Hunger Games star Jennifer Lawrence has come under fire from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, also known as NAMBLA the other PETA.
PETA is known for attaching itself to high-profile moments and celebrities, but this one kind of landed in their lap. As fans of Hunger Games know, there is a bit of violence toward animals in the films, even of the CGI variety. While no animals were likely harmed in the making of the blockbuster, a few bits of the movie rely on the starving population’s reliance on small game like squirrels to survive the post-apocalyptic landscape of Panem.
In fact, the film’s massive success has led to a bit of interest in young adults in the discipline of archery- a main theme of the films is heroine Katniss Everdeen’s skillful hand with a crossbow and her ability to bag squirrels to provide sustenance for her starving little sister. When asked about her scenes eviscerating a squirrel in the film, Lawrence told Rolling Stone :
“I should say it wasn’t real, for PETA. But screw PETA.”
Gothamist contacted PETA for a response to Lawrence’s comments, and PETA president Ingrid Newkirk was happy to reply:
“[Jennifer Lawrence is] young and the plight of animals somehow hasn’t yet touched her heart. As Henry David Thoreau said, ‘The squirrel you kill in jest, dies in earnest.’ We are told that this squirrel was hit by a car, but when people kill animals, it is the animals who are ‘screwed,’ not PETA, and one day I hope she will try to make up for any pain she might cause any animal who did nothing but try to eke out a humble existence in nature.”
Lawrence has not responded to the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ response.
