Subtitle Straw Dogs -

The 1971 film uses the title to frame its exploration of human fragility and the thin "veneer of civilization".

In Chapter 5 of the Tao Te Ching , Lao Tzu writes: "Heaven and Earth are not humane; they regard all things as straw dogs" . subtitle Straw Dogs

: The text uses this to describe the Tao (the Way) as impersonal. Nature does not care for humans more than any other part of creation; it creates and destroys with complete neutrality. The 1971 film uses the title to frame

: In ancient China, "straw dogs" ( chú gǒu ) were used as sacrificial substitutes for living animals. They were decorated with embroidery and treated with reverence during the ceremony, but once the rite concluded, they were trampled and burned as waste. Nature does not care for humans more than

: A "Sage" or ideal ruler is encouraged to mirror this indifference, treating all people equally and without sentimental bias, rather than practicing "benevolence" ( ren ) which could lead to partiality or interference with natural order. 2. Sam Peckinpah’s Film (1971)