Author Topic: PC110: The Alchemist’s Feather  (Read 12150 times)

Fenrix

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Reply #25 on: January 30, 2012, 06:40:55 PM
It's amazing how putting a little girl into the cross fire makes it ten times worse. If this
had been a story where he was using cats or puppies it would have been sad, but not nearly so monstrous.

I'm not so certain about this. I've seen and heard a lot more visceral reactions to descriptions of bad things happening to animals. There's a handful of threads of on the PseudoPod side of things where animal cruelty was part of the story, and the topic gets a lot of traffic. Another example a little closer to home for me is that my wife has a high tolerance for horror. That is, until they stick the dog in the microwave (e.g. American Horror Story) or chop up the kitten (e.g. Drag Me to Hell). After that it's like a switch for her and the product is unredeemable.

All cat stories start with this statement: “My mother, who was the first cat, told me this...”


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Reply #26 on: January 30, 2012, 08:33:22 PM
I'm not so certain about this. I've seen and heard a lot more visceral reactions to descriptions of bad things happening to animals. There's a handful of threads of on the PseudoPod side of things where animal cruelty was part of the story, and the topic gets a lot of traffic. Another example a little closer to home for me is that my wife has a high tolerance for horror. That is, until they stick the dog in the microwave (e.g. American Horror Story) or chop up the kitten (e.g. Drag Me to Hell). After that it's like a switch for her and the product is unredeemable.

I can relate to that reaction.  For me the difference between a human being the victim, and a pet, is that the pet has no control over its life.  Its life can be wonderful or terrible on the whim of its owner.  The humans in charge have a responsibility over this creature, and not fulfilling this responsibility is violating a sacred trust.  Your average adult generally has control over their own lives and their own choices, so I don't feel the sense of betrayal for a human being who is hurt as I do for a pet.  (which doesn't cover children, I realize, but speaking on the difference in general)