Dear Mr. Holzman,
When did Animal Planet stop teaching people about animals and start turning animals into larger than life monsters who stalk humans for the sheer fun of it?
In recent years I've watched as Animal Planet's ratings have skyrocketed while the roster of its programs has foregone scientific facts for exciting (and often completely erroneous) theories. Shows like the 'Call of the Wildman' and 'Gater Boys' are little more than backyard movies featuring tired semi-domesticated animals which are kept on set in small cages until the time arrives for them to be released, only to be 'captured' by 'Turtle Man', or wrangled by the 'Gater Boys'. Other shows like 'Monsters in America' and 'Finding Bigfoot' don't even contain animals, only postulate theories on what animals might yet exist, while alway driving home the idea that they should those animals actually be found, they will pose an immediate threat to humans.
The problem is, Mr. Holzman, many of the people watching these shows believe most, if not all, of the bullshit that Animal Planet is feeding them. They actually believe that catching coyotes with your bare hands is an appropriate way in which to deal with them, provided that you 'know how to handle them'. Grabbing a coyote bare handed is NEVER appropriate. Neither is chasing raccoons, or skunks or any other animal around until it's completely exhausted.
I've loathed Animal Planet for some time now, but it's a free country. I let Animal Planet produce what it wants, and just don't watch the shows. But this 'Monster Week' gimmick is the last straw for me, and I can't take it anymore, so I'm writing this open letter to you. I'm just one person, and I'm quite sure that you don't actually give a shit about what I think. You probably wouldn't give a shit about the opinion of someone much more important than me, like Dian Fossey. But that's okay. It's a free country, and just as you endeavor to create television shows that grossly misrepresent animals to the American public, and shape the way that public will perceive animals - and subsequently treat them - I'll endeavor to tell you what I think about the joke you call 'animal based' programming.
No, 'joke' isn't the right word for what you and Animal Planet are doing, because 'joke' implies that it's amusing or funny. There is nothing even remotely amusing about the lies you're telling the American public.
'Man-Eating Zombie Cats' - There have, indeed, been outbreaks of canine distemper among groups of big cats. No, there is not a global epidemic, of the disease. Yes, the woman whose story you cited was attacked by a mountain like in Southern California. Yes, that lion had killed a man prior to attacking her. But that cat was not suffering from canine distemper. It was a young, malnourished animal ill-equipped to sustain itself via natural prey. Much of the video footage used in the program was in no way related to actual outbreaks of canine distemper. In fact, none of the footage at all showed a cat known to be suffering from the disease. The closest was footage of a tiger in Russia shown walking despondently through heavy traffic, apparently disoriented and suffering from some unknown malady. In reality, cats affected by canine distemper are sluggish, disoriented, unable to feed themselves properly. They do not go on rampages, and begin viewing humans as prey items.
'Man-Eating Super Wolves' - This was the one where I knew I couldn't leave it be without saying something on the matter. Wolves have been persecuted and hunted nearly to extinction since be beginning of recorded history. Only in the last few decades have they begun to make a comeback in the contiguous United States. Mr. Holzman people like you are the reason wolves were driven nearly to extinction. Yes, there has been some trouble in Siberia wherein multiple hard winters have forced wolves to hunt livestock when they normally would have. Yes, many reindeer were killed, along with a number of horses (though the is a huge difference between several hundred lost horses, and the thousands your show says were lost to wolves) yet you offer no actual documentation of the losses. It's a proven fact (look up the statistics yourself) that when wolves were first reintroduced in the midwest, the reported cattle kills attributed to wolves measure about 500 head. However, the total number of cattle lost over the winter did not change from years prior to the reintroduction. Meaning about 500 cattle were reported lost to 'natural causes' each year in the years before there were any documented wolves in the area, and after the wolves arrived, about 500 cattle were lost over the winter, but according to the cattlemen making those reports, ALL 500 hundred lost cattle were specifically killed by wolves. You can see where I'm going with this. In America, even with the facts laid out before them, people refuse to acknowledged that wolves couldn't possibly be killing the cattle they were being blamed for killing. An now you come along with your eye-grabbing title declaring that there are 'man-eating super wolves' stalking the globe in massive packs of 400 animals. The show cobbled together various stories, leaving out important information, and heavily utilizing two separate incidents involving wolf hybrids, NOT actual wolves to 'prove' how dangerous and given to hunting humans wolves really are. In both those cases, the wolf hybrids were being kept in huge numbers by unqualified caregivers and the animals were starving, diseased, and desperately just trying to survive. In one story, the narrator intones that the 'vicious animals were euthanized to protect the public'. No sir, Mr. Holzman. Those animals were euthanized because their health was such that there was no other option. The 'public' was never in danger. The animals were sick, and had fed off of a human, so they were humanely destroyed, that's all. Just one more overlooked reality among all the other overlooked realities within your so-called reality show.
