"Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight"

I have always been under the impression that cockfighting is a form of simple animal abuse. Without any real insight on the matter, it just seems like a crude form of entertainment. I appreciate Clifford Geertz’s article and the deeper understanding of the Balinese sport that it offers. I agree with all of the points that he brought up about how the cockfighting is a metaphorical status war creating an intricate web of rivaling groups of kin. At the same time, however, I do not agree with the rituals that are hurtful to the animals involved. I also think it is interesting how obsessively the Balinese men labor over their game-cocks (massaging their legs and bathing them in ceremonial water, herbs, and flowers). I also think that his findings on the motivation for such a prominent cock fighting culture are interesting and on point.

I do not agree with the Balinese citizens’ belief that game-cocks represent the “direct inversion, aesthetically, morally, and metaphysically, of human status: animality”, and I find their social standards of eating privately, filing canine teeth, and not allowing infants to crawl a little bit unsettling. All three of these aspects of life are completely natural, and I think that the Balinese people should accept our “animalistic” qualities rather than deny them as parts of our lives. Although I do not agree with the animalistic-demon-blood-sacrifice reasoning for cockfighting, I am intrigued by the social motivation behind it.

When I look past the poor treatment of the game-cocks I see many positive qualities to the fighting games. The cockfights are symbolic battles between rivaling families, and they seem to actually reduce, if not eliminate, violence in communities. I find this fascinating because in the US we have similar traditions in which sports teams, for example, will represent groups of people inhabiting an area. The only difference is that in Bali, the cockfighting and its referees are so highly respected that there are no further disputes past the physical battle between game cocks, while games between athletic teams are not enough to settle conflicts in the United States. Fans criticize referees, and fights erupt over the outcomes of athletic games. I also do not see the gambling aspect of cockfighting as a negative. The monetary value of each game is merely an indication of its social significance. The higher valued fights signify “deeper” rivalries and higher socially ranking families. In the long run, the betting bears little effect on the wealth of the families because money is constantly being moved back and forth with each game. I also like the fact that money is only borrowed from allies so that money can never be owed to an enemy.