"Marley and I" :
not thorough lyricism .
For a purebred dog fanatic, the film is just a less than thorough lyric;
for a movie fanatic, the film takes on another level of meaning.
- Vulcan Ji. Inscription.
In this movie, as a dog lover says - what this movie signifies is all the problems that can arise from a not-quite-correct concept of dog ownership. In the movie, a total of 22 Labrador Retrievers co-interpreted this dog named Marley. What we can see in it are all kinds of magnified shortcomings. And it wasn't Marley's fault that caused all of this, but the indulgence and indulgence of the dog owners Grogan and his wife, played by Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson. of.
The Labrador Retriever, whose IQ ranks seventh among all dog breeds, is one of the most malleable breeds. He is an excellent guide dog, working dog, companion dog, family dog, and show dog, as long as he is properly educated and nurtured; but Marley in this movie obviously has nothing to do with those words Relationship, the male owner John said, it is the worst dog, but has he ever thought that Marley may be the best dog, but his indulgence magnifies its overall development in stubbornness, so All the advantages it might have are diminished.
Let's take a look at the recognized characteristics of Labrador: mild temperament, intelligent and obedient, easy to train, lively and active, loyal to the master, high obedience... But what we see in Marley, in addition to lively and active Besides, are there other commonalities here? It is definitely not the dog's own problem, but the dog's owner's problem, to let a dog completely deviate from all his character traits.
If we have a dog by our side, if we think our dog is already a tough saboteur; just after watching this movie, we will find that our dog is so well-behaved and charming. Because Marley is indeed as annoying as a devil, my Doberman dog, Joey, was already extremely evil like a devil, but under the background of Marley, he was suddenly pure and kind like an angel.
What to do with the baby pets we bring home from the kennel is a big question; how to deal with them in the days that follow is a matter of principle. Senior pet friends always admonish us bitterly - dogs themselves are a group animal, and in their world, they have a class concept; therefore, when a dog is brought home, we should put ourselves in its shoes think of the world it will see, and then we have only two choices: as its chief dog, or as its servants and bow down to it.
Once we have established absolute authority in its heart and are recognized by it as the head dog, it will no longer challenge our status; once such a relationship is established, it will be a lifetime commitment to it. And if our majesty is not enough to completely deter it and give it the illusion that it may turn over and become the boss, then it will continue to create troubles with you, try to challenge your authority status, and create numbers for you. Unclear trouble. There is also a more frightening situation. It feels good about itself and believes that it is the kingship of the head dog, then you will never think about how to control its behavior. If you "flick it", you will be immediately punished Its "discipline" so that it can allow you to "conscientiously" live under its "leadership".
How to raise a dog with a sound personality, only when we have established a kind of absolute authority of the "head dog" in its heart, this is the healthiest human-dog relationship; the other two possibilities will not be Any joy you bring to your dog life will breed a lot of trouble for no apparent reason.
Honoring your position, obeying your wishes, and ultimately making it his greatest joy and lifelong goal to please you; such a relationship is healthy, orderly, and happy. This is true for humans, and it is also true for dogs.
Although a dog understands human nature, no matter how high an IQ a dog is, it does not have a very clear concept of right and wrong, and it is impossible for it to guess your thoughts. Most of its behaviors are still dominated by its instincts, it will only let it Instinct governs all its actions without being able to distinguish right from wrong. And it may have "can do" and "can not do" judgments, and "how to do it", we can only teach it.
Tell it clearly what kind of behavior is allowed, how to perform a behavior that is a little difficult for it, and give it a certain reward when it does well; also tell it clearly , what kind of behavior is not allowed or even absolutely forbidden, and it is also very necessary to give it the necessary punishment when it is always persistent.
In a gradual process, under a consistent guideline, after the dog learns over time, it will establish a very clear concept of right and wrong based on its instinct, which will be related to its life. Every detail in our lives is also related to every detail of our own lives. In this way, a complete set of life norm system is established, and only a healthy norm system is established, which is the best living state for it.
In the final analysis, it can only be a heavy responsibility shouldered by a responsible dog owner. Some people say - owning a dog is actually adopting a life, not just a pet. Therefore, it is not enough just to provide it with a comfortable and dry place, delicious and nutritious food, and a space that is spacious and safe; it is more important to teach it how to get along with people and how to interact with other people. Get along with dogs, let it become a beloved and popular dog, and fully integrate into your life and human society. This is the greatest responsibility and challenge of a dog owner.