Where do you get off producing programs which intentionally misrepresent animals to the populace and lay out falsified facts as if they're common knowledge? When will this end? After all the animals that you've vilified have gone extinct because people see them as monsters and not part of the natural world? You even misrepresent dead animals. The 'Montauk Monster' and similar reports of bizarre animal carcasses are nothing more than common animals which have decomposed in water. Yes, they look disturbing, but here's a secret: death is not attractive. Decomposition disarticulates what is perceived to be a normal animal and leaves it looking like something people have never seen before. And honestly, how many people have the opportunity to see a sloth or other animal that's been floating dead in water for a week? In the absence of knowledge, ignorance reigns. And thanks to programs like those Animal Planet is currently producing, ignorance now has a firm and all-encompassing grip on the American public. I hope you're happy with all the hard work you and Animal Planet have done in the name of destroying the very animals you claim to support.
I don't expect you to reply to this. I don't even expect you to read it. And, frankly, I'm not sure I want you to respond. Reading some sort of canned Bullshit: The Apology Addition is only going to piss me off all the more. So go on and sit in your corner office and enjoy the fact that your channel is number one in the ratings (or whatever rank Animal Planet holds) Who cares if it got those ratings by lying through its teeth? The public loves to hate things, and right now they hate predatory species of animals. Keep feeding humans garbage, and they'll keep coming back, just like a raccoon habituated to eating out of a trash can. I'll just be over here trying, one day at a time, one incident at a time, to correct the irreparable damage you have done, and are doing, to the relationship your viewers have with the world, and animals around them.
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Monday, May 5, 2014
Cover Reveal for WHO R U REALLY?, by Margo Kelly!!!
So, Blogger got froggy and posted the cover reveal for my critique partner's book Who R U Really? earlier than expected. I was supposed to write a post to help celebrate it, and of course, pantster me, I didn't have anything together, so now I'm scrambling to get something up. Here's the cover:
In a world of 'body part' and 'girls in random gowns' covers, I adore this one. It's different, yet classic, and definitely one that would make me pull the book off the shelf.
I haven't had the opportunity to read Who R U Really? even in part yet, and I cannot wait to get my hands on it! To that end, I've already entered to win a ARC of the book on Margo's blog. You should too! And don't forget there are multiple ways to enter, so get to tweeting and sharing! You can find the reveal post and entry form here.
In a world of 'body part' and 'girls in random gowns' covers, I adore this one. It's different, yet classic, and definitely one that would make me pull the book off the shelf.
I haven't had the opportunity to read Who R U Really? even in part yet, and I cannot wait to get my hands on it! To that end, I've already entered to win a ARC of the book on Margo's blog. You should too! And don't forget there are multiple ways to enter, so get to tweeting and sharing! You can find the reveal post and entry form here.
