Re: It's a different culture
monotone said:
Bullfighting is a romantic epilogue to a long tradition in a different country. It is meant to symbolize the struggle between simple good in Earth and the ever powerful evil. In that culture a matador is equated to a holy-warrior who is willing to give himself (or herself now days) in the name of the Holy Virgin Mary.
The taunting of the bull represents the religious scorn and hatred to temptation. The killing of the bull is meant to reflect the triumph of religious faith vs. perdition. That is why the ears, tail and head of the bull are presented to the Holy Lady when the carnage is done.
Is it cruel? Yes. Is it meaningful? To some… not to you.
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Equate that to having a high-powered rifle against a deer.
The way you describe it is very romantic. Watching it live is less appealing. When we were in Spain this summer we toured the bull rings and watched a couple bull fights. I had a romantic notion about it before... NOT anymore.
First, in the oldest bullring in Spain 2 matadors have died. Every bullfight kills 6 bulls.
They always spoke of the danger involved, but what I saw was not very dangerous.
First.... a guy on a very large horse (sheilded in armor and blindfolded so he wouldn't spook) comes into the ring and stabs the bulls shoulders with a couple spikes. These appeared to be hollow to slowly bleed out the animal.
Then the Pic guys came in and approached the bull stabbing it with the barbed picks. These guys are around livestock and bulls their whole life. They know what a bull can and can't do when it's moving.
Then they run the bull around to tucker him out before the matador comes in... His legs are soooo thin and the embroidery is conveniently similar in colour to the sand of the ring. The bull is wired to movement. When the cape moves and the bullfighter is totally still except for his arm there isn't much the bull can see.
And again these guys are raised around these animals. They know what they can do. The end, when the bull gets the sword is quick when done right. Very bloody and very painful to the bull when not. And the margin of error is very small.
In my opinion the romance is a poor excuse for the cruelty. In the south of Spain (Mijas Costa, Benalmadina, Malaga) they have bullfights every Sunday for the Brit tourists. Six bulls per venue 52 weeks a year. Very few bullfighters going down. Very noble?!?
The only good that has come from bullfighting is the preservation of the genome of that massive bull with no other purpose. Without breeding for the bulls this genome would have been reduced/removed from the fields long ago.
