s always breakfast!
@OlsenTriplet
Oh calm yourself. You are so missing the point. Many people who support animal rights, the majority who aren’t extremists, believe animals should have an equal right to live. That’s very different from your blanket assumption that they all believe animals are above humans. Puh-leeze. Cruelty to animals is just as bad as cruelty to humans. Animals don’t speak our language, have no voice, and few legal protections, so people speak up for them when they are abused because animals can’t speak for themselves. Otherwise, animals would just be used and discarded as mere objects to be trashed.
Imagine if a more advanced, “superior” alien race conquered Earth and used us, an “inferior” species, for food, for leather, for science experiments. Imagine that we couldn’t argue on our behalf because we didn’t speak their alien language and they didn’t understand ours. But then, what right would we have to complain about receiving such callous treatment when we have been doing the exact same things to other species for millennia?
Why the hell would animals need human assistance to protect them from humans? Just be honest and admit that humans are animals too, and with their physical advantages, destroy and take from less capable animals. This singular gift doesn’t make humans more valuable. Helping animals that you mentally subjugate from some over-inflated sense of ego makes you a hypocrite.
“You should thank humans for advancing our species to the point that you even have the time”
That would be due to a particular nation’s economic wealth, not human advancement. I’ve been informed that poor nations have other things on their minds. Are you implying the people of those nations are “less advanced” as a species? Of course you’re not.
“to worry about putting subordinate species above yourself so that you feel good.”
That I am not doing. I am challenging the human animal’s assumption that it’s existence is more valuable than that of another animal.
“It took eons of hard work and toil to get us here. Sabertooth tigers were fast. And not very friendly, I’d imagine. Yet we survived and they bit the dust.”
Oh glory-be. Here, like, in the year 2012? Or maybe here, with hairspray-powered autos and food and running water for all? Or here, because nature at the time favored one animal’s survival over another? Your statement is emotional, irrational, and entirely void of merit. Many humans are still struggling and toiling to survive, as are many other non-human animals.
“Tonight I’ll have a drink and toast my fellow man, thankful for my spot at the top of the world. And I’d eat a steak right now, too, but I’ve already eaten a delicious sub with ham, capicola, and salami. But hey–there’s always breakfast!”
This doesn’t bother me. I enjoy a good steak myself, medium-rare, if you please. And as I eat it with relish, I think how advantageous it is that I can overpower another animal for it’s flesh.
But at no time does any of that make me more valuable than the life I took.
@Minty: Of course animal cruelty is abhorrent. And I can’t believe I’m actually even responding to this hypothetical, but if aliens did conquer earth and we couldn’t speak their language, we’d work on translating it pretty quickly. And so would they. Because we’d both have language, which is something that pretty clearly separates us from animals. Besides, a species so advanced would not be wholly evil, just like we advanced humans are not wholly evil, and we care for animals even when there’s no benefit except that it’s the right thing to do. We have compassion and were charged to be good stewards of the earth, and that includes caring for weaker things.
@Romia: Not sure what you were saying, but I’d trade every single endangered whatever to save a person’s life. People are more valuable than animals.
@OlsenTriplet:
Language is not exclusive to humans. They may not verbalize English, Spanish, Esperanto, whatever, but gorillas and chimpanzees can communicate with us using sign language. Dolphins and elephants have the intelligence to communicate with us without speaking human words as well. Even the humble, hardworking honeybee uses language in the form of a dance to tell other bees where the good flowers are. Just because we don’t understand how other species communicate doesn’t mean they don’t have a language. It’s interesting that animals have been able to understand people and their needs much better than the reverse.
Human beings are valuable only to other human beings. Don’t fool yourself with notions of superiority and don’t romanticize our contributions. Our “accomplishments” ultimately have little benefit to the planet and its other creatures, because we cause many of Earth’s problems. We pollute the environment with our trash, chemicals, and radioactive waste. We quickly destroy complex ecosystems which took a long time to develop. We are responsible for global warming and negative climate change. By destructive farming practices, we sterilized the land and caused deserts where none had existed before. We contributed to the extinction of many species. Can you tell me of any other animal, besides humans, who ‘sh*t on what they eat’? And people have the nerve to dream of colonizing other planets when we can’t even take care of the only home we have.
Wiser minds have often stated that if you eradicate a particular animal or plant, the local environment would suffer greatly because other animals or plants depend on it for survival, whether for food or due to a symbiotic relationship. It would cause a negative chain reaction.
