Abstract

This paper seeks to explore the potential of developing a distinct vegan mode of reading. It uses the increasing incidence of anthropomorphic canine companion animals in the contemporary Hollywood romantic comedy as a starting point, focusing on close readings of the films Marley and Me and Legally Blonde 2: Red White and Blonde. An analysis of the increasing incidence of domestic dogs in the romantic comedy is shown to have significance for examining social and cultural anxieties around how veganism, as the rejection of animal exploitation of any kind, might challenge the rigid human-animal divide that defines contemporary society. Building an analysis that seeks to explore the latent speciesism of popular cinema and noting how this relates specifically to the representation of vegan identity, within a genre noted for its muting and denigration of queer identity, this paper seeks to situate veganism as a radical queer mode of being.