History Main / SqueamishAboutSlaughter

!!Examples

[[AC: Anime and Manga]]

[[AC: Comic Books]]

[[AC: {{Film}}]]

[[AC: {{Literature}}]]
* The {{Literature/Animorphs}} series examines this trope from an unusual angle as the series features a group of human kids who have the power to transform into various kinds of animals. When the team morphs into cows to infiltrate a slaughterhouse in book 28, Ax meditates at length on the horrors they witness firsthand. In the end, though, everyone still goes out for burgers, because hey, meat tastes awesome! The book in question was actually ghostwritten by a vegan author, who intended to end it with the human characters becoming vegans. K. A. Applegate disapproved of this, and, declaring herself to be ArmedWithCanon, wrote in the aforementioned ending with the cast eating burgers.

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]

[[AC: [[PhilosophyTropes Philosophy]]]]

[[AC: VideoGames]]

[[AC: WesternAnimation]]

** In “Lisa the Vegetarian”, Lisa's class is shown [[https://youtu.be/zR_4h5A5z_A?t=60 an educational film]] about the food chain. In the film, a student becomes visibly distraught after being taken on a tour of a meat-packing plant by the host.

-->'''Cowboy:''' Don't let the name throw you, Jimmy. [[BaitAndSwitchComment It's not really a floor, it's more of a steel grating that allows material to sluice through so it can be collected and exported]].
** In "Oh Brother, Where Bart Thou?", Homer and Lisa watch a cheesy ''Food Network''-esque show about how candy is made. A simple inquiry on how gumdrops are made leads to an explanation that gelatin is processed from "only the sickest horses", cutting to a scene of [[LetsMeetTheMeat panicking, whinnying horses on a conveyor belt full of buzzsaws.]] They frantically change the channel, only to end up watching the Primetime Emmy awards. [[TakeThat They go back to watching the horses being slaughtered.]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'', Montana Max is running a meat factory. The other kids force him to watch an educational film where a goofy cartoon cow is forcibly fed into a meat grinder until he's raw hamburger. Max is so horrified that he puts his factory in reverse, [[RuleOfFunny reverting the meat back into live animals.]]

-->''"Now, don't be like that, Kirsty. Where did you think meat came from?"p

* In ''Series/{{Taxi}}'', the male cabbies go camping in the mountains and end up starving and snowbound. By luck, a wild turkey wanders into their cabin.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode “Lisa the Vegetarian”, Lisa's class is shown [[https://youtu.be/zR_4h5A5z_A?t=60 an educational film]] about the food chain. In the film, a student becomes visibly distraught after being taken on a tour of a meat-packing plant by the host.

* ''LightNovel/AscendanceOfABookworm'' is a ReincarnateInAnotherWorld story in which a bookworm from modern-day Japan dies and regains awareness as the five year old daughter of a poor family in a MedievalEuropeanFantasy. This happens in late autumn, when the family is in the middle of stocking up on meat for the winter. This results in the protagonist being brought along to places where animals are being butchered in plain sight for the first time and responding with FaintInShock. She gets used to it to an extent later on.

* Subverted in ''Film/APerfectGetaway''. Cydney and Cliff are appear to be unnerved by Nick and Gina nonchalantly butchering a goat Nick hunted. [[spoiler:However, it is soon revealed that Cliff and Cyd are a pair of SerialKillers who have done MUCH worse things to other humans.]]

* In the Creator/JamesHerriot book ''It Shouldn't Happen To A Vet'', a truck driver regularly rears a pig in his garden for family consumption. Unfortunately, he tends to form an emotional bond with the pig, and ends up crying for three days straight when the time comes to kill it. At one point, a visitor observes Kit sobbing his eyes out while his wife and daughter busily chopping the animal up.

* In ''Literature/TheStand'', Mother Abigail needs to feed a large group of survivors and asks two of the men to take her to a neighboring farm that has a fattened pig. They help her butcher it, but end up too squeamish to eat dinner.

* The ''VideoGame/RuneScape'' quest "Bringing Home the Bacon" centers around a farmer's discover of pigs as an edible food source. The player character is quite uncomfortable with the idea of slaughtering pigs for food.

-->'''Cowboy:''' Don't let the name throw you, Jimmy. [[BaitAndSwitchComment It's not really a floor, it's more of a steel grating that allows material to sluice through so it can be collected and exported]].

