Bullfights

[John Topping]

Connor,
Greetings from New Zealand.  Thanks for your contribution to the Bull
Fighting Debate.  I feel much the same as you did before you attended your
first corrida.  From what I have read about bull fighting is that in spirit
it is about performance, courage and being in the presence of death - a
potent mix.
I am looking forward to experiencing the spectacle at Las Ventas this June.
Regards,
Marion.

----- Original Message -----
From: Conor Fortune <conoraMADRID.COM>
To: <GOCAMINOaPETE.URI.EDU>
Sent: Saturday, March 16, 2002 9:04 AM
Subject: Re: Bullfights


> Hi all, this is my first posting to the listserv,
> as I am considering doing the Camino this
> summer. But as regards bullfights, I, too
> was debating going when I studied abroad
> in Spain 2 years ago. I felt I needed to see it
> because, like it or not, tauromaquine sports
> are a major part of Iberian history and
> culture. After attending a small corrida as
> part of the San Isidro feria in a tiny town
> called Arganda del Rey outside Madrid, I
> think I got a fair approximation of the
> experience, but I also went later on to see
> one in Las Ventas in Madrid, which was
> more about the big spectacle of the
> stadium than the art form.
>
> Bullfighting is more ritualistic art than sport,
> but in a very visceral way. When I first
> decided to go see a bullfight, some friends
> and family members shunned it as
> barbaric, but I tried to keep an open mind
> about it. After seeing the excited throng
> (many of whom were intoxicated) pour into
> the town's plaza that had been converted
> into a bullring with makeshift bleachers and
> Spanish tricolor streamers, I was unsure
> what to expect. The blaring September sun
> and the blasting of trumpet pasodobles
> heralded in the first bull and it was a long,
> slow, agonizing thing to watch him die,
> since I was not really prepared for it. Maybe
> it's the de-sensitizing nature of TV and
> movies, but I didn't expect it to be real at
> first, as if at the last moment the man
> inside the bull costume would step out,
> shake hands with the matador and
> everyone would go off for a drink and some
> tapas after a public service announcement
> said "no real bulls were harmed in this
> fight."
>
> But the first bull did die. And there was
> blood. And it was a difficult thing to watch,m
> what with people around you cheering and
> spitting sunflower seeds at your feet. But as
> the evening progressed, and the ritual of
> the event became evident, my attitude
> began to change. A dance emerged
> between matador and toro and I began to
> see that something spiritually and ritually
> beautiful was taking place. It is something
> that cannot be described to the uninitiated.
> Six bulls met their death that night, but not
> one went unvaliantly. And all are a specific
> breed--toros bravos--that are specifically
> raised for this end, and treated quite well
> until the end. They go out a far better way
> than many other livestock.
>
> But my advice is, if you are curious about
> bullfights, definitely go see one. Good ol'
> Ernie Hemingway can only do so much to
> describe what it's like.
>
> CF
>
> --
>
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