Actually I was planning to write something related to birthday, but there were two interesting movies on the TV, so I just put down my pen and started watching :-). The movies were ブタのいた教室 (English title: Schooldays with a Pig) and ブルータスの心臓 (Brutus' Heart - a mystery drama based on Higashino Keigo's work). Since both movies were shown in the same time, I had to choose one, and the pig won over the mystery... :-)
About the movie: the story revolved around six-grade elementary school kids, whose teacher brought them a pig, and tell them to raise her and eat her by the end of the academic year. You might think it was cruel, but the teacher wanted to teach them the importance of food, and life that comes with it. The kids gladly took the assignment, named the pig 'P-chan' and took care of her as if she was their pet. Even though some problems arose (like some parents who thought that the pig caused troubles), the kids spent a year full of good memories with her, and when it looked like they would live happily ever after, the day when they have to eat P-chan was coming.
As you could already have guessed, days spent with P-chan nurtured emotional bonding between them, it was so strong that some of the kids said that they didn't want to slaughter and eat her. However, they didn't know what to do with her if they graduate and leave the school - P-chan couldn't be left like that without no one to take care of her. The teacher let the kids decide for themselves, and despite there were other alternatives such as giving P-chan to third graders to look after (the third graders already said that they wanted to have P-chan), arguments still stood between them. Some thought that they shouldn't give away P-chan to the third graders ("We're the one who started this out, so we're the one who have to take care of P-chan till the end - even if it means that we have to eat her now" or "Leaving P-chan to the third graders will eventually put them in our position by the time they have to graduate. Are you saying that you're gonna run away from your responsibility and let the third graders decide for you what should be done with P-chan ?"), while others said that they should not slaughter and eat P-chan ("Is the purpose of P-chan's life just to be eaten?" or "I don't think that it is our right to decide when will she has to die").
It was a good story about life, and since the kids were only given partial script for what they had to say in the movie - which made most of their lines were originally theirs - it was interesting to see how they thought about the issues.
I won't spoil you the fun by telling you how did the movie end, but like the teacher said to the kids, there's no right or wrong in their decision - and it also applies to you. Either you decide to become vegetarian after seeing the movie, or whether you think that human was created as omnivore and should live the way it is, it's up to you to choose. The movie just wanted to tell you that there were life in our everyday foods - so it's better to be grateful and not waste it for nothing.
