The movie “A Dog’s Purpose” is about the reincarnation of a dog and the bond he creates with his human owners. When I first saw the trailer, I was hooked. I love dogs and I thought this movie was going to be amazing. People were talking about this movie and how they could not wait for it to come out. But on Jan. 18, 2017, TMZ leaked a video showing the treatment of a German Shepherd on the set of this movie. TMZ titled their article “Terrified German Shepherd Forced Into Turbulent Waters” (Source: TMZ.com).     

The video shows a dog being supposedly pushed into rapid waters for a scene in the movie. Many people, myself included, were outraged by the video. We were all too quick to judge and assumed the people in the video were abusing the dog. However, I honestly believe we jumped to conclusions before knowing all the facts. The source, TMZ, is not really a reliable source and we do not know the full story behind the video we saw. We only saw part of what really happened.   

To start off, TMZ is not a strong source for true reliable information. TMZ is known for posting violent and negative videos about people and then shaming them. TMZ was the one that leaked the video and all the news sources had only TMZ’s video. After doing a little more research I found out that the original video was from TMZ and they were the first and only source that somehow got the video and leaked it.

I do believe that we were all too quick to assume it was dog abuse because most of us do not know how they treat and train the dogs or animals in the film industry. Also, technology and editing in general, have become so advanced which makes creating fake videos much easier. We do not know what truly happened because we did not see the full scene. We were only provided with the part labeled “abusive,” which means there was definitely more to the scene than what we saw on the video. This worries me because the public can’t discern the truth, and therefore people saying negative comments about the movie could be wrong; the leaked video could be fake.

There were dog trainers on the set who had been practicing with the dogs to make sure they are ready for the scene. The American Humane Association is an organization that helps and makes sure animals on film sets are well taken care of. A representative of the American Humane Association stated “the video was misleading and edited” (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/25/arts/a-dogs-purpose-abuse-video-scandal.html?_r=0).

There are three sides to the story: the producer’s side, the viewer’s side, and the truth. The producer’s side is their morals and what they believe is abuse or not. The viewer’s side is what they see, hear, and listen to on the internet and social media. Lastly, the truth is what actually happened and what people may or may not be hiding.  

When it comes to what is true and what is edited, we cannot tell the difference unless we see it with our own eyes. This a problem because we do not know who is telling the truth. Most people trust these leaked videos, but I believe we should not because videos can be manipulated.  

I think if people want to watch the movie, they should go ahead and watch it. When watching videos online, no one knows for sure if they’re real or edited, and we must be skeptical. In the end, it is all up to the audience whether they watch the movie or not. No one is really sure if the trainers harmed the dogs or not. However, we shouldn’t let other people’s assumptions affect our choices.