15 pages, via online journal article, Okja is a fictional Netflix original film that was released in 2017. Okja features a “super pig” that is owned by the large, agricultural company Mirando Corporation. Okja is raised by a young girl, Mija, and her grandfather in the South Korean mountains. The film climaxes when Mija and the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) narrowly save Okja and a smuggled piglet from the slaughter process. The purpose of this study was to understand how college students responded to the film. The viewers of this film included students who were majoring in a field within the agricultural college (COA) at Texas Tech University as well as students who were majoring in a field outside of agriculture (NCOA). Emergent themes from this focus group study identified the film as overdramatized and that the film misrepresented food production. Previous knowledge and experiences impacted how viewers perceived the film with COA students indicating that Okja was portrayed more like a pet than as a food animal. Both COA and NCOA students indicated that their food purchasing decisions would not be affected by viewing the film. Findings suggested that entertainment films may not be an effective method for changing public opinion of agriculture and food production. Transparency in agriculture through real-life and real-time activities in a documentary style may serve a greater role in improving public opinion of food and agricultural production practices and industries.Findings from this study serve as an indicator of the role entertainment films play in swaying public opinion of food and agriculture.
Canadian Association of Journalists (Toronto chapter) (author) and Society of Environmental Journalists (author)
Format:
Panel discussions
Publication Date:
2000-05-27
Published:
Canada
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 194 Document Number: C11158
Journal Title Details:
one 90 minute tape cassette
Notes:
Environmental Notebook I -- Conference of Canadian Association of Journalists (Toronto chapter) and Society of Environmental Journalists. Toronto, Canada, May 27, 2000.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: C16755
Notes:
Chapter 15 in Sohail Inayatullah and Susan Leggett, Transforming communication: technology, sustainability, and future generations. Praeger, Westport, Connecticut. 200 pages.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: C26970
Notes:
Pages 19-34 in Jon Entine (ed.), Let them eat precaution: how politics is undermining the genetic revolution in agriculture, AEI Press, Washington, D.C. 203 pages., Cites results of research among worldwide opinion leaders representing the food industry and national governments.