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Go Forth and Don't Fear to Live
A lifelong friend, Carlton Dickerson, retired this past weekend. He was a choir director for a local church, and had been in that position for the last fourteen years, but he's held the position of choir director in other churches and has done numerous other things involving music, including founding a group called the Dogwood Chorus, which has put on various performances for the last thirty-five years. Really, Carlton's achievements are far too numerous for me to list. When I was a kid, my sister and I took piano lessons from him (my mother hoped for concert pianists, but ended up with dirty-loving pony girls. She loves us anyway) and that's really where it all began.
The thing is, Carlton doesn't have blood in his veins like the rest of us. He's got music. It just trails out of him wherever he goes, and leaves this lasting residue which affects anyone lucky enough to be nearby. Music is insidious that way. It gets under your skin and seeps into your muscles, settling against your bones. And anytime you encounter things that strike a chord with what you already carry inside you, it just rings that much deeper in your soul. Because of Carlton, I hear music everywhere. All his immeasurable skill couldn't force my sister and I to love the ivory like concert pianists do, but he showed us how to love the MUSIC. And he showed me to be fearless in loving that music. To dance when I felt like dancing or to sing along (albeit badly) just because acting on your love increases the joy you feel tenfold. How can you truly embrace the sensations music bring to you, if you chain them off inside yourself and don't acknowledge them?
And that was something else Carlton taught me, without even knowing he was doing it. He taught me to never hold back. Never stand on the sideline wanting to dance or sing, or do something, but not do it because someone might judge you. The world is an immense place and there will always be people in it (a huge number of people) who are too afraid to do the things they want to do. Sometimes it's a small fear (they don't want to dance in a public space, even though there's a song playing that they love) or a big fear (they dream of traveling the world, but can't bring themselves to leave home) and sometimes those fearful people are quiet, and you don't even know they're afraid.
But sometimes the people who are afraid, are loud, and they take out the frustration their own fears cause them on other people. People who aren't afraid. People who are dancing in public, or traveling the world, or else wise putting themselves out there because they're following their dreams. Maybe they call you silly, or stupid for dancing in front a of a street musician in the afternoon. Maybe they say you're being irresponsible, because you'd rather take a trip around the world than have a full time job. Maybe these people say something right then, out loud in front of everyone else who's standing around, or maybe they say things behind your back, or even try to convince other people that what you're doing or how you're living is wrong. People sometimes do a lot more damage to those around them out of fear than they do out of actual meanness. And sometimes they're truly just mean.
You can't stop people like that. But you don't have to let them stop you. They live (or don't live) the best way they can. And maybe their best way, involves hurting or ostracizing the people around them that look like good targets. But you can choose to live the best way you can. And maybe your best way of living is to live the way you want to, no matter what anyone around you thinks about that. It might not be easy, but you can do it. And doing it will make you happy, even when it's difficult.
Your friends and family, those of them who really know you and understand you, they'll try to protect you, and they might worry about you, but they'll never try to hold you back. They'll catch you when you fall, and they'll warn you when you climb back up, but they'll never stop you from climbing. They'll never tell you not to try, and they'll never tell you that you're wrong for trying.
Yes, I learned this in part from my parents, but I learned it from Carlton too. I learned it by watching him create, face adversity, and move on to create again. I've watched him choose to embrace the wonderful things in life, and seen him take joy from spreading it to others. Nothing seems to give him as much happiness as the ability to create happiness. Those are lessens he never meant to teach me, but he taught them just the same. And while my questionable piano skills have faded into history, Carlton taught me much more important things that are as clear in my mind now as they were when I first came to understand them.
Here's to many more years teaching people without meaning to, Carlton! And to many more years spent exploring the world, laughing, eating good food, surprising friends with convertible rides and spreading music, the universal language of emotions and connection.
I'll leave you with a link to a video of Carlton conducting the Hallelujah Chorus. This was a surprise mini-concert put on during his last Sunday service before his retirement by just a small number of the people who have performed under Carlton's guidance over the years. It was organized by his longtime friend Cyndy Kelly. I should note that there were only two rehearsals before the performance, and that almost no one made made both rehearsals. So, essentially, they've never practiced together until this moment. I dare you not to be moved by the performance, and the utter joy with which Carlton conducts.
