PETA Plans Protest at ‘Nosferatu’ Screening: Rats ‘Didn’t Cause the Plague!’

variety.com:

PETA plans to protest this Sunday’s Academy screening of director Robert Eggers’ “Nosferatu.” The animal rights organization plans to send a “giant rat” to the Samuel Goldwyn Theater to “set the record straight” about the 5,000 live rats Eggers uses during one sequence in the film where rats descend on London, bringing the bubonic plague with them.

In a statement, PETA’s director of animals in film and television Lauren Thomasson said, “A human is no more likely to be harmed or killed by a rat in real life than by a vampire, and false portrayals of these animals as harbingers of death deny viewers the chance to see them as the intelligent, social, and affectionate individuals they are.

The only ‘pests’ moviegoers need to be concerned with are directors who subject animals to the chaos and confusion of a film set, and PETA encourages everyone to see through these shameful stereotypes and give rats the respect they deserve.” The PETA rat will carry a sign that reads, “Rats Have Rights!

We Didn’t Cause the Plague!” Following one of the first public screenings of the film, Eggers discussed the scene in a conversation with Guillermo del Toro, saying, “If there’s rats in the foreground, they’re real, and then they thin out and become CG rats in the background.