“The Dog Dies” all over Los Angeles

Almost 45 years later, I can still remember the horrific betrayal that was “Old Yeller”, and I will not knowingly see a film about an animal who dies. I once had a girlfriend chastise me for seeking out movies in which human beings are shot and slashed, but not being able to abide a scene where an animal dies. But it’s about emotional response, not about values. I really do value human beings more than animals, but I respond to animals directly, on a direct emotional level.

It’s kind of a shame, because Old Yeller was actually a great story about some of the hard truths of growing up; it just wasn’t this seven year old’s idea of entertainment. You have to trick me into seeing these movies, even if they’re good. And clearly, that’s the problem with Marley and Me. It pisses me off that there isn’t even a hint in the advertising, nothing about “You’ll laugh, you’ll cry.” It just looks like a comedy.

Of course, somehow, you can just tell. When I first saw the ads, I thought “this looks great if the dog doesn’t die, but he probably does.” I thought it was great when Dave Letterman pretty much forced Jennifer Anniston to reveal the unpleasant truth during her recent appearance on “The Late Show”, plugging the film.