If you look around us, there are very few people who really want to do it, and even fewer who can. Of course, this is not surprising. After all, there is nothing wrong with the fact that our humanistic atmosphere itself is built on a large "people-oriented" foundation; the problem is that on such a large foundation, it will mean that people are above everything else, including Other creatures that live around us.
In our culture, the symbol "dog" represents more of a derogatory symbolic meaning - for example, "sexy dogs and horses" are decadent, and over time will become "" Wolf-hearted and dog-lung", or even "dogs are inferior to pigs", they are reduced to "lacking dogs" and "eagle dogs"; what we don't find surprising is this kind of logical thinking - scolding the lower ranks and calling them "dog slaves", the upper ranks become "dog officials" , when you reach the top level, you will become the "dog emperor", and "dog day" will always be the most terrible curse... No matter what word it is, adding a word "dog" in front of it will directly become a derogatory word with a humiliating nature. . Sentences like this seem to go on and on, and countless of them are used as derogatory references. And new symbolic meanings like "loyalty" and "best friend" belong more to an imported culture, which was only included in our cultural atmosphere in modern times.
The pets that we now call, in the past, would have been called evil animals; now, when we talk about the pet industry, we used to think that it was just a "beast slave" who "doesn't work properly", "fighting cocks and running dogs" every day, completely "playing with things and losing his mind", and "drunk and dreaming to death" all day long "The next three abuses. Isn't that enough to explain what the problem is.
It can be said that the germination of awareness about pets has just begun in our country, and the rise of the pet industry in our country, no matter how to trace the source, it is only a short period of ten or twenty years. Our understanding of purebred dogs has only begun in recent years; in foreign countries, many dog breeds have been cultivated, improved and purified, and some have been over hundreds of years or even a dozen centuries. Here, I don't mean to grow other people's ambition to destroy my prestige, it's just a fact.
China is originally an agricultural nation that focuses on farming. We actually lack a fundamental respect for other species that have been domesticated by us in the long history and now live around us. For us, they are not life in the first concept, but property, like gold and silver jewelry without any life; then there is the ownership of it; we do respect life, but for property other than life , we have the absolute power of life and death. For animals, there are actually only two types of ideas in our minds: those we call livestock have been domesticated by us; and those called birds and beasts have not yet been domesticated.
Most people in modern society have gotten rid of the farming work of "facing the loess and turning their backs to the sky", and have also moved into the city from the countryside, but it is undeniable that what flows in our veins has been flowing for tens of millions of years. Our ancestors have the same blood, which is doomed that we will not be much different from our ancestors.
Moreover, we are a nation with profound cultural accumulation. The cultural genes of the farming nation are also nourishing our generation. When we inherit the long-standing cultural heritage and splendid civilization accumulation, we also have the same cultural genes. Of course, we are also tolerant of other cultures, and even we can always transform organic nutrition from other civilizations into our culture. That is because we have a cultural heritage that continues to be inherited, so we can claim to be the only "four ancient civilizations" without culture. Fault China. But it is also like this, we also need a long process to accept and absorb the surging culture.
An excellent racing dog and a mediocre pet dog, at the current stage, there is not much difference for most of us; dog lovers say: the same life also needs care, not love The canine said: "Isn't it just a dog?" For them, the most intuitive difference between the two lies in the high value and the cheapness of the readily available.
We will treat a dog as property, as a domestic animal, as a pet; but fundamentally, very few people regard them as a life as precious as ours, and very few people can really regard them as Sons or daughters, relatives, family or family members. As I said before, the dog itself is a group animal. In the wild environment, the dog group mostly exists in the form of a family or a family, which leaves such an imprint on its genes - we and it The people who live together are not relatives to it, we are its relatives and clansmen.
Our conception of it and its conception of us, the result of its own misunderstanding, is the high-profile misunderstanding of most of us today about domestic pets.
It was only in the last few years that I became interested in purebred dogs before I started paying attention. People who have been following MyBlog for a long time may already know that it is precisely because of the high price of purebred dogs and the fact that they are essentially different from the native dogs or cross-bred dogs in the past. Begin to learn about the various purebred dogs, so there is a further accumulation of information. And when I saw this movie, I suddenly felt that maybe I should speak as a dog lover; instead of just speaking as a movie watcher as before.