For example, let’s get back to bees. If they became extinct, there would be no more flowers, fruits and vegetables for the world to enjoy. All those many plants which depend exclusively on bees for pollination would die out from the inability to reproduce. And we’d be left with wheat and a few other grains to eat.
If humans became extinct, would the planet really suffer? Nope. The environment would slowly recover from the pollution we caused. Forests and jungles (on which so many creatures need to survive) would grow again. Some of our domesticated animals and pets would die, but many would survive and return to their wild state. Animals and plants have a way of maintaining a delicate balance so that life continues. We are usually destroyers. He’s a fictional character, of course, but Agent Smith in The Matrix made a valid point when he said:
“Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet…”
Harsh words, but very perceptive.
I live in Texas around idiot hunting loving hicks. Sometimes one of those reneck a-holes runs over innocent animals with their trucks. Should we all skin deer because they’re dumb and stupid and don’t move out of the way of oncoming traffic? The other day I almost hit a racoon who was just chilling in the middle of the street cleaning himself (animals never hear my car by the way. F-cking Priuses are too quite). Should he die because he was too stupid to move? I live in the country so I see lots of wildlife (a billy goat was scared out of his mind on the side of the road, not knowing where he was), theres also wild pigs that accidently veer on to the highway. And most of them don’t quite realize what cars are because these are farm roads so there isn’t much traffic. Most rarely see a car enough to know what it is and that it might kill them.
I’m sorry but no animal is too stupid that they deserve to die because they don’t conform to your ideal of cuteness (they don’t deserve to be killed in general).
The main complaint that I have is celebrity reporters making up names like “J-Law.” It makes me want to do some reporter huntin’! No, I’m not actually wishing death on anyone, I’m wishing death on the phenomenon of nicknaming celebrities things like “J-Lo” and “J-Law” and “R-Patz” and “K-Stew.” This needs to go away, along with terms like “baby bump” because for some reason we can’t say “belly.”
Oh yeah, and using “jelly” for “jealous” needs to go too. While I may have a jelly belly and thus might envy someone with ripped abs just a bit, making me “jealous,” I am not “jelly.”
Regarding Jennifer Lawrence, I had first heard that she skinned a LIVE squirrel. I am relieved to discover that she did not. Doing such a thing would be unnecessarily cruel and the mark of a sociopath.
Yeah I don’t think jennifer was saying squirrels deserve to die like you might be saying or that they’re are really stupid. I think she’s just annoyed by PETA as an organization and how peta tends to overreact to any situation involving animals. You’re trying to hard.
But she plays right into their hands, and her attitude is unnecessary in this case. Animals shouldn’t be killed to make a movie.
There is a lot I don’t agree with PETA about, but her attutude irks me. There is enough senseless cruelty in the world as it is. We don’t need animals killed for movies and actors trying to cultivate an image as a badass off of not caring about it.
The squirrels were not killed for the movie. This information is in the post.
Yeah, they paid a hunter for squirrels he killed to use in a movie. Unnecessary, just like Lawrence’s flip attititude, IMO.
Right, it’d have been better if she began tearing up about the dead squirrel. That’d have made her look sane. Come on. Let’s all keep a little perspective. I’m not callous about the death of an animal, but death is part of the circle of life, and when you grow up on a farm you become more used to it I think.
Wow. This thread is ridiculous.
1) She didn’t kill the squirrel.
1A) The squirrel was not killed for sole purpose of the movie.
2) She didn’t say anything about squirrels being stupid therefore deserving to be skinned.
4) She made a joke about PETA.
These are the bullet points and they’re getting lost in everyone else’s own opinions on hunting and animal rights. Jennifer Lawrence didn’t do anything wrong, so if she “lost” you as a fan, just for this comment? You probably weren’t a fan in the first place.
GET OUT OF HERE WITH YOUR REASONABLE ARGUMENT!
We’re talking about aminals! And how they should all be deified because they’re the most smartest of all gaia’s gifts and people are EVIL and CRUEL because PEOPLE KILL AMINALS! Aminals would NEVER EVER kill each other!
One time an eagle killed a squirrel in my neighbor’s yard and didn’t even eat it–just watched it die a slow death and eventually left it. You know what? My neighbor is A DIRTY LIAR and so are my eyes because AMINALS ARE ETERNALLY KIND AND GOOD AND UNCRUEL AND BLAMELESS!!!!!1!! My way of living is the only right way and the rest of you are backwards neanderthalz!!!
