David Cooper (host)

But with a cat or a dog, maybe not.

Those famous like credit things where it says no animals were harmed in the creation of this film or show.

Has it been historically accurate?

Like if I see that after an animal depiction, can I believe it from like an 80s movie or something?

CGI animals, they've gotten very good these days.

And in some sense, like for friendly interactions, great, you're not actually harming an animal.

But they can also do things that no real animal could safely do, like fight, be tortured, killed.

On the one hand, great, no animals are being tortured.

But on the other hand, like, are these depictions what we should be showing people?

I think I'm with you on that.

I think it's nuanced, but I do think it just gives filmmakers like carte blanche to be brutal.

And it's not something that all filmmakers should be taking.

But in general, are you happy with this direction that like animal cruelty has gone down and most animal depictions these days are digital?

Do you miss like these these classic dogs like the one from Frasier that I love so much?

Do you miss that miss these in sitcoms and stuff?

Well, Cynthia Chris is a media and cultural studies professor at the College of Staten Island CUNY in New York.

Cynthia, thank you for joining me.

I've enjoyed the chat.

Coming up, we've got a quest to find other David Coopers.

No, not me.