As I mentioned earlier, the perception of dogs at home and abroad is different, especially purebred dogs; but this is not one-way, not only we have problems, foreign people also seem to have some problems with dogs . On our "people-oriented" basis, we generally treat dogs with contempt; what they advocate is a spirit closer to "humanism", and under such a cultural background, humane The spirit of socialism will require them to respect life more, and on the basis of this respect, beating and scolding animals will be generally condemned by social morality, so most of them have a laissez-faire and doting attitude towards animals. In my opinion Come on, it's a bit of an overindulgence. It can be said that we and they are almost at two completely opposite extremes.
We are also laissez-faire with our pets, and our responsibility seems to be limited there - indifference to them, often ignoring them, and letting them come and go most of the time, as long as they know their way home; When the performance is not good, we will punch and stick at every turn; let them eat and cover their heads, that's all.
They care more about them and let them go to indulgence. But unlike our laissez-faire in behavior, they are more laissez-faire to develop their character. Because what every purebred dog pursues is the stability of the breed's character and genes, they only need to choose a dog breed whose appearance conforms to their aesthetics and whose character is acceptable to them. That's it.
In my opinion, especially since our knowledge of purebred dogs is still in its infancy, it is impossible for us to buy dogs with good character and character like them; and even if they are, in fact It should also be understood that as far as a dog breed is concerned, they will have some common personality characteristics, but each individual will have its own characteristics, which is somewhat uneven.
So, whether it's them or us, it's an essential process for any dog brought into the house to give it the necessary behavioral norms; it will also save us a lot of trouble in our lives and its lives. It's like giving birth to a child - give birth to him, and then we will have the responsibility to take care of him; raise him, feed him, and then we will have the responsibility to educate him; this is one of the most basic aspects of life. respect.
There is a saying in Chaoshan that it is better to have a kindness than to raise a kindness. If it is just raising in the ordinary sense, then this kind of kindness cannot be compared with the mother's kindness that gave him life; ask any village woman in the countryside of Chaoshan, she will know that raising a child is not only about raising a child Just giving him food and clothing to let him develop into an adult has more of a meaning of "upbringing" in it. The reason why nurturing kindness is greater than generating kindness is that "nurturing" should not only provide him with food and clothing, but also endow him with moral cultivation and integrity in personality other than natural people.
The "kindness" of birth lies in giving a child life on the unit of natural person; the "kindness" of nourishment lies in continuing the development of this life, and endowing the life on this unit of natural person with spiritual cultivation to make it sound , and ultimately determines his complete development at the level of personality. In any philosophical system in China, the person defined by the personality charisma finally reflected by the growth of spiritual power is much more important than the person defined by the natural person unit; this is the truth that giving birth is not as great as raising kindness significance.
How far is the distance between raising a child and raising a pet dog? If we can really think of them as our own children, there is really no distance between them. And they are not our children; since we brought them home from the wild, domesticated them, until we began to develop their character and appearance according to our own wishes, and now they are Hundreds of defined dog breeds have been formed, and they have been developed according to our wishes, just like our children.
Following instructions, distinguishing right from wrong, pleasing people, strong physique, and sound character are all important to a great dog. If we have the same responsibility to them as our children, then the cultivation of each of them in these respects is our inescapable responsibility.
But they are not real children after all, at least not of the same kind, so they can't learn to fully understand our language, and they can't learn to use our language to communicate with us. Therefore, it is impossible for us to teach them honestly and enticingly, just like educating a child, and they will understand our wishes. They can understand our emotional joy or anger, and when we praise it, it knows it's doing the right thing, and when we scold it, it knows it's done something it shouldn't.
What I've been trying to convey in this lengthy talk above is that every dog breed has its peculiarities, and because we make them, we have a responsibility to educate them further. Correcting their bad habits and cultivating their good habits is our most basic obligation.
We should care about them, but there are certain standards, we should not spoil them too much, especially we should not turn a blind eye to some of their bad habits. That's what's really good for them. How to correct their bad habits, which involves moderate corporal punishment; no matter how smart a dog is, it is impossible for him to understand every word we say, and it is impossible for him to have the ability to figure out the tone of every word we say. The emotions that it may carry, but it can understand the meaning of our tone of voice, and can understand some simple instructions, and it is very important for them to learn all this, with clear rewards and punishments.
Beating and scolding are reprimands; touching and praising are praise. That's all it can understand. As long as we master the scale, we can nurture it into what we want. It is very important to establish a correct concept of raising a dog - for the dog owner, or for the dog itself. Appropriate amount of beating and scolding is necessary; full praise and comfort are important.
