The Good, the Bad, and the Cuddly’ exposes the torture of declawing cats, just to protect furniture
While many people are stuck on their phones and computers watching cute cat videos, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee Correspondent, Amy Hoggart, is exposing the real risks of declawing cats in American cats: the good, the bad and the cute (part of the Hot Docs Festival 2024). It really makes you wonder if protecting furniture justifies torturing animals.
While this may seem extreme, that is the case with this documentary. By exploring this controversial practice, American cats: the good, the bad includes conversations with cat lovers, cat owners, veterinarians and more, exposing the billions of dollars this controversial procedure raises for veterinarians in the US. A procedure that only serves to protect furniture.
“I think we will always look for the absurd in the world, and so hearing about the history of recitation was our entry point,” said director Todd Bieber. Yahoo Canada. “But we also knew… no one wants to watch a 90-minute film about declamation.”
“We’re practiced at making topics that are really difficult to discuss, hopefully fun and enjoyable, and entertaining, and not feel preachy.”
“I was really interested in the characters in the film,” Hoggart added. “The bad guys, the good guys, there are eccentric people and everyone loves cats, and I wanted to do something that was really interesting from a human point of view too, so that people would just want to watch.”
Declaiming conscience can be funny
While much of the information we are exposed to in Hoggart’s film is alarming, there is a particular success to this film in how incredibly funny it is also. It really strikes that perfect balance where the more serious, sometimes even horrific, moments are combined with really funny conversations and moments.
“We do a lot of research in advance and that research includes the facts, the boring facts, but also what people’s responses are to those facts,” Bieber explained. “So we gathered [we’re like], ‘They’ll probably say this and ask that, I wonder what we can say in response?’ And then we discussed it.”
“This goes back to our Full Front days, but we usually spent three hours the night before just running through the ideas, and what’s great is that Amy is one of the best, if not the best improviser. …So Amy, because we’re so prepared with everything else, can start working on new things.
Hoggart added that during the editing process is when jokes can be removed that they may not have even noticed before.
Part of this great comedy is also due to the impeccable choices made by the participants of the American cats: the good, the bad and the cute. It really comes down to the fact that there are so many interesting cats and cat people in the world, including a cat influencer, a naval historian, an anarchist, someone who lives in an apartment with 18 feral cats, people with incredibly different politics, and lifestyles, but everyone loves cats.
‘Everywhere you look there are people thinking about money’
But ultimately American cats: the good, the bad and the cute exposes the capitalist and financial aspect of cat declawing that continues in the USA. But it’s also worth noting that in Canada, Ontario still allows the practice of declamation.
“There are a lot of very important issues in this world, many of them are rooted in capitalism,” Bieber said.
“Late-stage capitalism is clipping claws and making the people who are supposed to protect animals look more at the bottom line than the health of cats. … This goes back to absurdity. This is stupid.”
“You break it down, people want to protect the furniture, the properties they bought. But also, vets are making money from this and they want to protect their income,” Hoggart added. “And the AVMA [American Veterinary Medical Association] I want to protect veterinarians’ income in general by making sure the laws protect it.”
“Everywhere you look there are people thinking about money. So there’s no way around that. It would be extremely dishonest and not emphasize that point.”
