"Penn & Teller: Bullshit!" episode on... PETA
Posted by JessaCita on Sep 12, 2007 · Member since Nov 2006 · 1808 posts
Hi all! I am just curious about what your thoughts are concerning this episode of "Penn & Teller: Bullshit!" I like a lot of the episodes that these guys put out, but there have been a couple that are so extremely biased...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9ijLulwUTY&mode=related&search=
It's a little long (about 15 minutes), but if you're interested, you should watch it when you have time! I sort of understand some of their points, and don't get me wrong--a lot of what PETA does or endorses pisses me off. But there are also a lot of great things they do that this episode fails to mention. It's stuff like this that makes it so hard for veg*ns to be accepted as real people & not crazy nut-jobs. :-\
I've watched this a few times, and I just don't find the arguments to be valid. Without knowing a lot about PETA or their real stances on things, I thought their arguments AGAINST Peta weren't ....good?
Yeah, people that are for animals rights are against zoos and animal testing and eating meat.....duh? Way to break ground on that one Penn and Teller
Yeah! I love the series, and I have a lot of respect for Penn Jillette, but this is one of those that pisses me off. They DO expose some true info about PETA and the ALF that people should know about, but it does unfortunately give all of us a bad name. This one, along with the one about organic foods, relied too heavily on making fun of the people involved in the causes instead of focusing on the real aspects of the cause itself. ad hominem, anyone??
This one, along with the one about organic foods, relied too heavily on making fun of the people involved in the causes instead of focusing on the real aspects of the cause itself. ad hominem, anyone??
Yeah yeah yeah!!! The episode about organic foods is the only other one I've seen that pissed me off! They had really intelligent people talking about the advantages of GMOs, and then (honestly) the most batshit crazy person IMAGINABLE to talk about organic food... It was definitely not a fair "meeting of the minds." I was definitely yelling at the TV on that one... ::)
Well... they weren't saying that animal rights groups were full of crap. They were specifically pointing out PETA's hypocrisy. I think that negates the fact that it's an ad hominem attack, which is only invalidated if it's used in lieu of addressing the main point. PETA was the main point. The hypocrisy in PETA should be a problem for everyone. They're using using ethics and morals as the basis for their position but then performing immoral acts - supporting a terrorist, euthanizing most of the animals they save, . People have huge problems with Republicans doing this (I take issue with this too) regarding supposed "family values," but it's alright for PETA to say one thing and do another?
On the topic of violence. Coronado comparing himself to Dr. King, Gandhi, and Christ... is particularly despicable, because they were 100% opposed to violence. I don't see the relationship between a hunger strike and a fire bomb. PETA's support of Coronado to the tune of $70,000... is the same as Iran's support of terrorist groups. I think we all have a problem with that.
It's too bad that they were restricted to 15 minutes. The thing about not eating meat and no zoos... that's just a tiny part of the episode... 45 seconds tops.
I will agree that it gives us a bad name, though...
Yes, I do agree with you about PETA's hypocrisy, dienekes88! That is a huge problem from me, and it's one of the reasons I don't think I'll ever commit to calling myself a "PETA supporter."
I just wish they would have not made all animal rights activists look like looney toons... Sure, some of us know better, but there are probably a lot of people out there that watched the episode & had all of their suspicions confirmed. There was no exploration of the good things PETA (or even smaller organizations concerned about animals) does.
Also, their closing monologue/dialogue/whatever, as Teller doesn't talk, really bothered me. Really?? :o You'd kill EVERY chimp on Earth (with your bare hands, no less) to save ONE junkie on the street with AIDS? That is ridiculous. Think about the bigger picture...
I thought the episode was good. I think that,as one of the above posts states, that PETA does do good but they can and do piss of people, animal lovers and Michael Vick types alike. I don't know much about the other animal advocacy group they were showing, so I can't comment much on them but they seemed a little more moderate. But, I have issues with most fundamentalist, extremist organizations anyhow. PETA=NRA=RNC=NAACP=NAMBLA Any organization that throws it's rationality away for ideology is a little off to me. PETA doesn't even think people should have pets. I can see where they come from but at the same time, pets are well treated for the most part unless you are a Vick type cretin that will call them pets but then not love and respect them. So I see some of PETA's point just not all of it. I'm gonna have pets. Sorry.
