Ella Ouimet Mr. Schmidt English IV April 30, 2024 Blackfish Blackfish is a sentimental, thought-provoking documentary directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite and published in 2013. It highlights the controversy over keeping animals, explicitly orca whales, in captivity. The thriller focuses on an orca whale named Tilikum, who faces the main consequences of capturing and maintaining captive animals. The film aims to educate the audience on the realistic consequences of taking animals away from their natural habitats. Sadly, three people faced the actual risks of holding animals in captivity: Dawn Brancheau, Keltie Byrne, and Daniel Dukes. Gabriela Cowperthwaite did a tremendous job illustrating the horrific repercussions of captive animals because …show more content…
Then, Cowperthwaite's in-depth show of how inhumane the entertainment world is, particularly SeaWorld. Automatically, views started raising questions such as: why are these intelligent orcas being captured and taken away from family? Nevertheless, watchers saw how connected the trainers were with the animals and how each trainer truly loved the animals. These elements, such as history, curiosity, and emotional connection, lay the foundation of the documentary’s true purpose. Imagine going out in front of a crowd to show off a prized possession whale, Tilikum’s tricks, and the hopes of seeing the faithful whale again are lost. On February 24, 2014, at SeaWorld, an incident occurred that has forever changed the performing industry of orca whales. A trainer named Dawn Brancheau has been working at Seaworld for the past fifteen years. On a regular performance day with Tilikum, Brancheau was wrenched from the scalp. Sizzling underwater, unable to escape the massive creature, weighing over 12,000 pounds. Tilikum ripped Brancheau’s arm from her socket, her spinal cord severed, with a broken jaw and ribs, killed by one of her true best …show more content…
Briela Cowperthwaite, capturing every concealed aspect, reveals the real ramifications of confining animals in confinement. Blackfish left a lasting impression by highlighting the significant concerns of aquamarine show packs. From the beginning of the documentary to the end, it was evident that the message revealed the consequences of animals in confinement. Not only did Dawn Brancheau play a significant part in the movie, but Daniel P. Dukes and Keltie Byrne lost their lives to Tilikum. By the movie's end, it was clear that SeaWorld was the leading cause of controversy over marine life. Gabriela Cowperthwaite left a message calling on the community to take action. Raising awareness was the primary purpose of releasing the documentary Blackfish. The film depicts the cruel treatment of marine animals. Cowperthwaite ends the documentary by leaving inspiring questions on the ethics of marine life confinement. Blackfish has left an incredible impact on the marine entertainment industry and showcase businesses, provoking a call to action for animals in captivity. After the release of Blackfish, the aquatic entertainment industry
Blackfish is a 2013 documentary, directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, about the captive orca, Tilikum. The documentary chronicles Tilikum’s life in captivity while examining the conditions that SeaWorld’s orcas live under. Cowperthwaite argues that SeaWorld mistreats their Orcas and intentionally misinforms both their employees and the general public. Rhetorical analysis reveals that Cowperthwaite uses emotional appeals and juxtaposition to sway the viewer to her perspective.
Since whales are normally peaceful in the wild and they only seem to attack while in captivity, the argument is that captivity is wrong and dangerous for killer whales. This argument is supported by detailed facts about how the whales are tortured and agitated by other whales with no outlet. Both female and male whales are confined to a swimming pool where they are in a way being forced to try and mate. The female whales tend to abuse the male whales, which leads the whales to become mentally and physically unhealthy resulting in attacks on trainer. In the interviews with Corinne Cowell and Nadine Kallen, they mentioned that when they visited Sealand of the Pacific that three whales were confined to a “dingy pool”. Another appeal to pathos is when a neurologist that has studied killer whales mentions how the animals are very intelligent and are well-aware of what is going on around them. (SeaWorld) Killer whales have similar brains to humans, but have a bigger part of their brain where emotions are processed. With this, whales are more aware of their emotions and the bonds they make with humans and other animals. (SeaWorld) With the huge amount of raw footage, first-hand accounts, and true information, the film is able to grasp the attention of the viewers with the amount of emotion that is shown from the former trainers and the whales themselves. With these tactics, the film effectively appeals to the
The documentary Blackfish by Gabriela Cowperthwaite is a gripping documentary about orca whales in captivity at SeaWorld and other sea parks around the world that shows the disturbing effects that can be caused from having these animals in a place where they shouldn’t be.
In Blackfish, Director, Gabriela Cowperthwaite, addresses the accidents that occurred at SeaWorld involving trainers and whales. Cowperthwaite’s purpose is to educate the audience on the cruel treatment and rough conditions of whales that occur in SeaWorld. The film maintains a shocking tone in order to persuade the audience and appeal to feelings of sadness and anger.
Blackfish is a 2013 documentary attempting to elevate public awareness regarding the orca that are being kept in maritime amusement parks, specifically SeaWorld, and the inherent danger of their captivity. The film is effective because it raises a set of important ethical questions for the viewer while presenting with a necessary fact-based style of documentation that does not evoke gratuitous scenes of abuse in order to inspire sympathy, unlike some of the other films that are intended to raise awareness about animal abuse.
