Thursday, November 11, 2010

Dog gender

Here's a quick question for you guys.

SPOILERS FOR I AM LEGEND TO FOLLOW.

In I Am Legend, Robert Neville has a dog named Sam. Part way through the film we learn that Sam is short for Samantha. It completely changes how we perceive the dog at that moment. I, for one, cried harder at her death, and I'm not the only one.

Why? Why does it make such a difference that the dog is a girl?


[edited to add: This is more of a philosophical question than one looking for a finite answer.]

13 comments:

  1. Anonymous12:47 PM

    I was visting some friends in high rise complex. It's a bad part of town and everyone has dogs for protection.

    The Rottweilers I met were intense and very tough and they were all male. The looked like the Alpha male to a T.

    All the single women in the Apartment bought male guard dogs. Why is that?

    And in ths same apartment met a stripper who had 2 male pitbulls.
    Most stripper I think would go with male dogs.

    Does this help with your question.

    PA

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  2. My pitbull is a girl. People are still scared of her.

    How many strippers live in one apartment building?

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  3. Anonymous3:15 PM

    Good question Emily,

    In my single life I used to frequent lots of strip clubs, all kinds. It was the thing to do.

    After 2 marriages and one divorce, I still think of my crazy years and frankly, I cherish them.

    To answer the question, it depends on what area or zone(!) you are talking about. There are lots of competition in strip clubs.

    Most cannot maintain condos or houses on a long term level, the mental stress catches up to them. So they rent, less stress.

    I knew 4 strippers who lived in an off downtown apartment. The rooms were spacious and clean and nice.

    They loved pitbulls but were attracted to simple, gullable and charitable guys. I swear one guy looked like Garth Brooks but had a feminine voice and 100 times Ghandi-like (with a little of Mother Teresa). Without blinking he would give her batches of $100 dollar bills.

    I know, makes me wonder.

    Hope this helps.

    In conclusion, most female strippers love male dogs, but only aggressive dogs like Pitbulls etc.

    PA

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  4. Y'know, it does make a difference. Not sure if it's because our expectations were undermined, leaving us with more unsteady feelings...or if it's because it makes it seem less like a man and his working dog and more like a "relationship." (Though there's no logic in that. Female dogs are meaner and can still hunt.)

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  5. Christopher6:52 PM

    It's because in that moment, Sam became a stand-in for his wife. Symbolism.

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  6. It didn't make a difference for me. I didn't like the movie, and that didn't make me like it or dislike it any more.

    That scene just annoyed the shit out of me.

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  7. Good points, Christopher and Laura. I wonder if he didn't have a wife or kid, would we have felt the same way?

    Matt, that does not surprise me in the least.

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  8. Haven't seen movie, but have noticed a certain poignancy that accompanies discovering truths, passions, loves, etc., of beloved folk after they pass, things we didn't know that expand our notion of that person in some deeply touching way. That'd be my guess re "Samantha".

    And that she now serves even more clearly as proxy for Neville's family makes total sense, making it all even sadder.

    And ack, they killed a dog. They broke the rule (or is it just my cardinal rule?). (Still haven't forgiven Futurama, though Matt Groening will always and forever remain on our "always invited to dinner" list.)

    And you're a dog sap, Emily Blake! May many extra zippy squirrels grace your pooch's day today.

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  9. Anonymous12:54 PM

    Didn't make a diff to me. Felt bad for the dog, but never really thought about what sex it was.

    You may not like this part, but please don't take it as an attack or judgment as it isn't, but if the dog had been a pit, male or female, I would've cared less about it... which is weird because I actually feel sorry for any pit I see as I don't think they should exist -- they are mixed-up little monsters, ticking time bombs that serve no present day need. Everybody says that's on bad owner -- but same goes for guns too, except that guns aren't living things.

    I hope this doesn't come across wrong, because I actually do feel bad for pits, just don't think any more should be born.

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  10. Hey Anonymous asshole, please don't take this the wrong way because I mean it with the best of intentions, but I think your mother should have had her tubes tied before you were born.

    Go fuck yourself.

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  11. Anonymous, do you base all your opinions on over-blown media hype?

    Then you must know that men are dangerous, mixed up creatures. They attack and even kill people every day.

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  12. Anonymous7:49 AM

    Sorry you feel that way even though the STATISTICS support my point. Again, I feel bad for pits, it's people that genetically engineered them that way through years of breeding. And while any dog can go bad, pits have a higher propensity to do so. I'm not suggesting they all be put down, just that no more be brought into the world.

    I don't know/care why you like pits but too many ignorant people choose pits for the same reason they pick a sports car or crotch rocket, and those are the "good ones." The bad ones choose pits for the same reason as Mike Vick.

    I feel the same way about cute as hell fat little bulldogs. They have tons of health issues and generally die young because humans have bred them into a form that cannot sustain itself.

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  13. Don't "feel bad" for my dog, you little weasel. She's just fine. Dog aggression was bred into the breed, and it can be bred out. Ever been bitten by a pit? My money's on NO. And if you came to my house, my pit would not bite you. She'd only want to play. Me, on the other hand, well, I would most likely beat your ass.

    Get the fuck off my blog.

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