Joaquin Phoenix is a passionate man when it comes to social issues. That was evident by the actor’s recent awards season run where he made speech after speech about racism, sexism, and animal rights, amongst other issues. But not even Joaquin Phoenix’s passion is as extreme as a Ukrainian man that took insane steps to force the country’s President to endorse a documentary narrated by the Oscar-winning “Joker” actor.
According to The New York Times, a Ukrainian man held 13 people hostage at gunpoint on a public bus and forced the police into a 12-hour standoff recently. And the report claims that one of the man’s demands was actually to have Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, publicly endorse the 2005 documentary, “Earthlings” (narrated by Phoenix), and tell the citizens to watch the film. Thankfully, the hostage situation ended after the President posted a statement on social media that read, “Everybody watch the 2005 film ‘Earthlings.’” (The statement was later deleted.)
For those not familiar with “Earthlings,” the documentary is incredibly popular amongst vegans and animal rights activists. The film is often cited as the most famous documentary about the ills of factory farming and other animal rights issues, thanks in no small part to Phoenix’s involvement. (As someone who has seen the doc, I can only recommend it for people that are willing to endure numerous scenes of animal abuse and possibly change their entire diet. “Earthlings” is nothing if not convincing and brutal.)
Obviously, it’s unclear if the hostage-taker’s demand has any lasting effect on the Ukrainian people. It’s just good that no one was physically harmed during the altercation, with the report claiming the only shots that were fired damaged the windows of the bus and nothing else.
If you’re interested in learning more about “Earthlings,” you can watch the trailer below: