But Does the Dog Die?
That an entire website is devoted to warning audiences about onscreen dog deaths proves our intense bond with animals.
When someone tells me about their favorite movie (or book), I can’t help but ask the following:
Does the dog die?
Many viewers are prompted to ask this question — so many, in fact, that an entire website has been dedicated to the answer.
Does The Dog Die is a database in which users can type in the name of a movie or television series and find a list of triggers, and often time stamps, for the potentially offensive material. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Animal death (dogs, cats, horses, rabbits, and so on)
- Child abuse
- Dismemberment
- Needles
- Teeth
- Sexual assault
- Gore
Some moviegoers avoid sensitive content because it genuinely bothers them, while others avoid it simply because they do not find it entertaining to watch.
“But it’s fiction,” fans might argue. “It isn’t real.”
That’s true. But the emotional distress that may occur in response to our viewing that material — like nightmares, anxiety, or nausea—is very real.
If animals are killed in a movie, especially in a violent or gruesome way, I have a tendency to avoid them.
There are exceptions, of course: The Conjuring (2013) and Secret Window (2004) to name two. But in such movies, the moments are predictable. And now, we have the ability to fast-forward through content at will.
Some movies that contain triggers are still worth watching. But these scenes are often unnecessary — used for shock value or emotional appeal — and usually detract from the value of the film.
The fact that there is an entire website called Does the Dog Die proves that millions of people have a meaningful bond with animals. A bond so strong that the mere idea of harm coming to a member of their species—even fictionalized — heightens their anxiety.
Those of you who understand this concept will nod, and perhaps you’ve already bookmarked the website to explore at a later date.
Those of you who do not understand why some viewers avoid onscreen animal deaths will ask, perhaps in a mocking tone…
“Why?”
Let’s answer that question.
Why Avoid Onscreen Animal Deaths?
According to Dr. Stanley Coren, one reason some viewers avoid onscreen animal deaths is because of how they understand dogs. For example,
“We are more likely to feel empathy for a victim if we consider them to be helpless and unable to look after themselves, much like an infant or toddler, and we view dogs in the same way — ultimately defenseless and requiring assistance.”
Most people respond with anger or disgust when a child is killed or abused onscreen because it’s not entertaining. It’s disturbing. If it is essential to the plot, though, sometimes audiences can get on board, e.g., The Walking Dead, The Hunger Games.
But the bottom line is that, for many of us, animals are like children.
Dogs are innocent and naïve, and even though we as audience members know that the humans are acting, it is far more difficult to believe that the animal actor is acting voluntarily or without abuse.
We see a dead dog, we feel as though there is a dead dog.
Not to mention, there are numerous films out there in which genuine animal abuse occurred. (Warning: clicking on these links may spoil your favorite childhood films.)
Despite our empathy for injured, abused, or suffering animals, there is often a disconnect when we see the same happen to a human being on the screen.
There are several ways to explain this phenomenon:
- The disconnect could be attributed to “the collapse of compassion.” Amy Gardner describes it as “the psychological principle which tells us that the more tragedy we see, the less we care.” When we empathize with a dog or a person in a movie, that empathy is usually limited to a handful of characters. But when there is mass slaughter like in Zombieland (2009) or The Lord of the Rings (2001), we care less.
- The human brain is wired to focus on human survival, not on human death. Ian Sample explains, “the brain shields us from existential fear by categorizing death as an unfortunate event that only befalls other people.” In other words, when we see other humans die onscreen, we disassociate ourselves from that experience because we view it as separate from ourselves. Survival instincts, in a nutshell.
- We are not naturally inclined to trust other people. Jessica Wozinsky believes “[h]umans have to individually earn our trust, but pets get our compassion when we first encounter them.” This suggests that there is a complex relationship between ourselves and other human beings — something beyond a simple “friend or foe” — and for our animal friends, this complexity is often stripped away.
Still, for the eyes of the empathetic—the “dog moms” and “cat dads” of the world—the reasons spurring the phenomenon are less relevant than the truth we take away from it:
Life is precious. We recognize it, and we want to protect it.
And even though we can’t fix or avoid all of the ugliness in the world, we can at least avoid content in the entertainment industry that makes us uncomfortable, because, with Does the Dog Die, we have the ability to obtain that information in advance.
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