Would you play a meat eater in the movies?

Ha... just a crazy thought. Suppose you're an aspiring actor/actress, and you land a great role in a movie, but your character is supposed to be a big meat eater. Would you take it?

I saw a special about Daryl Hannah (vegetarian) who ate a whole lobster in that movie Splash. The "lobster" was fake... it was made out of bread. But still, the image she's portraying is sorta hypocritical. What do you think?

 

well acting is like..assuming a new person so you're not really portraying yourself eating the meat, you're portraying that character eating it

 

Well, Uncle Rico in Napolean Dynamite in real life is a vegetarian. If you notice in the movie everytime he takes a bite of steak he'll wipe his mouth with a napkin, which he then spits the steak into.

It's true!

 

fake lobster for me...

 

although it is acting and portraying a new person, I really feel like *eating* isnt an important part of a movie or character UNLESS the movie is about food...

Ive never seen Splash, so maybe it is...

Plus, I really wouldnt want to portray that sort of image. I love how Alicia Silverstone puts her vegetarian lifestyle into her work... such as in Braceface, the cartoon, she becomes a veggie in the cartoon and I thought it was cool that Alicia did that. Sends a good message.

 

yeah...if it was ESSENTIAL to the plot i'd eat some fake meat...but then work into my contract a clause where i could make it very clear to the public that it was fake, fake fake and that real meat is not so cool

 

I like that idea.

When you're a movie star, people will imitate you because they think it's cool. So, like it or not, everything you do on screen matters. (Yah... I think I lost half my brain cells drinking "vodka martinis shaken and not stirred"... why couldn't he order ...I dunno... a V8 Splash or somthn?)

 

Hmm yeah guess I'd do that.

Not that I'd act, am a writer though. So yeah similar dilemma sometimes. Just have to skip over that part, or kinda work round it e.g one passing mention of meat for every five of other foods. and do include some veggie or AR characters/messages (honestly don't mean to, just sort of slips out).

In Signs Joaquin Phoenix's character is supposed to eat chicken teriyaki. He's vegan IRL so I paid attention (would anyway because it's him, but meh). Must have been tofu, but you couldn't honestly tell the diffrence.
Obviously no real issues for him. Suppose if like him your well known for such a stance then people will understand.
It's only a movie anyway, most of the time no one would notice.

 

No, not a chance.

 

hehe!

I knew that about him and was watching closely whenever he took a bite and sure enough, he spit it out!

I'm curious why they didn't just make an imitation steak out of soy protein or something for him?
we have products available these days so it wouldn't have been hard, But I guess he didn't mind chewing it or they probably would have used fake.

 

LOL, well...maybe it was too expensive. The director/producer spent so little money on that movie. It probably wasn't even an option! LOL

 

Yeah, plus in Napolean Dynamite, they do close ups of the meat and it's all bloody and rare. It was kind of the point to show how gross the uncle eats. So, I guess if they used soy meat it wouldnt have that look.

Still, I wouldn't be able to put meat in my mouth even if I could spit it out after. I would start dry heaving or something.

 

If every actor refused to act out anything they wouldn't do in real life, no movies would ever be made. If you won't eat the fake lobster, someone else will.....and no one will care.

How many murdering psychopath movies are out there? And how many people think that those actors support murder? Most normal people are aware that they are just acting...it's all pretend.

 

*gags at the thought*

 

Eating meat in movies is not usually pretend.

But no, I'm not saying I wouldn't play a bad guy... I'm just saying I wouldn't glorify an act I found immoral. I'd love to play a psycho mass murderer, but I'd do it in a disturbing way, so all the kiddies will understand that psycho mass murderers suck.

The scene in Splash was supposed to be funny haha she's eating a whole lobster with her face. Depending on how strongly you feel about lobsters... it's sorta like telling a really offensive joke. Like haha I'm killing Jews in the gas chamber.

You're right, there are plenty of other actors who would eat the lobster and not care. But that doesn't excuse me from my own personal beliefs & my desire to be a role model!

 

Just a side note... wouldn't it be funny if all healthy actors/actresses refused to do McDonalds commercials? Then McDonalds would be forced to hire nasty gross junk food slobs.

