haha, too naive, too simple!!

还没弄明白就High了？如获至宝了？too simple, toooooo naive:))

 

 

真相： 这个流言来源于一个名叫“盆景猫”的网站（Bonsai Kitten.com）[1]，是麻省理工大学（MIT）的一群研究生捣鼓出来的，介绍了盆景猫的基本情况、制作方法、同时出售或代为制作。在2000年的12月20日被crule.com网站推荐为“每日另类站点”（Cruel Site of the Day）以后，“盆景猫”被推上了风头浪尖。因为被认为是对猫咪的虐待行为，谴责怒骂潮水般涌来，关于“盆景猫”的邮件在网络上疯狂散布，西方各国媒体和网络都广泛报道了这个事件，动物保护主义的机构和个人纷纷活动起来，人道协会（Humane Society of the United States）、当地的执法部门、联邦调查局（FBI） 都进行了调查。 

 

政府部门的调查最后都不了了之，因为经证实，这只是一场恶作剧。事实上，虽然这个网站声称出售盆景猫，但是网址上没有提供价格、如何付款、公司地址等详情，而且网址上提供的电话号码也是假的。网站上提供的图片，只是看到将猫咪装进一个大瓶子里，没有最终变形成功的猫咪照片。实际上，也确实没有猫咪被制作成盆景猫。

 

Bonsai Kitten网站的创建者的原意是想讽刺“那些把自然视为商品的人”，“通过激怒这些伪善的人来羞辱他们，而理解这些意图的人，将看到一场好戏”，无疑这些原始的意图都实现了，甚至比想象中的效果更好。但出乎意料的是，很多的人竟然相信这件事是真的，以至于动物保护机构都被牵扯进来。[2] 

 

2003年，这只“盆景猫”漂洋过海来到了中国，因为标上了“日本制造”，引起投射性的愤怒。题为：从“盆景猫”看透日本人的残忍兽性！的帖子在BBS上引起大讨论，随后的几年里，数次被提起，最近又在微博上热转。流言就像潮水，来了又去，去了又来。

 

这个流言为什么会和日本人扯上关系呢？在Bonsai Kitten网站上的介绍，提到日本盆栽（Japanese Bonsai），随后的转载邮件里就演化成“在纽约，有一个日本人在卖盆景猫”（In New York there is a Japanese who sells bonsai kittens）。在日本，确实有培养方形西瓜的实例。加上想象力，类似的方法运用在猫身上也就显得顺理成章。

 

结论：谣言破除。 现实中没有猫咪被虐待，被制作成盆景猫，整个事件只是始于网络、限于网络的一个恶作剧。

 

影响： 实际上，发展到最后，“盆景猫”事件已经从单纯的动物保护，演变成关于言论自由的大讨论。美国的动物保护组织，认为“盆景猫”网站公开宣传残害动物，要求政府关闭该网站。支持者则认为“盆景猫”网站仅仅发表了恶作剧言论，不能以言治罪，如果强制关闭该网站，侵犯了受到美国宪法第一修正案保护的言论自由权。争论的最后，似乎言论自由略占上风，现在“盆景猫”网站的几个镜像站还能访问。

 

在人们认识到这只是一个玩笑以后，关于“盆景猫”的话题少了，但是作为轰动一时的话题，在以后的岁月里，还是会时不时拿出来调侃一下。2006年的Worth 1000的改图大赛冠军就是一副关于“盆景猫”的PS图，在Rathergood.com制作的搞笑网络歌曲“The Internet is Made of Cats” [3]里也拿“盆景猫”调侃了一番。

 

参考资料：

[1] Bonsai Kitten网站

[2] the creators ‘s opinion in an interview

[3] The Internet is Made of Cats

Bonsai Kitten

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Japanese White Pine, 1625-2001 (similar effects were said by the website to be achievable in kittens).Bonsai Kitten was a satirical website which purportedly contained instructions on how to grow a kitten in a jar, so as to mold the bones of the kitten into the shape of the jar as the cat grew. It was made by a university student going by the alias of Dr. Michael Wong Chang. The website generated furor after members of the public complained to animal rights organizations, who stated that "whilst the sites content may be faked, the issue it is campaigning for may create violence towards animals", according to the Michigan Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA). Although the website in its most recent form was shut down, it still generates (primarily spam) petitions to shut the site down or complain to its ISP. The website has been thoroughly debunked by Snopes.com and the Humane Society of the United States, among other prominent organizations.

BonsaiKitten.com is mirrored by many sites today, for example rotten.com and ding.com. The nature of the site is such that BonsaiKitten.com was put forward as real, with many animal rights activists still taking issue with the context of the website. Reportedly, petitions for removal of the BonsaiKitten.com web address are more widespread in foreign countries, where English is spoken as a second language, and therefore, people may only see the content of the website's photos, which, in its most up-to-date format, consists of several photographs of a kitten inside of a jar.

[edit] Start of the website

On October 30, 2000, BonsaiKitten.com was a focal "Cruel Site of the Day" on the website Cruel.com. When this attracted complaints, Cruel.com removed its links to BonsaiKitten.com. Afterwards, however, when links to the BonsaiKitten.com website then spread across the world, many concerned animal lovers sent complaints to the Humane Society of the United States. The Humane Society made a statement that Bonsai Kittens were not real. The URL drew criticism, which caused the initial host MIT to remove it.[1]