This is a vnicely photo-edited image of a shop’s cat – they call them bodega cats in New York – in I believe Hong Kong. A nice ginger tabby. Great cats. The image was created by a person, probably a young man, living in Hong Kong who goes by the user name ‘SurrealHK’ on Instagram. I guess that is short for ‘Surreal Hong Kong’. He is very talented and does great work. No problem there. It is the attitude behind the image which I find a little bit upsetting. I think he lives with a cat or cats.
He has merged what appears to be an unsettling image of an octopus with flaying tentacles and the ginger tabby cat. He added a calling card. A box on the shop’s counter in front of the cat labelled ‘SURREALHK‘. It is an inherently unpleasant picture of a cat. Aggressive and threatening.
A user of Reddit.com, the person who posted the picture on Reddit, said that it was a straight photo of a “Cat behind a hanging monster’s statue”. In other words, a plastic toy-like object hanging from the ceiling of the shop which happened to be in front of the cat. NO. I am afraid not. That user might have been the photo-editor.
Why don’t I like it? It depicts the domestic cat in general in an unpleasant way. It is mildly derogatory of the domestic cat. It is an abuse of the cat. Not actual on-the-ground abuse but a visual, social media abuse. It is using the domestic cat to entertain other social media users in a negative way.
I am of the same opinion as PETA. Domestic cats are not ‘ours’ to use and even mildly abuse. The ‘compact’ or unwritten contract between human and cat is one of mutual support. The arrangement is meant to be mutually beneficial. Anything negative outside of that agreement is wrong.
You think I am being too sensitive and philosophical?! Even crazy as the picture is a bit of fun? No, if more people had my attitude towards the human-to-cat relationship there’d be far less animal abuse and it would be a better world as a consequence.
Disagree? Tell me.
Below are some more pictures of cats articles.