 

You know that for sure? So if an actor is allergic to nuts they make him eat them anyway? Not likely...if someone has enough pull, they don't do what they don't want to.

You would play it the way the director wanted you to, or they would get someone else. That's the way the game is played.

You've obviously never seen a Mel Brooks film.....that man will say ANYTHING. ("Where the white women at?")

Most actors care more about their careers than one lobster, and it has already been established that the lobster was bread. If you want to be famous, you do what they tell you. You can't be a role model if nobody knows who you are....



I'm not telling you to eat meat, BTW, I just don't think acting is for you.....

 

Hello.

Well there are plenty of ways to get around things, as far as eating actual meat on a movie set (as it's already been pointed out about the lobster being made of bread). As for playing a meat eater....it's just a role, just as it's the same if someone were to play the role of a drug dealer or rapist. They are telling stories about people and life. For the most part people are smarter than you think and don't just follow everything famous people do. They know the difference between what is real and what is fiction. Give people a bit more credit.

If it truly bothers you to pretend to be a meat eater or a drug dealer than obviously the acting business is not for you.

 

Sheesh... DISCLAIMER: I'm not frustrated with any of you nice folks... I'm just frustrated that everyone's missing the point I was trying to make.

I should put it this way... if you know you're a role model for kids, would you want them to see you eating meat?

Real vs. fiction...
Of course we know movie rapes/murders/cannibalism are fake, because there are laws against that. But there are no laws against eating animals in movies, so those are usually quite real. Aside from DA's Napoleon Dynamite example & the one I made (which I haven't even verified), can anyone tell me a single movie where meat eating was fake?

Apocalypse Now = 1 slaughtered buffalo. Real.
Godfather = 1 decapitated horse. Real.

I was like 6 years old when I saw Splash. No one ever told me the lobster was fake. In the public eye, she was eating a real lobster. And people do imitate celebrities. I eat dates because Gandhi loved em. I drink vodka martinis because James Bond did. So I bet you somewhere in the world, someone's eating lobster because Daryl Hannah did. Maybe she doesn't care. I'm just saying that I would.

fyi, I've been in a few movies (nothing huge, but good enough to make a handy chunk of $$) so it IS possible. Jeez, people... anything's possible! Stick to your beliefs, whatever they are. Don't cave in just because "someone else would do it anyway." That's the lamest excuse in the book. Stand up for what you believe in, even if you're the only one standing!

[/end motivational speech coz no one seems to give a flying damn]

^actually that's wrong. I know a lot of you give a flying damn. woot. go team.

 

People stand for what they believe in to many different degrees. I think it's great that if you choose to not be in a movie because you portray a meater eater that is totally cool and your choice.

I don't think however, that you are a bad role model by being a meat eater in a movie but a vegan in real life. I think being a role model comes from speaking out against these issues you strongly believe in....movies are just for entertainment and escape and I don't think most people really look at these celebrities on a whole as being hypocritical by playing certain roles. Again, movies are stories and translations and opinions. If someone were to actually follow a celeb based on a movie and think oh they eat meat, I guess I will too... then most likely they aren't that grounded in a belief system of their own and haven't realy figured out where they stand.

As for movies that actually use real animals and harm them... no I would not be a part of such a thing. I wouldn't choose to not be in a movie if a co actor were to eat a hamburger or if they used real meat food. Pretending is one thing, partaking in an actual slaughter or even being in a movie where they slaughtered an actual animal is different. Playing a meat eater would not interfere with my beliefs if I ate something that looked like real meat. I would not feel any less of a role model or feel that I have gone against something I believe in.


But if you get into the whole "using animal parts" and being hypocrital... your in for a disappointement and shock, because even by not being in a movie, you watch them and most films and photographic paper have gelatin layers in them. Glue used in books have animal derivatives. You can't completely remove yourself from animal use. It's almost impossible. You can however, do your best to stick to your beliefs and try to make less of an impact on animals by choosing your battles. So if not being in a movie where you portray a meat eater or where they use actual animals to kill is the right things for you or anyone else, GREAT!