Her argument may be reasonable. Yours, however, is singularly emotional. How…animal-like of you.
@OlsenTriplet: LOL. Satire is always appreciated. (I also like your screenname.)
Thank you! Love how people have lost sight of what was really said. You throw in animals and any type of abuse of connotations of it and people lose their shit.
So humans are irrational, intellectually challenged, and quick to emotional outrage, eh?
Must be valuable traits to someone, I’d guess.
THANK YOU
its amazing the amount of misunderstanding in this thread
@Amy
If I could hug this comment a thousand times I would. Agree 1000% with your entire post.
So many posters on this thread didn’t even bother to read the article and are going ballistic over things Jennifer Lawrence never said and never did.
A lot of commentators on this thread are in serious need of reading comprehension lessons.
Hey I grew up in the country too and i find your comments and Lawrences comments loathsome! screw both of you!
“any animal who did nothing but try to eke out a humble existence in nature”
That’s funny, I didn’t realize that squirrels had a prefrontal cortex that allowed for higher thought…
Most animals aren’t going to be thinking along these lines, they just aren’t capable of it. And I don’t really think anyone here is seriously saying “kill squirrels because they’re stupid!”
Calm down.
I didn’t realize squirrels needed a prefontal cortex to “eke out” a “humble existence” with nature, or worded more simply, to live with nature.
To me, PETA isn’t the issue…it’s her cold-hearted approach to animals and her arrogance in attempting to be hip.
And she’s not hip or sassy or anything else she’s trying to portray–just stupidly, immaturely, self indulgent.
Not.A.Fan.
In response to a few posters here:
What is this “higher thought” you speak of? The invention of age-defying skin creams? Cloning donkeys? The literary legacy of Shakespeare? An end to human poverty or even genocide, both created by human interference? The development of trans-atlantic flight? The realization of electricity?
Are these abilities/discoveries really as valuable as humans make them out to be? Were candles really so useless…I mean, I never heard of circadean rhythm disturbance in 1820. And without those damn animals, we might never have invented medications that most humans can’t even afford. What the hell do humans do that’s so bloody valuable?
Ah. Maybe it’s the passionate human drive! The motivation and the dreams of a utopian future! A cure for old age and a middle finger to nature itself! Human accomplishments are so much over-glorified tripe pursued almost soley by the human stupidity that caused the “issue” in the first place.
Human’s sense of self-worth and ego really gets on my wick. To quote Ronan Harris, “In a thousand years, what will be our legacy: a million lights that no one can see. A million points of light.”
I find a lot of these animals rights comments incredibly offensive. There’s a lot of, “well how would you feel if someone did this to you” kind of thing going on. The fact is, people who don’t like squirrels, don’t care for animals or find animal rights not their cup of tea have a right to their opinion as much as the animal libertarians do. This is why I have a problem with it; whoever said a lot of libs do it for the superior feeling is pretty spot on, from my perspective. Being called cruel, ignorant or misguided doesn’t make me any more likely to support your cause. It does the exact opposite. Leave me to my views and I’ll leave you to yours; if we are all just animals then there is no right or wrong answer because nature itself doesn’t have a specific morality, one strain for every creature to follow. I volunteer to help people, not animals and that is what is important to me.
“If we are all just animals then there is no right or wrong answer because nature itself doesn’t have a specific morality, one strain for every creature to follow.”
I completely agree. No one animal is more valuable or right or wrong than another animal, “higher thought” be damned.
Question: I’ve made several comments that don’t seem to be showing up anywhere. How long does it take for a comment to be moderated? Or is this just a problem with my computer?
Oh and her comment may have been ridiculous because she criticised a very powerful organisation without a back up argument, but go Jennifer for standing up to PETA. No one in H-wood does. They use scare tactics, outright intimidation and blackmail-esque techniques to get what they want. So the animals rights matter intensely, but ours do not. Flagrant hypocricy. Wish she would have backed up her argument…then she wouldn’t be getting such bad press. I highly doubt she was saying ‘screw all squirrels’, since she didn’t actually kill any.
