Zoo

[G-spotter]

'Zoo'

 

What's so bad about loving horses?

 

As a Washington State man discovered in 2005, that kind of love can be fatal for the human recipient. Boeing engineer Kenneth Pinyan died of internal injuries after being anally penetrated by a stallion, a practice he and associates had engaged in numerous times before, on a ranch near the town of Enumclaw. Now Robinson Devor has made a rather strange film about an extremely strange incident.

 

Zoo is a documentary that barely qualifies as such. It is narrated by the disembodied voices of several actual participants in the events while employing dramatic recreations and a stream of haunting, beautiful images, accompanied by hypnotic music. Zoo is unexpectedly lovely to watch.

 

Choices

 

Occasionally it is also perplexing, partly on account of the disembodied voices, and partly because of Devor's own artistic choices. Midway through, having so far seen nothing but shadowy figures, we suddenly face a well-lit man sitting on a stool, prattling on about an acting role he was up for, how he couldn't find parking to get to the audition, how he drew inspiration from the drowning of a young boy, and how he eventually landed the role of Cop #1 in the film, apparently about the Pinyan death. Since there is no other film about the Pinyan death, we are forced to conclude he must be talking about this film. Sure enough, the actor later ambles wordlessly around a field in the role of Cop #1. The point? I couldn't say. But it does take your mind off the subject of men being anally penetrated by stallions.

 

Devor lulls us with beauty so as to ease gently into this aberrant world and make it seem like something other than a freak show. Then he bursts that bubble with the voice of Rush Limbaugh. "They say the horse didn't consent," muses Limbaugh, ever the defender of liberty. "If the horse didn't consent, none of this could have happened."

 

Devor chooses not to reveal Pinyan's name (although he plays a clip of radio host Tom Leykis preparing to announce his identity). He is referred to only as Mr. Hands, the name by which he was known to fellow "zoos," as zoophiliacs call themselves. While there is no implied endorsement of zoophiliac behaviour, Devor clearly finds these sad men to be sympathetic figures. And among the justifications offered here for making love with horses, this one at least has the virtue of honesty: "You're not going to be asked about the latest Madonna album."

[ScottP]

Somewhat of a fixation for you, isn't it Dru?

[G-spotter]

I love horsecock