It is obviously innate in Man to indulge in violence and gore. Added with their past history from their time in the caves, what better way to show their domination than having an organised exhibition of Man against the beast. After all, the show of gladiators against each other had proved boring; too much of emotions involved.
Their duel with the king of the jungle proved futile too. It seems that the King of the Jungle dominates us in the arena as well. Men were dying like, err... not flies but helpless sacrificial lambs. Maybe, the slaves and the piny Christians were too docile in the Roman era.
They then ventured into bulls. The idea of raging bulls against a man provoking it with a provocative red flag suddenly became exciting. Who cares if bulls are colour blind? After all, they would be agitated by eyes glazed with paraffin and intoxications. After that, the slain meat would be sold off in the spirit of reverie.
Hence started the practice of bullfighting; a lopsided staged duel between Man and Beast. In the concrete jungle, Man is deluded to think he is superior. In the wild, however, he is naked as a newborn calf. He does not know that.
Their duel with the king of the jungle proved futile too. It seems that the King of the Jungle dominates us in the arena as well. Men were dying like, err... not flies but helpless sacrificial lambs. Maybe, the slaves and the piny Christians were too docile in the Roman era.
They then ventured into bulls. The idea of raging bulls against a man provoking it with a provocative red flag suddenly became exciting. Who cares if bulls are colour blind? After all, they would be agitated by eyes glazed with paraffin and intoxications. After that, the slain meat would be sold off in the spirit of reverie.
Hence started the practice of bullfighting; a lopsided staged duel between Man and Beast. In the concrete jungle, Man is deluded to think he is superior. In the wild, however, he is naked as a newborn calf. He does not know that.
The success of the bullfight made him take the terror one step further. Why not let a few bulls run wild in the streets in the name of tradition?
This whole business of bullfighting is not all foolhardy and blatant cruelty to the hapless animals. The upside of this exercise is that it helps to identify strong bulls to mate females to produce resilient offspring and to spur the meat and possibly dairy industry. At least this is the experience in Tamil Nadu and their justification for continuing jalli kaatu.
In Spain, however, the idea of a horseman able to control a raging bull made a lot of sense to train soldiers to excel in cavalry as was the hallmark of a strong army in Europe those days. Over the years, the setting changed from that of a gentleman on a horse to that of a matador that we are familiar with. Anyway, like an opiate, it kept the masses happy whilst the royal family and the church did their work.
P.S. Looks like religious zealots are filling the gaps left by society’s reservations on the cruelty of animals with offenders of shariah law. They are looking at avenues to showcase their barbaric punishments. Though the display would not be as gory, is humiliating enough for the downtrodden, for those with holier than thou attitude, it would be satisfying.
Beast sometimes gets vengeance. Legend has it that the matador was all in cloud nine when he thought that the creature that he had skewered was dead. He was bowing to the applause when the dying bull pounced upon his back to gore him dead. One point for the beast.
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This whole business of bullfighting is not all foolhardy and blatant cruelty to the hapless animals. The upside of this exercise is that it helps to identify strong bulls to mate females to produce resilient offspring and to spur the meat and possibly dairy industry. At least this is the experience in Tamil Nadu and their justification for continuing jalli kaatu.
In Spain, however, the idea of a horseman able to control a raging bull made a lot of sense to train soldiers to excel in cavalry as was the hallmark of a strong army in Europe those days. Over the years, the setting changed from that of a gentleman on a horse to that of a matador that we are familiar with. Anyway, like an opiate, it kept the masses happy whilst the royal family and the church did their work.
P.S. Looks like religious zealots are filling the gaps left by society’s reservations on the cruelty of animals with offenders of shariah law. They are looking at avenues to showcase their barbaric punishments. Though the display would not be as gory, is humiliating enough for the downtrodden, for those with holier than thou attitude, it would be satisfying.
Man tries to dominate ©FG
Plaza De Toro ©FG
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