Wow, stereotype city. This thread is bursting with coded language meant to insult. If I were a southerner, I’d be pretty upset to see that once again, people like me were associated with everything backwards and intellectually/morally negligible. ‘Hick’, ‘hillbilly’, ‘redneck’–open contempt, assumption and accusation verging on bigoted language…I doubt anyone here has been converted within the course of this thread and I doubt that anyone expected that to happen. So why is it like this? And do we really get to say that people are fundamentally cruel by being vicious towards people? Is that noble?
I just don’t think that loving animals best is a valid reason to dehumanize people, we have to grant each other some measure of dignity.
I’m sorry, but as an adult who was raised on a military base (where EVERYTHING EXCEPT HUMANS was considered a “protected species”) I get the message.
I also get that if/when the circumstances portrayed in The Hunger Games came to fruition, people would be eating squirrels if it was a choice between that and starving to death.
Also, if PETA wasn’t so dang hypocritical (EUTHANIZE those animals!) and so offensive (see their ads), people would be much more on board with their messages.
Just another uneducated, inarticulate actor….wow, what a shocker.
So she skinned/killed a squirrel for the sole purpose of that movie? And then she brags about it? She’s just an actress, who probably won’t be around anymore in the next five years. She’s just another cruel and arrogant American hick, just like this author. And my opinion isn’t because I support PETA. I am opinionated in this subject because she caused the animal pain. Like they said in the statement, all that animal did was try living a humble existence…. oh and is this the same author that thinks Jessica Simpson is a “cute” pregnant woman despite the fact that she’s putting her baby in danger with all the weight she gained? Or the author that thinks it’s okay for soda and candy to be primary foods in a child’s diet. I don’t even know how this author has a job, she’s IGNORANT.
Maybe, if we as humans treated each other the way PETA wants us to treat animals, we’d be better off.
Wow-this thread went cra-hey-zay! Lots of squirrel lovers/haters out there! 🙂
Oh priceless. Peta was found committing euthanasia on dogs and you want us to treat people like they treat animals. It is about being forced to follow an agenda or suffer the consequences. And underneath the bull they kill animals
Lets see if this free thinker can survive in conformist Hollywood
Its ignorant to comment on a article you obviously didn’t read!For the last effing time,she didn’t kill the damn squirrel!Get real,people.
Its ignorant to comment on a article you obviously didn’t read!For the last effing time,she didn’t kill the squirrel!Get real,people.
Not that you probably care but, I’m never coming to the wesite again. I’m also sending this on to all my “rat” loving friends who will, I’m sure, now ban your site as well.
I think Jennifer was attacking the PETA org. itself, not animals. If you think differently, I think you’re being overly sensitive and looking for a ’cause’ that you might can win. Many animal lovers here seem to begin by saying, ‘I don’t like PETA either, but…’ and then attack Jennifer. It makes me wonder why you haven’t gone after PETA after all these years. Oh, right, that would take more than typing a quick blog post and might actually mean getting involved. Except for Buddhists and the like, people generally draw lines of what they find acceptable. Some people think only people matter, some think everything cute&furry + people matter, and some love snakes and insects. Any of you saying killing &eating a cute squirrel is immoral, I wonder if you’ve ever stomped on a spider in the house or called an exterminator to spray around your house. No one should be cruel to any living thing but since skinning & eating an already dead squirrel is not what I would consider cruel, I tend to think she was attacking PETA.
Pets Killed by PETA
Year Received† Trans-
ferred Adopted Killed
2011 1,992 34 24 1.21% 1,911 95.9%
2010 2,345 63 44 1.86% 2,200 93.8%
2009 2,366 31 8 0.34% 2,301 97.3%
2008 2,216 34 7 0.32% 2,124 95.8%
2007 1,997 35 17 0.85% 1,815 90.9%
2006 3,061 46 12 0.39% 2,981 97.4%
2005 2,165 69 146 6.74% 1,946 89.9%
2004 2,655 1 361 13.60% 2,278 85.8%
2003 2,224 1 312 14.03% 1,911 85.9%
2002 2,680 2 382 14.25% 2,298 85.7%
2001 2,685 14 703 26.18% 1,944 72.4%
2000 2,681 28 624 23.27% 2,029 75.7%
1999 1,805 91 386 21.39% 1,328 73.6%
1998* 943 125 133 14.10% 685 72.6%
Total 31,815 574 3,159 9.93% 27,751 87.23%
*
What is Peta Kills Animals?