I really don't like hurting animals but I don't really care for PETA either but I still eat a very strict vegan diet 96.7% of the time. I guess what I mean is being vegan and a PETA supporter don't necessarily have to coincide.
Please don't "loose the spears" at me. Just my opinion.
It's stuff like this that makes it so hard for veg*ns to be accepted as real people & not crazy nut-jobs. :-\
But, it isn't really Penn & Teller giving vegans a bad name--it's animal rights extremists that are giving vegans a bad name. They are just distributing the information (in an absolutely biased way, as they would admit). I think that a lot of the arguments on Bullshit are completely erroneous, and I obviously don't agree with their stance on eating meat (not to mention countless other topics), but I think that PETA does a lot on their own to give vegans a bad name.
Agreed! But why not explore the bigger picture & include people who aren't so extreme & fight for these rights for more reasons than depicted? And in much better, smarter, more effective, peaceful ways? ???
It's stuff like this that makes it so hard for veg*ns to be accepted as real people & not crazy nut-jobs. :-\
But, it isn't really Penn & Teller giving vegans a bad name--it's animal rights extremists that are giving vegans a bad name. They are just distributing the information (in an absolutely biased way, as they would admit). I think that a lot of the arguments on Bullshit are completely erroneous, and I obviously don't agree with their stance on eating meat (not to mention countless other topics), but I think that PETA does a lot on their own to give vegans a bad name.
Not that many people are going to realize the distinction between PETA and other vegans. The thought process is: vegan = animal rights = PETA.
It's stuff like this that makes it so hard for veg*ns to be accepted as real people & not crazy nut-jobs. :-\
But, it isn't really Penn & Teller giving vegans a bad name--it's animal rights extremists that are giving vegans a bad name. They are just distributing the information (in an absolutely biased way, as they would admit). I think that a lot of the arguments on Bullshit are completely erroneous, and I obviously don't agree with their stance on eating meat (not to mention countless other topics), but I think that PETA does a lot on their own to give vegans a bad name.
Agreed! But why not explore the bigger picture & include people who aren't so extreme & fight for these rights for more reasons than depicted? And in much better, smarter, more effective, peaceful ways? ???
Because it's not about "Animal Rights." It's about PETA.
I really don't like hurting animals but I don't really care for PETA either but I still eat a very strict vegan diet 96.7% of the time. I guess what I mean is being vegan and a PETA supporter don't necessarily have to coincide.
Please don't "loose the spears" at me. Just my opinion.
No spears here! :) I completely agree. PETA pisses me off, too, in a lot of ways... But I just feel like this episode was too biased. Not because they lied--I don't believe they did--but because they didn't explore the issue in more depth or have more moderate animal rights activists give their reasons & experiences. They just had the most extreme of the extreme animal rights people & very sane people who advocated for animal testing. It should just be more fair, I think.
It's stuff like this that makes it so hard for veg*ns to be accepted as real people & not crazy nut-jobs. :-\
But, it isn't really Penn & Teller giving vegans a bad name--it's animal rights extremists that are giving vegans a bad name. They are just distributing the information (in an absolutely biased way, as they would admit). I think that a lot of the arguments on Bullshit are completely erroneous, and I obviously don't agree with their stance on eating meat (not to mention countless other topics), but I think that PETA does a lot on their own to give vegans a bad name.
Agreed! But why not explore the bigger picture & include people who aren't so extreme & fight for these rights for more reasons than depicted? And in much better, smarter, more effective, peaceful ways? ???
Because it's not about "Animal Rights." It's about PETA.
Actually, I think they described it as being about PETA, but then they lumped in other organizations (such as ALF & another smaller one that that "skinny couple" were spokepeople for)... If it was just about PETA, I wouldn't care. But they described it as being as such & then lumped a lot of groups together. They talked about the necessity of animal testing for medical purposes (which I do understand & don't even entirely know my own opinion on this) & talked about how they would kill all chimps to save one person. It ended up not being only about PETA. That is the problem for me.