* The {{Literature/Animorphs}} series examines this trope from an unusual angle as the series features a group of human kids who have the power to transform into various kinds of animals. When the team morphs into cows to infiltrate a slaughterhouse in book 28, Ax meditates at length on the horrors they witness firsthand. In the end, though, everyone still goes out for burgers, because hey, meat tastes awesome!
** The book in question was actually ghostwritten by a vegan author, who intended to end it with the human characters becoming vegans. K. A. Applegate disapproved of this, and, declaring herself to be ArmedWithCanon, wrote in the aforementioned ending with the cast eating burgers.

When these folks are faced with the gruesome reality of how a farm animal is converted into their meal, they will be disturbed or disgusted. If they are given the opportunity to witness it happen, they will be thoroughly traumatized. And if they are given the ''responsibility'' to perform the deed themselves, they will make an effort to shirk their assignment. The choice of converting to vegetarianism will definitely be considered.

When these folks are faced with the gruesome reality of how a farm animal is converted into their meal, they will be disturbed or disgusted. If they are given the opportunity to witness it happen, they will be thoroughly traumatized. And if they are given the ''responsibility'' to perform the deed themselves, they will make an effort to shirk their assignment.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode “Lisa the Vegetarian”, Lisa's class is shown [[https://youtu.be/zR_4h5A5z_A?t=60 an educational film]] about the food chain. In the film, a student becomes visibly distraught after being taken on a tour of a meatpacking plant by the host.

There are a multitude of ways a character can find themselves in this situation. Common examples include visiting a relative's [[DownOnTheFarm old-style farm]], or students learning about nutrition and the food chain.

* Downplayed in the first ''Literature/MagnusChaseAndTheGodsOfAsgard'' book, when the titular character, [[ActionGirl Sam]], and [[HandicappedBadass Hearthstone]] have to help Thor slaughter his [[ResurrectiveImmortality two goats that resurrect every day as long as the bones aren’t broken and put back in their pelts]] in order for them all to have a meal. Magnus finds the whole process pretty gross, but the great smell of the sizzling goat meat and his extreme hunger quickly helps him get over it.

* ''Manga/SilverSpoon:'' One of the realities that Yugo Hachiken has to accept when he decides to enroll in an agricultural-vocational high school is that the animals used for the practicums are sometimes slaughtered for meat. The first time he encounters this is when a third-year student nonchalantly beheads a chicken right in front of him in order to make smoked chicken as thanks for Hachiken and a couple of his friends helping him catch the chickens that got loose. Then Hachiken gets quickly attached to a runt pig he names Butadon despite knowing that he's destined for the slaughterhouse once he's three months old. The first sign that he's accepting this reality is when he's staying with Aki's family during summer break and [[DrivesLikeCrazy her grandfather accidentally kills a deer while driving his truck]]. When he decides to take advantage of the situation for free meat, he offers Hachiken the chance to butcher it; after a few minutes of hesitation and blindfolding the dead deer, he decides to do so with Aki’s grandfather guiding him through the process. Another sign that he accepts this reality is when he decides to buy the meat that Butadon will be turned into.

* Downplayed in the first ''Literature/MagnusChaseAndTheGodsOfAsgard'' book, when the titular character, [[ActionGirl Sam]], and [[HandicappedBadass Hearthstone]] have to help Thor slaughter his [[ResurrectiveImmortality two goats that resurrect every day as long as the bones aren’t broken and put back in their pelts]] in order for them to have a meal. Magnus finds the whole process pretty gross but the great smell of the sizzling goat meat quickly helps him get over it.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode “Lisa the Vegetarian”, Lisa's class is shown [[https://youtu.be/zR_4h5A5z_A?t=60 an educational film]] about the food chain. In the film, a student becomes visibly distraught after being taken on a tour of a meat packing plant by the host.
-->'''Cowboy:''' Come on Jimmy, lets take a look at the killing floor.

-->'''Cowboy:''' Don't let the name throw you Jimmy. [[BaitAndSwitchComment It's not really a floor, it's more of a steel grating]].

