Matt Damon is in Mexico City making a movie and spent some of his off time this past weekend to attend a bull fight. I'm a little surprised he went. Matt has always seemed very conscious of what people in public think of him and I think some people might tend to be disappointed in him for going because it is kind of making it seem like he supports bull fighting. It is a pretty tragic "sport." Not much sport in it if one side always wins. The thing is, even when the bull does manage to kill the matador they immediately put down the bull because you can't have a bull killing humans, but it is fine for the humans to kill the bulls. I think it is pretty obvious by now that I am no vegetarian. I try my best to avoid eating anything that even appears to be a vegetable, but I also think killing something just for kicks and to please an audience, is wrong. I understand Matt was probably curious about it, but I am guessing he could have also watched it on television and not shown up in person. What do you think? Good idea? Bad idea? Hate bull fighting? Love it?
His producers or crew may have invited him to attend and he couldn't turn them down; bullfighting is an iconic event in Mexican culture. Besides, he's an actor and explores these important moments in other cultures to file away for future performance reference. He was working.
ReplyDeleteIt is a tradition and I respect that but on the other hand it's stupid and doesn't make sense to me why it became a tradition. Were these guys so bored back in the day that they got a bull all worked up for kicks and then killed it? It's just weird.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Black Cat. I too find this sport barbaric but in the spirit of respect for other cultures the change must come from within and outside pressures don't always work (see foot binding/genital mutilation).
ReplyDeleteThe (hunting) credo I learned growing up is - you don't ever leave an animal maimed and in pain, and if you kill it you have to eat it. Anything else is a sin.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I would go to one bullfight, because it is an important part of Mexico/Spain's cultural past. I would be people watching more than anything though. He was probably people watching too.
Agreed Weezy. For what it's worth, the slain bull is always eaten and used. What's worse? Eating a steak (OR BACON!) , nicely packaged w/ cellophane and styrofoam- that was probably forced down a conveyor belt and put down by a machine- or eating an animal that went out fighting.
ReplyDeleteOne could make the argument that the matador fighting bull has no choice to fight tho...
Tradition should trump animal rights.It's barbaric and disgusting. I wouldn't go just because someone asked me.
ReplyDeleteI mean shouldn't!
ReplyDeletebull fighting consists of torturing and taunting an animal, and then killing it.
ReplyDeletethis is fun?!
Wasn't Barcelona's last Corrida over this summer?
ReplyDeleteI read in the news (September, I think), that they were breaking with tradition because of how the world is perceiving this cruel sport...
It depends on why he was there. To give in to the bloodlust? Or to experience the culture (albeit barbaric to most of us). I'm against bullfighting, dogfighting, cockfighting, but of the three, I would attend a bullfight to see what goes on.
ReplyDeleteIt irks me when people bring up the it's a tradition and therefore justified excuse. Slavery was once a tradition as well. Should we therefore bring it back/have kept it up? It's a useless killing of an animal to entertain dumb and heartless people.
ReplyDeleteIf Matt Damon is so much into Mexican 'tradition', I wouldn't be surprised if he also attended a donkey show.
Oh wait. Spain did end its tradition of Corridas. The last one was in September 2011.
ReplyDeleteThis is Mexico. Still legal. Sorry for the mix up.
Like Weezy says. He was probably being polite for business reasons. Not the best move on his part, but I don't know the whole situation.
ReplyDeleteEvery culture has its unusual moments. I'm not going to tell those people what they should do with their lives and customs.
ReplyDeleteWould I go to a bullfight? Probably, for the cultural experience.
personally, I like it when the bull wins.
ReplyDeleteThe cruelest part for those knowledgeable about this sport is the function of the "picadors." These are the guys with the decorated sticks who run at the bull and stick the spears in its neck, cutting the tendons. This causes the bull to drop its head and not be able to raise it and gore the matador in self-defense. Kind of makes the outcome, umm...more than a bit, one-sided.
ReplyDelete@timebob:
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, the bull never wins.
Even if it is part of Mexican Culture that is no reason to go. I am against Bull fighting, Dog fighting, Cock fighting. I would not go to see it if asked to come. My respect for him is gone. They torture the bull for entertainment before they kill it, that is the Big Fun. I once saw a man hit a deer. When the police came they shot the deer, to stop it's suffering. Then they took it to the local food pantry. They dress the deer and give the meat to people who need the food. Even that was hard to watch. The Bull actually cry's while he is tortured and this is entertainment.
ReplyDeleteI am against bullfighting, it is such a one sided event and the animal suffers a slow death.
