Emma Larocque
May 13, 2014
Vegan Mainstream (VM): This is a very interesting conversation/debate we get to listen in to – how did you decide what the two parties were going to argue?
Eric Shapiro (ES): There were a few talking points I felt were important from the non-vegan side. There’s kind of a standard set of questions and arguments that commonly get thrown at vegans, and I wanted as many of them as possible to come from Leo [the father-in-law’s] mouth. So he brings up the question of how vegans get their protein, the point that plants have feelings too, the point that animals eat each other, and humans are of course animals, etc. There were dozens of other angles I could have included — like the argument that animal lovers care more about animals than they do about people (which showed up in an earlier draft but got cut), or any number of points that were more scientific than ethical — but at a certain point during the writing, I let the characters take over and do their own talking.
https://www.veganmainstream.com/2014/05/13/living-things-a-vegan-vs-meat-debate-movie/