Controversy around the movie A Dog's Purpose

[Catherine]

The controversy rages on.

http://news.google.ca/news/url?sr=1&ct2=...t=2&at=dt0


The various actors have spoken out.

https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&...D_ZegDHpNw

I wonder how edited the video is then.

I don't know about you, but I am a bit confused. It still seems like  a good movie that will do a lot of good.

[LPC]

This is an update:
http://www.theverge.com/2017/2/4/1450880...aked-video
and
http://www.nme.com/news/film/dogs-purpos...ed-1967604

It is far from clear, as the report has not been publicly published yet, but it would seem that not only were the two separate sessions of video joined to appear as happening on the same occasion, but each was also altered in some way. We will need to see the actual report to be sure.

[Catherine]

I always had my doubts. There were too many people involved in the making of the movie who care about animals. That is why they made the movie.

It is too easy to edit and alter pictures and video.

I am glad that this is being cleared up, but I wonder why someone would do this.
Of course they may have made money from the faked video. That would be sad. I wonder if they will ever know.

[LPC]

It could be commercial sabotage by another company, as this film was predicted to be "very big bucks", as the Americans say. It could be a disgruntled ex-employee. It could be comeone creating a very controversial YT video to make money from "click-bait". Sadly, we may never know because of the option to remain anonymous on YT.

The original YT video was posted by TMZ, an organisation which makes money from scandal (just a look at its YT channel shows how it makes money from clicks). It has not revealed who gave it the original video.

[Tobi]

That is an interesting angle, LPC. And may well be what was going on...
There are all sorts of dirty tricks where "big bucks" are involved.
We may never know exactly what happened. But I do hope we find out.

[Catherine]

I suspect it was a money making scheme. It was timed to come out as the movie came so it could ride on the movies publicity.
Everyone knows that anything to do with animals gets big publicity. The ones who did this could count on many hits and it did go viral. I am sure they made money off it.  All they had to do was edit some video and time it right.

I doubt we will ever know who did this.
Fortunately the movie has still done well. I think it presents dogs in a good light and that is a good thing. Definitely I want to see it.

[Libby]

I saw the videos when they surfaced. The fishy part is all that happen at least a year before it was even leaked. I know it's being looked into and while I think the trainer needs some serious reprimanding in dog handling, it's clear the dog was in no harm.

One of the first things directors are told is, "don't work with kids or animals." Reason being they have days they don't want to do what you are asking despite having done it a thousand times before. This video is a prime example.

[Catherine]

I came across an article that says the movie has been cleared of any of the accusations of animal abuse.

http://news.google.ca/news/url?sr=1&ct2=...t=2&at=dt0

I had my doubts because of the timing of the video.  You notice I posted that there is a controversy around the movie. I didn't say the movie had done anything wrong.

[brennac]

Thanks for bringing up this topic. The controversy surrounding A Dog’s Purpose is undeserved. I recommend checking this article out for full coverage on the controversy, where it came from, and what the facts are: https://valoso.com/blog/dogs-purpose-video/

There are countless questionable aspects to this so-called “abuse” video. The article I mentioned earlier outlines them all in more detail, but I’ll just provide a quick overview here:

• The video is edited actually two clips edited into one. The edit completely warps the context of both clips. The first clip shows the nervous German Shepherd being coaxed into, but not entering, the pool. After the incident, investigators determined that the dog was never forced into the pool after it was coaxed to enter. The second, shows the German Shepherd after he had willingly entered the pool. Even the title of this controversial video, “German Shepherd forced into turbulent water,” is erroneous.
  
• The part where the dog’s head is submerged underwater was an accident. The media hyping up every mistake made by celebrities is nothing new. Nobody on the set of A Dog’s Purpose is denying that this was an accident; it never should have happened and nobody expected it to happen. Safety precautions were very obviously taken to protect the dog.
  
• The dog had done this stunt comfortably several times before. The reason why the dog was nervous to enter the pool in the first clip is not because he was unfamiliar with or afraid of the water stunt. Rather, this video shows the first time that the German Shepherd was attempting the stunt from the right side of the pool, when all of his previous rehearsals had been performed from the more familiar left side of the pool.
  
• The video was not released for almost a year and a half. Vice President of PETA stated, “PETA asks whether ‘A Dog’s Purpose’ was written from the heart or just to make a buck.” However, circumstances show that the controversial “abuse” video was the one created just to make money. This video was filmed in October of 2015 but released on January 2017. If the person who filmed the video was actually concerned for the safety of the dog, he would have released the video as soon as it was filmed. Instead, many people suspect it was sold to TMZ to disrupt the film’s release—and it did.
  
• Producer Gavin Palone is an animal lover. Sadly, his years of work struggling to adapt W. Bruce Cameron’s book into a movie have suffered all because of a video that distorts reality. Just read his testimony in the article yourself and determine whether or not his intentions as a film producer are true.
  
• It’s TMZ that released this video—not a reliable source. Just like thousands of other news sources, TMZ is known for taking advantage of the media to excite and shock viewers. This is not a bash on TMZ; however, any information from this source is simply not reliable, and this “abuse” video is no exception.
  
• There is no animal abuse shown in the video. Animal abuse is defined as “intentional infliction by humans of suffering or harm upon any non-human animal.” The German Shepherd in the video was never thrown into the water or abused in any other manner. With A Dog’s Purpose, American Humane Association affirms that “No animals were harmed in the making of this film.”
  

I hope this helps answer your question! Trust me, I’m not biased here. When I first heard the news, I was disturbed and set my heart on boycotting the movie as PETA suggested. However, after actually watching the video, reading statements by the producer and actors, and looking at the facts about the video’s release, I realized the invalidity of any controversy the video brought up. I recommend checking out the article to see for yourself

[LPC]

A warm welcome to the forum! If you look back over the posts on this thread, you will see that we had already discussed many of the points you raise. However, your blog raises the issues in much greater detail, and thank you for that.

There is just one small point I think that you should have made clear in your post above: that the link to the article you have given is to one which you wrote yourself. This is you, is it not?: https://valoso.com/blog/author/brenna

That is fine, but I think if you give a link to your own article, that needs to be clear. Once again, welcome and thank you! I hope that you will become an active member of this forum. We need people like you.