Teach it basic survival skills, give it more room for development based on all the advantages of its own dog breed, and make it conform to all the characteristics of the dog breed, even stronger, so that it can live up to the true nature of the dog breed with fame. I think this is the correct dog-raising concept, and it is also the respect that should be given to any dog breed and an individual under that breed.
Pets, as the name suggests, should be loved things; since we love them, do we have a reason to take responsibility for them? Raising is in the name of petting; training is in the name of bearing. After giving it a comfortable and stable life, it must also be given a good character and excellent character training, and it must also conform to the breed characteristics of an individual under a dog breed.
For example, my Doberman dog, Joey, I can't remember how many people once saw it and sighed that it had undergone operations such as censoring, removing wolf toes, cutting ears and erecting ears, etc., in the name of humanitarianism. Blame me and many Doberman lovers. However, do these people who accuse us have any knowledge of the Doberman breed, do they have any understanding of the development of dogs, and do they have any significance for being a Doberman? Clearly.
Let’s talk about tail amputation and wolf toe removal first. Such minor operations are generally performed three days after the puppy is born. At this stage, the nervous system of the puppy has not yet matured, so as long as it is handled properly at this time, the puppy will The dog is unconscious and does not feel any pain. Furthermore, the Doberman breed was bred as a working dog, so it has its working properties - the tail makes it weak and prone to injury when performing work; wolf toes are dogs There is no functional last remnant left in the evolutionary process, only to let it hurt while running. These are removed to make it work better. There are also cut and straight ears. Huge ears will cause it to be pulled by branches in the woods, and cutting it will only benefit it and not hurt it.
I wonder if those of us who are obsessed with the Doberman pinscher have ever thought that we may not be gentle enough and cruel, but we are not just forcibly changing its appearance for the sake of our own aesthetics, we are actually doing this more than Others are more distressed, but all of this has a practical function rather than just decoration, and as a Doberman owner, we have a responsibility to make our beloved Doberman the best possible Doberman pinscher. Functionality.
Besides, this is the same as the coming-of-age ceremony of the Jews for thousands of years. Each nation has its own customs. When you accuse us Doberman owners, do you have the energy to condemn the Jews for their foreskins? Recklessness and stubbornness. In fact, we all know that circumcision is not necessarily just harm, it also has its own function.
Born as a Doberman, it has its mission and its coming-of-age rites. And these have certain practical functions for the life after it. Since we can respect the long tradition of Jewish circumcision, why can't we respect the tradition of circumcision as a Doberman pinscher. Let it follow the path of its ancestors, let it follow the footsteps of its ancestors, which is also due respect for a dog breed.
Another example is the dog Cream of a pet friend, a soul brother. Recently, a soul brother sterilized her cream. Many people are lamenting the pain and misfortune for Master Cream, and then they start to accuse her of inhumanity.
However, as a responsible dog owner, in addition to being responsible for the pet dogs around us, should we also take some responsibility for their offspring? Plus, not just anyone can do what a serious breeder does. If our dog is not good enough, then we should neuter it so as not to leave some defective puppies, which will lead to an overall decline in the group level of the entire dog breed, and is not conducive to the overall development of the dog breed group.
At the same time, such an approach can also save our dogs from diseases that may occur in the reproductive system in the future. Not everyone knows that the reproductive system is the last lesion in many dogs. The messy pairings made by irresponsible breeders are more often ruining the reputation of the breed and their offspring, who are not breeders at best but mercenary business operations. Raising our own pet dogs is already a difficult task; let alone the offspring we have no way of predicting. Why not leave this kind of heavy and long-term work to those professionals who are more sure, capable and responsible.
Writing here, we will find that Marley, the Labrador retriever in the movie, is actually so unfortunate. Its owners, the Grogan couple, are very fond of it, but they can't keep it. Especially, I'm just a Doberman fanatic who already felt this way after watching this movie; I don't know what kind of dog owners who love Labrador retrievers see this movie such a feeling. We all know that the Labrador Retriever has been on the TOP.01 list of the most popular dog breeds in the United States and the world for many years; but the Grogan couple can actually develop a terrorist like the king of destruction. A little guilty for a Labrador.
I think Marley should be happy. After all, in its life, it has never been beaten or punished, only tolerated or even condoned. He is happy, as a pet dog he is undoubtedly happy; but as a Labrador? It has almost lost its most basic meaning as a Labrador. We can say he is a happy pet dog, but can we say - he is a proper Labrador?
