Educational Media Reviews Online

Viewed here was the 2 hour cut-down version of the 8 hour documentary consisting of a set of 12 minute short films and 6 interviews with American cockfighters and game fowl breeders. The film focuses on the rooster breeders who talk about the bloodlines, the pedigrees, the traditions and history of the “sport” and why they do it. Game fowl breeders from Arkansas, Hawaii, Texas and Louisiana show off why their animals are the best due to their superior training and care, but admit no one breeder dominates the sport for long. Every one strives to raise a rooster that wins fights. The “winning,” that is the damage or death of the roosters ultimate destiny, is completely underscored. The roosters did appear to be very well cared for unlike factory farms where the animals lead short, squalid lives. Some roosters who have survived the fighting pits to become breeding stock live 10-20 years. Ms. Castillo lets her subjects speak for themselves, so this film is entirely from the view of the cockfighting community.

While she succeeds in making a fascinating, anthropological study of an American subculture, it in no way gives a complete or accurate picture of what cockfighting really is. No cockfights were shown, only training sessions. The interviewees talked of the bird’s fighting instinct, but the natural purpose of it is to establish a ”pecking order” which seldom results in serious injury. Fights, when they do occur, end when one bird flees. Such flight is not possible in an enclosed cage or ring in which the cockfights take place. Razor-sharp knives or ice pick-like gaffs are attached to the heels of the roosters who are then made to fight by repeatedly pushing the heads together so that each bird thinks the other is attacking. A fight would typically continue until one of the animals is dead. All of these unnatural steps are glossed over by the subjects who think of themselves as “sportsmen” carrying on an American tradition, even though it is banned in 47 states. That said, the video can be recommended with reservations for the uniqueness of the subject and the directors’ efforts to chronicle a subculture that is struggling to exist and may one day disappear.