Well... the two skinny people... ok. They were needlessly brought into the fray.
However, they talked about the ALF as a means to give some background on Rod Coronado. PETA's support of Coronado and quiet support of the ALF... is a bit extreme... and worrisome.
They DID give him $70,000.
I'm not a big fan of PETA, though I agree with quite a lot of what they stand for. Their actions are inconsistent, inflammatory, and probably cause more people to reject their ideals than to embrace them.
However, I HATE the P&T:Bullshit show. I learned to loathe it on the recycling episode.
I know this is a little after the fact but I've only just come across it and I had to say something.
Re their assertions that they'd strangle every chimp with their bare hands, I would LOVE to see them try. I'd pay good money to see those two in a cage trying to throttle a fully grown alpha male.
I know this is a little after the fact but I've only just come across it and I had to say something.
Re their assertions that they'd strangle every chimp with their bare hands, I would LOVE to see them try. I'd pay good money to see those two in a cage trying to throttle a fully grown alpha male.
This. Given the fact that a grown male chimp (and probably the females too) could rip a man's arm off without breaking sweat...not to mention the teeth.
You'd be surprised at the thousands of people in the world who've never heard of Penn and Teller. I was one until just a few days ago. The opinions of a couple of...what? Comics? Critics? on whatever don't impress me. Professional comics and critics don't do, they talk.
"This. Given the fact that a grown male chimp (and probably the females too) could rip a man's arm off without breaking sweat...not to mention the teeth."
My point exactly, Yabbit. (I don't know how to do that quote thingy.)
A fully grown male chimp would be about six times stronger than an average man. I wouldn't fancy their chances much.
I like what Penn and Teller have to say 90% of the time. The other 10% they piss me off....alot (recycling, global warming, obesity, this episode - all though I'm not a PETA fan either). I share their religious views as well as their general skepticism. Skepticism is no longer skepticism when the evidence actually supports something like obesity is a problem or global warming is a problem.....it's just bullheadedness.
But how often do you agree with anyone 100% of the time?
I like what Penn and Teller have to say 90% of the time. The other 10% they piss me off....alot (recycling, global warming, obesity, this episode - all though I'm not a PETA fan either). I share their religious views as well as their general skepticism. Skepticism is no longer skepticism when the evidence actually supports something like obesity is a problem or global warming is a problem.....it's just bullheadedness.
But how often do you agree with anyone 100% of the time?
This is exactly how I feel!
i thought a lot of the points pen and teller made were just plain uneducated and stupid! what i did find interesting is what PETA spends their money on... not cool... but those 2 guys r completely obnoxious... and if u look at all the things animal testing has helped with it is not a very long list for the amount of animals they test on
I didn't like how they didn't explain the moral objections that animal rights activists feel. They basically just argued "might=right", "I'm bigger, so I'm better" view points. The fact that they take the subject of animal abuse as a joke is deeply disturbing.
Saying that sacrificing all those animal lives testing for the sake of human lives is more than acceptable. And what did those humans do with their newly given lives? What? They just destroyed and devoured the earth and all it's creatures for the rest of their lives, then keeled over without contributing much of anything. I don't see how that justifies their murders
Admittedly PETA isn't perfect, in fact they're far from it. But they take actions with the intention of doing good, and that's a hell of a lot more than most people do. I can't calll myself a PETA supporter either as my ideas and morals vary greatly from theirs at times. I am however glad that they do exist. For all the hurt they've done, they've also done alot of good. Even when they're being annoying, they've still gotten results, where others never even tried. Ok Penn and Teller, slam them all you want, without the other side's (certainly not the people they had on there) opinion, with people debating back and forth, your program lacks substance.
This video just infuriated me (which admittedly isn't that hard to do). I never had much of an opinion of Penn and Teller, but I sure do now. I'm ashamed to say I'm of the same species as those idiotic hacks.
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