an activist instead of an inactivist

After having the movie “The Cove” in my possession for weeks, I finally took it out of its Netflix envelope and slipped into my laptop this week. I knew I was going to love the movie I just am usually more in the mood for a romantic comedy or something mindless. So, I did it, I committed myself to watching it and I was immediately fully engaged. I remember when I was in high school my mother, aunt and cousins took a road trip from Cincinnati to Chicago. They all wanted to go to the Chicago Aquarium, but I knew they had a dolphin tank so I refused to go in. My mom said I was just making a fuss, but I got physically ill at the idea of those beautiful beings stuck in a little pool. It seemed like such a sad life. So, they went in and I slept in my Aunt's van the entire day, trying to sleep away the nausea.

Today, where I live I get to see dolphins often and each time I stop in my tracks to watch their magnificence. How dare anyone take them out of this environment? I get to watch them surf 15 feet waves and jump out at the end. How can anyone take that joy away from him or her? So the movie really touched my heart. I want to be active in this fight. In the movie, someone says, “you are either an activist or an inactivist”. I sure don’t want to be an inactivist. What can I do? Sign me up! That night I had nightmares of dolphins bleeding, it was horrible. I cannot remember the last time that I had a scary dream. Waking up afraid isn’t very fun, but at least it made me more passionate about making a difference.

The week went along and I forgot about my wanting to make a difference in stopping dolphin slaughter. I just got up to other things as we do in this busy world. On Sunday, I met up with my friend, Jackson, for a good ole afternoon hang. When I picked him up to go to UCLA for a screening of May I Be Frank, he mentioned that he was invited to an Environmentalist's BBQ get together in Bel-Air. Since we will be close to there, maybe we can swing by? So we went to the screening and I coerced him and my other friends to dine at the nearby Native Foods, because I had been craving it for months! We finished lunch and I asked if he still wanted to hit up the Bel-Air thing, so we headed over. We walk in to the house and what do you know Ric O'Barry, the Flipper dolphin trainer who is the lead crusader in shutting down The Cove was speaking! Amazing!

When he finished talking, everyone got up to mingle as the party was winding down. Jackson struck up a conversation with Ric before and talked with him about helping to get the movie up on a website so that everyone can watch it for free. Ric doesn't care about the movie making money. He wants more people to see it. He wants more awareness. I start to mingle and as most everyone else there is of an older generation, they mention to me that Ric is planning on amassing a group of people to go to the cove in Japan in September, the next planned hunting session. He wants people to just be there and be in the water and on the beach, not to protest, just to be there. In hopes that the Japanese will not carry out their killing spree in front of so many tourists. Immediately, I say I am in! I don’t care what this will cost me. I will be there. I am in! I signed up to volunteer locally as well. I am being active.

http://www.takepart.com/thecove/