Marley's happiness is a kind of happiness that has been completely separated from all the labels of such an excellent dog as a Labrador; it has the greatest happiness as a pet dog, but it has lost as a Labrador. The joy and respect that a braddo deserves. And for all of this, I blame the Grogans for their lack of knowledge and ignorance of the breed, and their irresponsible attitude of laissez-faire and even indulgent dog ownership.
This movie shows us all the problems that can be caused by not having the correct dog concept. This can inspire us dog lovers to do some metaphysical reflection and thinking-since we love them, can we give them a better life and the greatest happiness and the most appropriate as an individual under a certain breed of completeness.
Of course, aside from being a dog lover and being a moviegoer, this movie gave me a completely different look. While Jennifer Aniston doesn't look much like Rachel Green in "Friends," she doesn't seem as good as she did in "The Break-Up." There is a bit of tension in the performance, although Owen Wilson still seems to be mediocre; however, the film's laughs are evenly distributed, the plot develops gently, the overall atmosphere is warm and pleasant, the ending is sad but still satisfactory, plus the animals The sympathy that the actors may induce... This film covers almost all the commercial elements that commercial films should have, and it is no wonder that this film has an excellent record at the box office.
The film gives us a clue from the life of Marley, the Labrador retriever, through John and Jennifer's plain but warm family life. In a family of two, John gave Jennifer a gift because he was worried about whether he would be able to take care of the children in the future - that's how Marley came into the family.
Marley, who kept making troubles, was even turned away from the dog training school. It is conceivable that Marley was tough and stubborn in the world. The Grogans never gave up on it, however, because they believed that as long as they could take care of Marley, they could take care of any child. As time went on, Marley grew up, and the family of three welcomed new family members—one child after another came to the family, and because of Marley, Jennifer’s postpartum depression finally broke out , Marley was almost helplessly sent away.
Of course, it wasn't sent away. John's personal column can't write more about the confusion and joy that Marley has brought to his life, and Jennifer also remembers the time when she was most helpless when she held it and cried aloud. The children grew up and moved from one city to another, but no matter where they moved, Marley would always sit at the door waiting for the children to return from school. Finally, when Marley grows old, the film spends a considerable amount of time depicting how the Grogans send him to his death.
Animal-themed movies always win in two ways - either farce or tragedy. And this movie is right in the middle of those two. Earlier, it was said that it had a lot of laughs, but it didn't have any impressive laughter; and the final farewell, it didn't bring me too much emotion.
I like this movie, but not in love. Perhaps, from the time Marley walked into that house, we should have realized that he will eventually leave the family; because we all know that the longest life span of a dog is no more than ten or twenty years. I thought about what a sad scene it must be when a dog spends so much time with the family and brings them so much trouble and happiness. However, the way the movie ended seemed a bit surprising to me, it didn't move me too much.
I was reminded of the same Labrador from Youichi Sai's "Quill," and I was reminded of the irrepressible sadness at the end of that movie; relatively In terms of lyricism, this film is obviously much weaker than "Guide Dog Q".
After all, this is a movie with a big tone defined as a comedy; so, in the process of creating the atmosphere, it is quite different from the overall gloom of Guide Dog Q. In order to leave us with a joyous mood, it had to undercut its lyrical sadness; that's the whole point of filmmaking, but in my opinion, it's a somewhat insincere forced laugh.
The lack of thorough lyricism, in my opinion, is the regret of the film's most beautiful lack. And how to choose, may be a matter of opinion.
2009-04-07; Ji Chou Year of the Ox Wu Chen March 12 noon; 6:54 in the morning.
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Note: Movie information extension link.
■Title: "Marley & Me"
■Translation: "Marley & Me"
■Director: David Frankel
■Original Book: John Grogan
■Screenwriter: Scott Scott Frank, Don Roos
■ Actors: Jennifer Aniston, Owen Wilson
■ Genre: Romance, Family, Drama, Comedy
■ Duration: 120 min
■ Country of Origin: United States
Language: English
Color: Color
Format: 35mm Anamorphic Film
Mixing: Dolby Digital Surround, Digital Cinema System, SDDS
Filming Format: 35 mm
Printing Format: D-Cinema 35 mm
■ Production company: Fox 2000 Pictures
■ Distribution company: FS Film Oy
■ Premiere date: December 25, 2008 (US)
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