a well-known organization known as PETA. This article, along with several others were featured on the Time website. Throughout the article, Newkirk introduces the death of an orca under the care of SeaWorld. This orca is known as “Tilikum”. Newkirk provides background information of Tilikum's young life in the wild. The author explains how the young Orca was stolen from his home on the shores of Iceland when he was just 2 years old. Newkirk also provides additional information of Tilikum and his importance to SeaWorld’s success. An example of this is the orcas large contribution to the breeding within the walls of SeaWorld. Newkirk then explains how because of Tilikum's harsh living environment, the orca killed three humans, including his trainer in 2010. Newkirk also mentions how Tilikum's death was inside an artificial environment where, in her opinion, orcas do not belong. The author then leaves her audience with the thought that death should not be orcas only escape from SeaWorld. Shortly after the death of Tilikum, “SeaWorld
Blackfish Documentary Study: Documentaries are created to inform and influence their audience on a specific range of controversial topics, such as animal captivity and cruelty. Blackfish is a 2013 documentary produced and directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite and focuses on the life of a captive orca held by the sea world, Tilikum. The documentary Blackfish has utilised documentary conventions such as archival footage, diegetic sound, and statistics and facts to influence the audience to agree with the perspective that SeaWorld’s captivity of treatment of their animals, orcas specifically, is inhumane and causes them lasting negative consequences. Archival footage has been included within the documentary Blackfish as a confrontational device to ensure the viewers know the extent of cruelty orcas
After Seaworld’s capture, Washington State banned all succeeding captures in its waters (Smith, 2003). Nevertheless, SeaWorld already had a small taste of the amount of revenue these massive animals would bring to the park. As a result, Seaworld retrieved rights to capture orcas in Iceland, South Africa, Africa, England, Norway, Japan, and Greenland (Smith, 2003). They started off by capturing six orca whales whom would be their main source for future offspring. One of the first six killer whales was Seaworld’s prized possession Shamu. During her capture, her mother was killed, this sight traumatized Shamu and ultimately contributed to her depression while at Seaworld (Hargrove, 2015). While at SeaWorld, Shamu was utilized in a promotional photo shoot that allowed a bikini model to ride the Killer whale (Hargrove, 2015). As stated in the novel Beneath the Surface, “On the third ride, Shamu refused to follow a command and, into the ensuing confusion, the model fell in the water. The whale bit her on the lower torso and limbs, and for several minutes refused to let her go” (Hargrove, 2015, p.33). Shamu exhibited clear predatory traits that could have cost the life of this model. Later, in August 197, Shamu passed away after six years in captivity (Kirby, 2014). However, SeaWorld made the executive decision to reuse the name Shamu along with a few other names for all of the performing
In 1961, Sea World started with their orca program. They started off by herding orcas into coves and taking their babies from the coast of Washington. At first everyone from the whale hunters to the everyday civilian believed that SeaWorld was only doing this for the whale’s benefit. Of course, there was those few critics that said the whales should stay in their natural habitat, and that it was inhumane. But Sea world seemed to be very good at covering their backs.
‘Blackfish’ directed/produced by Gabriela Cowperthwaite and Manuel Oteyza, initially released in 2013, is a contentious documentary regarding Orca’s held at SeaWorld. The documentary gives a history of this topic especially focussing on the notorious killer whale Tilikum. Using filming techniques regarding language, audio, visuals and structure, Cowperthwaite positions the audience to accept that the whales are victims of society and have reasoning behind their killings, former trainers oppose the idea of whales in captivity and support doing something about the issue and SeaWorld is a criminal organisation who complete inhumane and dastardly deeds for profit.
A documentary is an informative film that aims to position readers to accept one version of the events or topics expressed. All documentaries posses the ability biased and present an altered version of reality to persuade audience positioning. ‘Blackfish’ is a captivating and inspired documentary released in 2013 concerning the inhumane captivity and domestication of Orcas at SeaWorld for pecuniary advantage. The film, directed by Gabriella Cowperthwaite positions viewers to adopt a dominant reading position on the topic of whale subjugation. The documentary utilises techniques such as expert verification, emotive language and the humanisation of whales to position dominant viewers to accept the ideology that captivity is deleterious
Blackfish is a documentary that looks at the biological, and psychological, aspects of SeaWorld’s killer whales. The documentary focuses on the killer whales that were captured from the ocean and now reside in SeaWorld. Blackfish shows its viewers where the killer whales where captured from, how they behaved at the time of them being captured, and how they behaved after they were captured. The main idea of Blackfish is to create awareness about killer whales, by showing that these particular animals are more like intellectual beings that are very conscious about their surroundings. Black fish depicts that Killer Whales can be a cheerful and fun animals to be around due to the fact that they are very sociable in nature, and this enables them to have a good relationship with human beings.
In November of 1983, SeaWorld set out into the ocean near Iceland to capture an orca for their shows back in the United States. They laid miles of nets, lured the orcas into their trap by using underwater explosives and high-speed boats to engulf them. After capturing a family of orca, they picked which one would draw the biggest crowds at their shows, dosed him in a type of oil that would allow them to transport him for a prolonged period without any water, and gave him the name Tilikum. Tilikum would grow up to be the largest, and most controversial, animal ever to be held in captivity. Tilikum’s life was one filled with sorrow, regret and disdain.
Another documentary that has seen great success is the 2013 documentary Blackfish. This film takes a unique view on animal captivity, and spends the majority of the film discussing the consequences and practices of the theme park SeaWorld. An article talking about the effect of the film describes the film by saying, “it critiques the industry surrounding the captive marine mammals from its beginnings in the late 1960s to the present day, with SeaWorld emerging as the major corporate target” (Brammer 73). The film is able to gain the viewers’ attention by looking at this familiar theme park that most people are familiar with. If someone has not been to a SeaWorld Park, then they have at least heard of the name and know what the park is known
Since the Brancheau incident, many marine biologists and animal activists have reached out to educate the public about the nature of orcas and the state of their conservation. In 2013, director Gabriela Cowperthwaite released the documentary Blackfish, which tells the story of Tilikum and explores the dark side of orca captivity. The success of the movie brought a massive movement calling out for the end of orca captivity at SeaWorld. Facing immense pressure from the public, the park agreed to end its orca breeding program in March of 2016, making its current 23 orcas the last