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has a problem. Despite its mission to advocate for “total animal liberation,” government documents obtained through public records requests indicate that each year PETA kills thousands of animals at its headquarters.
According to records from the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, PETA has killed more than 25,000 animals (mostly dogs and cats) at its headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia.
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Jennifer is obviously a dumb b**ch that has NO regards for animals. What she said is not even good for a joke. I would not make a fuzz about some animal being killed by humans or support direct criticism from PETA towards anyone who is in the public focus. But there is a good time to shut up when you’re playing a role in a movie about survial and the role animals play in it.
But then again, Charlton Heston was in a massivly anti-war/military movie. Always seem to come to the right guys.
Jen’s a bitch, middle class looks middle class actor, I like her but it’s not like she’s irreplacable, colorless like she is. Let’s move on to other great young actresses with more brains. In Hollywood this will happen automatically as soon as public opinion on her swings, mine already has.
Lol at all the people calling her “dumb” “ignorant” “bitch” and the like, all from one tiny quote where she makes a jab at PETA.
It was obviously a diss at PETA and their bullying ways, not her enjoying killing squirrels or thinking that pointlessly killing them is okay because they’re squirrels.
Sheesh. Save the outrage for when there’s actually material there to be outraged about.
Intelligent people think before they speak, that’s a fact. If you’re worth 20,000,000 Dollars, twenty something or not, you have some responsibilities, even for what you say. And slandering PETA for apparent “bullying” is a bullshit argument since animal rights are still harmed worldwide in a terrifying way, PETA just can’t be sensitive enough.
Any watering such a “small” comment down is ridiculous, and defending stabs against PETA is horrible and REALLY ignorant.
Um, what responsibilities are you talking about? Animal rights causes are just that – causes. Not everyone has the same interests and passions and that’s okay.
I have a cat that I adore, and I don’t condone animal cruelty, but animal rights is not one of the causes I actively front.
What was Lawrence’s responsibility here?
And it’s a well known fact that PETA bullies people. What about that billboard in Jacksonville that had a picture of an obese woman in a bathing suit which read “Lose the Blubber, Go Vegetarian”? Or all the stunts they pull throwing paint or whatever else at people who don’t agree with their message?
Plus, PETA kills thousands of animals every year because they would rather have them humanely euthanized than live as pets. That, in my opinion, discredits any other work that they might do.
Intelligent people, who want change, also know that communication to others is key. Sounding cray cray and losing your shit over a HARMLESS comment and imputing said comment with all sorts of negative anti-animal ideas just because it’ll add to a point you’re trying to make does not help you make said point. This is also PETA’s problem.
And can we please have a ban on the word “ignorant”? In my experience, the people who call others that are the most ignorant of all…
@lunabell, I agree! she was poking fun at an organization that acts like a bunch of lunatics over fur and what not. I don’t condone wearing fur, or even leather, but I’m not going to freak out when other people do. To each his own.
PETA gives themselves a bad name with all of their temper tantrums. With all of their anger and violence towards other people (apparently it’s okay to attack other people, just not animals, according to them– the ones who killed all of those cats and dogs)
I support the ASPCA because they do more for animals than PETA ever will.
I am for the ethical treatment of animals, I am against PETA, their hypocrisy, methods and tactics.
One Squirrel verses 25,000 dogs and cats. Did the above poster miss something. Slamming Peta is what smart people do. Defending them is what ignorant people do.
PETA KILLED 25000 animal
And you think they are sensitive to animals?
Peta is about POWER
First off- She said the whole squirrel thing WASN’T real, so PETA can get their panties out of a bunch about it.
Second- I hate squirrels. Not sure what this has to do with anything, just thought I would just throw in that squirrels annoy me. I had a bad experience with them haha.
Third- PETA has given themselves quite a bad name. The spokesperson for PETA was taking things a little too seriously, as tho Jennifer Lawrence is actually out there skinning and gutting squirrels or something. I am 100% against cruelty to animals, but I support the ASPCA, not PETA’s extreme nonsense.
Fourth- I frickin love Jennifer Lawrence, she’s so stinkin cute! haha. I want to adopt her or something lol
I think everyone is making a big deal out of this. Jennifer is entitled to her own opinions and honestly, I don’t know if she meant to say “screw PETA” in the way that she’s saying “PETA is a bogus organization”, I think she’s saying “I’m not going to lie to look good for PETA”. I admire her guts for that.