| It's all bull |
 Blog For Free! Archives Home 2008 September 2006 March 2006 February 2005 August 2005 July 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2004 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 January 2003 December 2003 November tBlog My Profile Send tMail My tFriends My Images Sponsored Blog 
|
posted by: lindy (reply) post date: 02.11.05 (11:59 am) This is something with which I have long been fascinated and horrified. There is so much beauty surrounding bull rings and Matadors... I remember growing up and seeing pictures of gold and red, all extravagant and luxurious. No one ever mentioned what actually happened to the bulls. For years, I thought they just chased eachother around until someone got tired and the crowd went home. I am, of course, completely against it and am amazed that something so barbaric could become so engrained in a culture, but then... there are other places with some pretty disgusting rituals... the United States certainly ranks up there. :( posted by: Mimi (reply) post date: 02.11.05 (11:59 am) animal cruelty at it's aged roots! xoxo posted by: Andaloo (reply) post date: 02.11.05 (1:03 pm) Reply to: lindy It is engrained. When I first came to live here I was 100% against bull fighting. I couldn't understand it and didn't want to hear the arguements in its favour. But because it's so engrained into the culture (it's still the national sport), even the people who don't like it won't disagree with it (I'm generalising). Like you, I'm fascinated and horrified by the whole thing. I almost feel like I need to see for myself what it's all about before I have a qualified opinion. Maybe I'll go this season...maybe not. posted by: Andaloo (reply) post date: 02.11.05 (1:05 pm) Reply to: Mimi Sadly I have to disagree. There are MUCH worse cruelties to animals happening here. posted by: grateful1 (reply) post date: 02.11.05 (8:51 pm) sounds cool, i have never seen a bullring, or bullfight for that matter before. seems cruel but like you said worse things happen. i want to go to a rodeo..lol!! posted by: NurseNancy (reply) post date: 02.12.05 (2:15 am) to many North Americans,this one included, bull fighting seems a cruel and senseless blood sport. It makes as much sense to me as the running of the bulls does. It begs the big question WHY? ( I guess the answer is probably 'why not?') But that's just ( my?) American arrogance showing. It's a cultural thing over there and we need to be more cognizant of other cultures and customs. ps weren't you a little scared that a raging bull might be let out for a "trial run?" :) posted by: Andaloo (reply) post date: 02.12.05 (3:20 am) Reply to: NurseNancy I think we're keen to understand or embrace cultural differences which are positive, but with the negative ones the barriers go up and we find it hard to attempt an understanding because we think it's simply wrong. For me, before I can understand bullfighting I have to understand the Spanish attitude towards animals generally (its hard to say this without making sweeping statements). A lot of Spanish people think we foreigners are crazy because of the way we treat animals, its not a pet culture. A friend once said to me, "I'll never understand you English, you have animals living in your homes and yet send your children away to school". When I've talked to friends about bullfighting they talk of honour, bravery, passion and beauty. Its almost as if they only see the fighters and not the bulls. If you ask about the bulls the usual answer is, "but they're just animals". I'm sure if I went to a bullfight I'd be centred on the bull, the cruelty, the unfairness, while those around me would be seeing something completely different. posted by: badaunt (reply) post date: 02.12.05 (6:09 am) Reply to: Andaloo This focussing on 'something different' is really hard to get away from. Here it's the ugliness of the cities, and things like... oh, an example is the cherry blossoms at the Mint in Osaka, which some Japanese acquaintances took me to see when I was first here. I'd been told how famously beautiful they were, but all I could see was the garbage people left behind under the trees, and the generally awful surroundings. What my Japanese acquaintances saw was the beauty of the trees, and they seemed to filter out everything else. I couldn't. It must be even harder to filter out what we have been conditioned to see as cruelty to other living beings. posted by: billlyryan (reply) post date: 02.12.05 (7:20 am) I think I'm definitely in the minority here but I don't live my life to make sure I'm within the boundaries. And maybe I'm too much of a romatic in thought.... ----------------------------------------- When I was twelve years old I read The Sun Also Rises and fell in love. Not just with Jake Barnes or Lady Brett Ashley, but with Pedro Romero and the bulls. I understand the barbaric nature of the fight, I understand the outrage of animal lovers, truly I do. But it was always the people and the passion and the bulls that made me feel hope. Maybe that's because I read a children's book called Ferdinand The Bull a few years before I read Hemingway. Ferdinand was the biggest, most impressive bull in the village but all he wanted to do was smell flowers all day. The love of the fight, the pagentry, and the beauty of tradition are what draw me into this world. They have since I was young and they will until I see first hand what it is I've been so naively in love with. I hope one day to see what you see friend. posted by: billlyryan (reply) post date: 02.12.05 (7:21 am) p.s. I'm sorry for the long comment! posted by: dangerkitty (reply) post date: 02.12.05 (11:13 am) I can understand the pageantry that is bullfighting as well as the tragic nature of it. It's a barbaric sport, but we raise cattle to be slaughtered and eaten and they obviously breed these bulls to fight. I remember the first time I saw my grandpa put down a cow and then cut it up. He was a butcher. That seemed quite cruel to me then. Poor Mavis. posted by: NurseNancy (reply) post date: 02.12.05 (3:47 pm) You are right in saying that we need to have an understanding of a people before we can generalize or even comment. However, I do know that my dear kitty cat would be lunch in some cultures. And that would be absolutely fine there. Here, I can buy cow or pig at the grocery store but in some cultures that is the worst thing you could do. posted by: jennirae269 (reply) post date: 02.14.05 (4:35 am) Hmmmm....I think that I would have to avoid the bullfight myself. I wouldn't be able to enjoy the beauty and pageantry knowing what would happen at the end. I am an animal lover, not to the extreme of PETA, if you know who they are, nor am I a vegetarian. I know that what is on my plate used to be running around some field. That is one of those things I choose to be blissfully ignorant about. But, I could never go out an kill my own food. I thought I would try deer hunting one time to see what it was like, but thought it would be in poor taste if I cried after I killed something, and wished I could take it back. posted by: fotocali (reply) post date: 02.14.05 (1:43 pm) The only bullring I was ever in was at a small town in Mexico. I went there with a bud who went there to propose to his now-wife. He lives in a major tourist city (and this small town was just outside this major tourist city), so I was going anyway. Anyway... we bought a case of beer and some tequila or whatever and collected his best friend since boyhood, and we all broke into the town's bullring and got drunk. How fun! We ducked down, however, when we saw the police zipping by (rifles in arms) in their Jeep. Bulls were in the ring, sleeping, and I flopped it over the side and I think peed on one of them. I speak spanish SO WELL when I'm drunk! |
|