ReplyDeleteHas anybody seen the "Mexican Rodeos"? They torture horses to get them to go faster, or move a certain way. Horse tripping is a common practice and the horse is roped over and over again and sometimes sustaining terrible injuries leading to death. It is truly awlful.
In Spain and France they still have bullfighting but the bull is not injured or killed. It's less a "bull fight" and more a "bull annoy."
ReplyDeleteI'm not a big fan of Matt Damon as an actor (blah dull moonface) and on top of that the preachiness and sanctimony is just off-putting. OTOH, I'm not a big fan of the PC morality police in general, so this is kind of a toss up.
Thank you, Mina - you said what I came here to say. In Spain they are now finally coming around to realize the cruelty behind this practice, and it was banned last year in Catalonia/Barcelona. Other regions are expected to follow suit and I take that as a very good sign. If Spain can see the error of their ways, I'm sure Mexico and other South American countries can take a good hard look at themselves as well.
ReplyDeleteTradition is not an excuse.
Shame on you, Matt Damon.
I don't know how he could have refused on moral grounds without coming off looking like Gwyneth Paltrow.
ReplyDeleteThis "it's tradition, we shouldn't be judgmental" stuff is crap. Genital mutilation is traditional, too, and I don't see anyone defending that. To me, there's no difference between a bullfight, dogfight, and cockfight. They're all barbaric and disgusting. And Matt Damon is a big enough star that he doesn't have to do anything he doesn't want to.
ReplyDeleteTexshan my point wasn't that it was traditional therefore it was okay. My point was that it barbaric and to stop it, change must come from the inside. We can pressure all we like and hopefully, as we've seen w/Spain they will cave but to make it move, change from the inside works faster. Yes, dogfight, cockfights, any sport where animals or humans are hurt is wrong. Fuck "tradition".
ReplyDeleteI don't like bull fighting. When I had an opportunity to go, I turned it down. But, I can't hate on Matt. He seems like one of the good guys.
ReplyDelete@weezy, I don't know why Gwyneth gets all holier than thou, she cheated on Brad Pitt.
ReplyDeleteI think you could politely decline and say you have plans/sick child or you could also stand up for the bulls and say it's barbaric. Either would work. Matt Damon isn't going to be dropped from a movie for not attending a bull fight.
ReplyDeleteSherry, I appreciate your point, but my post wasn't directed specifically to you. There are several people here who have referenced bullmaiming as being "traditional" and "part of the culture." I was speaking (typing?) in general terms.
ReplyDeleteSorry, but the hell with "tradition." It is wrong and Matt should NOT have attended. I have definitely lost respect for him as a person. And the whole thing about being polite is ridiculous. If something offends you you don't just go along to be "polite." You respectfully decline. Frankly, I'm pretty shocked by how many people here are okay with this. Sad.
ReplyDeleteWhat is it with that 'pc police' nonsense? I find that highly offensive. That's clearly something only privileged people can say whose self-worth, dignity, physical/social/financial security and/or lifestyle are not endangered/affected by certain issues you are thinking you have the right to ridicule and trivialize. Oh, I'm too lazy/stupid/privileged to really care about things that don't have an impact on my life, so don't annoy me with those things. It's so easy to not care as long as it's not your own forehead with the bullseye on it, right?
ReplyDeleteUh sorry to burst anyone's bubble but Spanish bullfighting is alive and well. As some commenters have pointed out, in France and some Latin American countries there are bloodless bullfights and the last corrida in Catalunya was last year. Side note: the gorgeous bullring is now a giant mall, I'm surprised they even bothered to clean the blood off the sand before plopping a McDonald's down right in the middle of the arena. But in most of Spain the bull dies and it is bloody and disgusting, but still very popular. Torreros are celebrities with their own fanzines. And with an ever-aging population (for being Catholic there is just not a lot of baby-making going on in this country, guess that's what happens when you're unemployed?) I think it will continue to be popular, but perhaps with the next generation there will be some change. Animal rights just isn't a thing here- tons of activists and plenty of protests every season, but just not the same regard for the lives of animals. Just started getting cold, all the little old ladies will be bringing out their giant fur coats soon... Don't know how I feel about Matt Damon going to one, I don't know what his record on animal rights is, but I feel like he's a pretty stand up guy most of the time and singing for a dictator or rubbing elbows in Chechnya this was not. I'm not saying it's ok, I'm just saying I don't know his life and of the many jackass things celebrities do, this isn't the worst. (Sorry for the long post- rare that I actually know anything about anything on this blog- back to lurking...)
