Bullfighting has come under great scrutiny over the years due to what they would call a violation of "animal rights", becoming less and less popular even in its home country of Spain. Which is true, at the end of the day, an animal is killed for our entertainment. I understand that, though I'm not what you'd call an animal lover. That being said, the whole process is also an art, a tradition, a passion that is to be respected. At least that's the point of view of the true aficionados out there, and it's mostly because of them that I wanted to see and judge it for myself.
We, those who chose to attend, were accompanied by a kind of guide. I forget his name, but he's a professor at one of the universities and he gave as a presentation on bullfighting beforehand. His father took him to the ring since he was a boy, getting the same seats in the same section every season. He still gets those seats and hopes he gets to carry on the same tradition with his son, and possibly his grandson after him. He is one of the lovers of "La Corrida"that make the experience worth while. He also helped explain what the hell was going on at times.
The purpose of La Corrida is not to blatantly torture and kill the bull. No. The point is to entertain with beauty and the prospect of fatal danger, as the matador proves man's control and intelligence over the brute force of the animal and in the end giving it a respectful, merciful, and swift death. This point could not be stressed more by our guide.
That being said, the corrida we went to was eh...It was a Sunday, when mostly tourists attend, just before the start of the real season, and with lesser known matadors. Therefore, it was a bit second rate. The best fight was the last (6 out of 6), with a bull that weighed 623 kilos (1350 lbs)! The matador had the best, swiftest passes. Then there was one guy that was pretty horrible. It took him at least 6 tries to get his sword in and kill his bull - bad form.
Highlights:
- The real fans and the kind of culture and ambiance they create is pretty awesome. We sat in Section 7, known to be the section were middle-lower class aficionados gather to watch the fights, and goddamn if they don't expect to get their money's worth out of it. At a good corrida with a good matador, you want complete silence. Whistling and clapping (esp. in a rhythm) is bad news. And there was quite a bit of whistling and clapping, and flat out yelling at the matador/toreros and at each other!
- Like I said, these people came here for a show, and they aren't shy about letting people know that. Know-nothing tourists who clap or speak at inappropriate times get shhh-ed at. When the toreros are speeding up the process to get away from a 670 kilo bull, they yell "Que prisas tienes?!" (What's your rush?!). Malo torero. The toreros were scared, they weren't doing their their jobs, they weren't respecting the bull, the art nor the audience. For that, you get yelled at.
-Mr. Barajas' IB Spanish class in high school. I learned oh so many random facts about Spain and spanish culture that I never thought would really become useful to me. Things like when bulls jump into the crowds. Like one bull almost did at ours! It was pretty lively, was running and ended up jumping over the first wall of the ring. QUE FLIPA LA GENTE! Everyone freaked out - it's that rare. Within 15 sec, the bull jumped in, the assistants jumped out, closed 1 door and opened another for the bull to get back in to the ring. No one was hurt thank god. But damn that was exciting!
Overall, it was an interesting experience. There's certainly nothing even close to comparable to this in the States. I still don't know a lot about the whole thing. But here's what I do know: the toros bravos used for the fights live up to 4-6 years before they get into the ring. Before that, they live their lives on huge ranches, plenty of space, and little to no human contact. Their lives are infinitely better than those thousands of cattle raised for food production. And once in the ring, though small, they have a chance to prove themselves worthy of a complete pardon and living life as a stud. While not an excuse for the death of an animal for the sake of entertainment, I still find respect and honor in that.
I don't know if I'll ever go to a corrida again, but if I did I'd want it to be with first rate matadors. At least there would be a bigger chance of a better show, more worthy of the bulls' death.
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