* When the butcher of the Greens & Grains wins two live cows in a [[AbsurdlyHighStakesGame poker game]] ''Series/TenItemsOrLess'', the employees are aghast at the manager's plan to hold a promotional slaughter in the store. He proceeds with the plan nonetheless, which involves sleeping with [[ObstructiveBureaucrat an inspector]] from the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Agriculture US Department of Agriculture]] to obtain the permits necessary to legally turn the animals into food.

* When the butcher of the Greens & Grains wins two live cows in a [[AbsurdlyHighStakesGame poker game]] ''Series/TenItemsOrLess'', the employees are aghast at his plan to hold a promotional slaughter in the store. This involves sleeping with [[ObstructiveBureaucrat an inspector]] from the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Agriculture US Department of Agriculture]] to obtain the permits necessary to legally turn the animals into food.

* In ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'', Rose's pet chicken goes missing at the same time that Sophia's sister Angela is visiting. When Angela lets slip that the chicken she cooked for dinner is from "the garage" where Rose kept the chicken, the girls are disgusted at the thought of eating Rose's beloved pet. [[spoiler: It turns out the chicken had escaped from its cage, and Angela was referring to the ''freezer'' in the garage.]]

* Downplayed in the first ''Literature/MagnusChaseAndTheGodsofAsgard'' book, when the titular character, [[ActionGirl Sam]], and [[HandicappedBadass Hearthstone]] have to help Thor slaughter his [[ResurrectiveImmortality two goats that resurrect every day as long as the bones aren’t broken and put back in their pelts]] in order for them to have a meal. Magnus finds the whole process pretty gross but the great smell of the sizzling goat meat quickly helps him get over it.

-->''"Now, don't be like that, Kirsty. Where did you think meat came from?"''
* Downplayed in the first Literature/MagnusChaseAndTheGodsOfAsguard book, when the titular character, [[ActionHero Sam]], and [[HandicappedBadass Hearthstone]] have to help Thor slaughter his [[ResurrectiveImmortality two goats that resurrect every day as long as the bones aren’t broken and put back in their pelts]] in order for them to have a meal. Magnus finds the whole process pretty gross but the great smell of the sizzling goat meat quickly helps him get over it.

* ''Manga/SilverSpoon:'' One of the realities that Yugo Hachiken has to accept when he decides to enroll in an agricultural-vocational high school is that the animals used for the practicums are sometimes slaughtered for meat. The first time he encounters this is when a third-year student nonchalantly beheads a chicken right in front of him in order to make smoked chicken as thanks for Hachiken's practicum group helping him catch all the meat chickens that got loose. Then Hachiken gets quickly attached to a runt pig he names Butadon despite knowing that he's destined for the slaughterhouse once he's three months old. The first sign that he's accepting this reality is when he's staying with Aki's during summer break, [[DrivesLikeCrazy her grandfather accidentally kills a deer while driving his truck]] and he asks him to show him how to butcher it. Another sign that he accepts this reality is when he decides to buy the meat that Butadon will be turned into.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Lisa's class is shown [[https://youtu.be/zR_4h5A5z_A?t=60 an educational film]] about the food chain. In the film, a student becomes visibly distraught after being taken on a tour of a meat packing plant by the host.

[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]]

* ''Manga/SilverSpoon:'' One of the realities that Yugo Hachiken has to accept when he decides to attend to an agricultural-vocational high school is that the animals used for the practicums are sometimes slaughtered for meat. The first time he encounters this is when a third-year student nonchalantly beheads a chicken right in front of him in order to make smoked chicken as thanks for Hachiken's practicum group helping him catch all the meat chickens that got loose. Then Hachiken gets quickly attached to a runt pig he names Butadon despite knowing that he's destined for the slaughterhouse once he's three months old. The first sign that he's accepting this reality is when he's staying with Aki's during summer break, [[DrivesLikeCrazy her grandfather accidentally kills a deer while driving his truck]] and he asks him to show him how to butcher it. Another sign that he accepts this reality is when he decides to buy the meat that Butadon will be turned into.

* The {{Literature/Animorphs}} series examines this trope from an unusual angle as the series features a group of human kids who have the power to transform into animals. When the team morphs into cows to infiltrate a slaughterhouse in book 28, Ax meditates at length on the horrors they witness firsthand. In the end, though, everyone still goes out for burgers, because hey, meat tastes awesome!