ReplyDeleteI think he is a grown a** man and can do whatever he wants.
ReplyDeleteMina is the most astute and articulate commenter on this site, by FAR.
ReplyDeleteThis is the man who just filmed a movie about a zoo? And they supposedly treated all the animals on set with utmost care and kindness? And then he goes to a fucking BULLFIGHT before that movie is released? Will he wear a full-length mink to the premiere?
Pretty dumbassed PR move on his part, I must say.
Sorry. I just can't like it. I grew up in a hunting family. You TRACKED it or got lucky and a deer crossed your path. The men in my family didn't chase the deer around in a ring, torture it, kill it in a closed area amounting to a big cage. I grew up in a rural setting. I knpw all about how the plastic wrapped meat comes to my table but bullfighting is freaking cruel and I put it on the level of a dog fight.
ReplyDeleteSo, Officer Mina, likes the "pc police" and anyone who disagrees with Officer Mina is "lazy, stupid, and privileged." Because they are. Officer Mina says so. Nice! Open hearts, open minds. Fetch the pepper spray and the nightsticks because Officer Mina is highly offended by opposing viewpoints. Good to know.
ReplyDeleteOh, Amartel, as if I couldn't foresee the typical whiny response of a person who's been called out on their ignorance. Opposing viewpoints? Really? This isn't a discussion about if black shoes go with a brown belt. If you don't know the right answer to Enty's question by using your heart and mind then I can't help you.
ReplyDelete"In Spain and France they still have bullfighting but the bull is not injured or killed. It's less a "bull fight" and more a "bull annoy."'
ReplyDeleteMy forehead is black and blue from the recent repeated smacking.
I used to loathe bullfighting. Reading interviews with female bullfighters is what changed my mind. There is an art to bullfighting. Perhaps it is a cruel art, but I find factory farming much more grotesque and harmful to both human and animal.
ReplyDeletewhen in rome...
ReplyDeleteHow is enraging an animal and stabbing a living creature with a sharp, pointy object repeatedly until it bleeds to death "art"? And what does gender have to do with it? It doesn't make bullfighting any LESS cruel if women participate. Do you think female matadors are more tender with the bulls or something? Doubtful.
ReplyDeleteI genuinely just do NOT understand those of you who are defending this practice. Even under the bullshit guise of "tradition" and "sport" and "art," it still involves spectators cheering on the misery and demise of an abused creature. That doesn't disturb you at ALL?
Forget about political correctness for a moment -- the thought/sight of an agonized creature doesn't make you sick to your stomach? Is it because bulls aren't cute? If this were a case of lions being killed for "sport," many of you would be freaking out, I'm sure. Because those are big kittycats.
Again, I just don't get it.
Well, don't stop now, keep going. Get the dramatic chipmunk one comment up to assist you. Have a righteous totalitarian pity partay of two.
ReplyDelete"Totalitarian," eh? You coulda snuck an Animal Farm reference in that last comment. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's really a "pity partay" if you're pitying someone/something else. That's called empathy.
I don't get why you're so angry about the fact that lots of us are bothered by bullfighting, or why you need to resort to childishly insulting people on this thread. But it's cool.
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ReplyDeleteFor the record, bull fighting has been a Spanish tradition - as in SPAIN, and NOT Mexico. Ironically, recently there was a bull fighting ring built in Cancun because of the demand by AMERICAN tourists thinking it was a Mexican tradition, which is isn't.
ReplyDeleteAlso, for the record, I think the "sport" is trilby cruel and inhumane and should be outlawed, period.
Mina - I take issue what you said,"if Matt Damon is that much into Mexican "tradition", I wouldn't be surprised if he also attended a donkey show." RACIST MUCH?
@Sis -that makes me very sad. :-(
ReplyDeleteI don't agree with bull fighting. I am not going to do something that harms animals just because it's culturally relavant. Disappointed in Matt.
Oh please you Bullfight haters , just of bunch of cry babys. If it was not for bullfighting there will be no bulls. The bulls have there freedom for five years in a ranch with acres so huge where they can run , walk ,sleep anytime. Compare to cows in America they get slaughtered within two years no freedom for the cows , they are controlled 24/7 until they get slaughtered. We all like hamburgers, steak, carne asada and ribs . Thanks to the bulls and cows we have that tradition in food. Remember if you want steak, chicken , pork , bird or fish , you have to kill it. The bull dies in honor in the bullring. By the way you can not keep a bull as a pet or in a zoo.Bulls charge at you and will kill you .
ReplyDelete