To start off with I have to say that I loved this movie. It made me laugh, it made me cry but at the end of the day some very serious issues were brought to light in a very creative way. This made me very excited to see the ALF portrayed in a positive light.
The movie starts with Lucy, the CEO of the Mirando Corporation, a company that is fooling the masses with a marketing campaign into believing the company is “eco friendly, all natural, and non-gmo”. Lucy resembles Cruella Deville combined with a game show host. The Mirando Corporation has created a “Super Pig” that it says is going to solve the world’s hunger problems.
The company created 12 different GMO pigs and sent them around the world making in a competition to raise the best pig. She lied to the public and said they were non-gmo and all natural.
One of these Super Pigs was Okja. I immediately fell in love with Okja. The bond between Mija her caretaker and Okja is a beautiful bond, they are each other’s best friend and Okja looks out Mija and saves her from danger on quite a few occasions. It is clear that these two will do anything for each other. What I loved about this movie most was we see that Okja clearly has emotions just as Mija and everyone else does, this was beautifully captured, in a way that most animal lovers can relate to and understand.
When the Mirando corporation took Okja away, Mija ran away from home to find her and bring her back home. While she was trying to free Okja she crosses paths with the Animal Liberation Front (ALF). They are trying to do the same exact thing and of course their operation was well thought out and very helpful to Mija who was just following her instincts trying to do whatever it took to get Okja free.
When meeting Mija, Jay and the other members of the ALF explain to her who they are and that they are not going to harm anyone and in fact for over forty years the ALF has never harmed any humans or nonhumans when liberating animals. The portrayal of the Animal Liberation Front in this movie was of a bunch of lovable, intelligent, compassionate and quirky characters. The ALF was organized, prepared and at every step was always making sure they did no harm. And they did some pretty bad ass computer hacking that was pretty AMAZING. I have to add this part because it does portray how serious the ALF is about always doing what is right for the animals. At one point in the movie the translator named “K” betrayed the rest of the team by lying to them, causing Jay who is the leader of this ALF group, to become extremely angry because he violated the group’s trust and Mija’s wishes by disrespecting the ALF and its credo. At this point I’ll let you guess what happened to him.
In some of this movie you see the realities and horrors of factory farming. A look behind the scenes that nobody gets to see.There was live skin sampling of Okja taking painful samples from her, cooking them up and eating it. There was a lot of poking, pushing, electrical prodding, shoving animals into small spaces and the worst was the mopping up of pools of blood. The one thing that should stop any human with a beating heart from eating pigs is the fight for their lives that they put up right before they are brought into be slaughtered. The look of horrifying fear in their eyes, the bolt gun to the head and then nothing. Things no one wants to see, things we all look away from, things that would make us cry.
SPOILER ALERT: At the end of the movie you see Okja & Mija leave the factory farm passing all the other Super Pigs. One tiny piglet is nudged out by the larger ones in an attempt to save his life. It was so tiny Okja put him in her mouth and took the little piglet with her. The rest were left behind. It was a bittersweet scene.
This is reality. Will this movie change anyone? Will this movie connect the dots to factory farming and animal cruelty? I hope so.
The ALF in the end of this movie continues on their mission just as they always will, protecting those that cannot speak for themselves and the helpless. The are always working ceaselessly until all the cages are empty.
If you feel helpless and want to do something share this movie, run showings at your home, library, school or recreation center. Start this conversation, in anyway you can. Factory farming is real and horrific, the animals need us all, they are all suffering.
Aimee — www.vegezy.com