Hallelujah Chorus
*Anyone interesting in knowing what my mom looks like, that's her in the front row with the shoulder-length black hair. And that's Cyndy in the black and white top, who's responsible for putting all of this on.
The thing is, Carlton doesn't have blood in his veins like the rest of us. He's got music. It just trails out of him wherever he goes, and leaves this lasting residue which affects anyone lucky enough to be nearby. Music is insidious that way. It gets under your skin and seeps into your muscles, settling against your bones. And anytime you encounter things that strike a chord with what you already carry inside you, it just rings that much deeper in your soul. Because of Carlton, I hear music everywhere. All his immeasurable skill couldn't force my sister and I to love the ivory like concert pianists do, but he showed us how to love the MUSIC. And he showed me to be fearless in loving that music. To dance when I felt like dancing or to sing along (albeit badly) just because acting on your love increases the joy you feel tenfold. How can you truly embrace the sensations music bring to you, if you chain them off inside yourself and don't acknowledge them?
And that was something else Carlton taught me, without even knowing he was doing it. He taught me to never hold back. Never stand on the sideline wanting to dance or sing, or do something, but not do it because someone might judge you. The world is an immense place and there will always be people in it (a huge number of people) who are too afraid to do the things they want to do. Sometimes it's a small fear (they don't want to dance in a public space, even though there's a song playing that they love) or a big fear (they dream of traveling the world, but can't bring themselves to leave home) and sometimes those fearful people are quiet, and you don't even know they're afraid.
But sometimes the people who are afraid, are loud, and they take out the frustration their own fears cause them on other people. People who aren't afraid. People who are dancing in public, or traveling the world, or else wise putting themselves out there because they're following their dreams. Maybe they call you silly, or stupid for dancing in front a of a street musician in the afternoon. Maybe they say you're being irresponsible, because you'd rather take a trip around the world than have a full time job. Maybe these people say something right then, out loud in front of everyone else who's standing around, or maybe they say things behind your back, or even try to convince other people that what you're doing or how you're living is wrong. People sometimes do a lot more damage to those around them out of fear than they do out of actual meanness. And sometimes they're truly just mean.
You can't stop people like that. But you don't have to let them stop you. They live (or don't live) the best way they can. And maybe their best way, involves hurting or ostracizing the people around them that look like good targets. But you can choose to live the best way you can. And maybe your best way of living is to live the way you want to, no matter what anyone around you thinks about that. It might not be easy, but you can do it. And doing it will make you happy, even when it's difficult.
Your friends and family, those of them who really know you and understand you, they'll try to protect you, and they might worry about you, but they'll never try to hold you back. They'll catch you when you fall, and they'll warn you when you climb back up, but they'll never stop you from climbing. They'll never tell you not to try, and they'll never tell you that you're wrong for trying.
Yes, I learned this in part from my parents, but I learned it from Carlton too. I learned it by watching him create, face adversity, and move on to create again. I've watched him choose to embrace the wonderful things in life, and seen him take joy from spreading it to others. Nothing seems to give him as much happiness as the ability to create happiness. Those are lessens he never meant to teach me, but he taught them just the same. And while my questionable piano skills have faded into history, Carlton taught me much more important things that are as clear in my mind now as they were when I first came to understand them.
Here's to many more years teaching people without meaning to, Carlton! And to many more years spent exploring the world, laughing, eating good food, surprising friends with convertible rides and spreading music, the universal language of emotions and connection.
I'll leave you with a link to a video of Carlton conducting the Hallelujah Chorus. This was a surprise mini-concert put on during his last Sunday service before his retirement by just a small number of the people who have performed under Carlton's guidance over the years. It was organized by his longtime friend Cyndy Kelly. I should note that there were only two rehearsals before the performance, and that almost no one made made both rehearsals. So, essentially, they've never practiced together until this moment. I dare you not to be moved by the performance, and the utter joy with which Carlton conducts.
Hallelujah Chorus
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