Tusk why so serious

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Kickstarter Tumblr Art Club. Film TV Games. Fortnite Game of Thrones Books. Comics Music. Filed under: Report Science. Poaching is on the rise — most illegal ivory comes from recently killed elephants. Share this story Share this on Facebook Share this on Twitter Share All sharing options Share All sharing options for: Poaching is on the rise — most illegal ivory comes from recently killed elephants.

Linkedin Reddit Pocket Flipboard Email. Next Up In Science. In Garamba National Park in the northeastern corner of Congo, thousands of elephants are being killed each year for their tusks, their carcasses discarded like hair clippings on a barbershop's floor. In a beautiful and brutal report , New York Times reporter Jeffrey Gettleman describes the carnage, both animal and human, in harrowing detail. Last year, he writes, "broke the record for the amount of illegal ivory seized worldwide, at Law enforcement officials say the sharp increase in large seizures is a clear sign that organized crime has slipped into the ivory underworld, because only a well-oiled criminal machine -- with the help of corrupt officials -- could move hundreds of pounds of tusks thousands of miles across the globe, often using specially made shipping containers with secret compartments.

What in the world could fuel such demand for animal teeth? An ascendant Chinese middle class, whose millions can now afford the prized material. This explains the mechanics. Demand rises, price goes up, and the costs poachers and smugglers are willing to endure increase in sync. But what underlies the demand? Why do so many Chinese people want these elongated cones of dentin? The comparison to diamonds is commonly made: Diamonds, like ivory, are a natural substance with little inherent value but prized social significance.

Desire in richer lands tumbles poorer societies into resource wars and labor abuse. And certainly the modern dynamics are the same. But demand for ivory is something demand for diamonds is not: ancient. Kevin Smith 's style of comedy is too unfocused to pull off a cinematic prank like "Tusk," a horror-comedy about a walrus-monster. Had Smith been more disciplined, the film's deliberately absurd plot twists might have been more alienating, and funny.

But even a Kevin Smith apologist like myself will readily admit that "discipline" and "Kevin Smith" do not belong in the same sentence. And yes, Smith does get in a few good scares, especially during the movie's creature scenes. But as it is, "Tusk"'s sophomoric gag is rarely as funny or creepy as it could have been. But fate intervenes, and Wallace pursues another seemingly easy target: Howard Howe Michael Parks , a paralyzed adventurer with a yen for flippered marine mammals. Unfortunately for Wallace, a selfish schlub who somehow becomes more annoying every time he talks, Howe's not as helpless as he seems.

A younger Smith might have sympathized with Wallace, but the current Smith really goes after him for being as hatefully jaded as, uh, himself Wallace is clearly a stand-in for Smith as "Tusk" originated from Smith's Smodcast podcast. Through a series of flashbacks, Smith makes Wallace cartoonishly obnoxious, especially when Ally whines to Wallace about how much he's changed, and that she "[misses] the old Wallace.

For example, he really likes mocking Canadians, who all say "Eh" or "Aboot. Thankfully, Wallace isn't Smith's main target. As in "Red State," a slightly-superior experiment in terror, Smith's eye is on Parks, a legitimately impressive performer.