Blackfish Argumentative Essay

A documentaries intention is to educate and inform their audience on a certain topic or social change. Blackfish (2014) directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite scrutinizes the treatment of killer whales in captivity and highlights SeaWorld cruel treatment of them. It has a focus on portraying how killer whales are highly intelligent, social and emotional animals that should be kept in the wild. The Cove (2009), directed by Louie Psihoyos, explores the town of Taiji which from the outside looks like a Japanese town with a love of dolphins but showcases the horrible truth of the slaughter of thousands of dolphins yearly which they are trying to hide. The Cove main agenda is to demonstrate that dolphins are highly intelligent, social and emotional

animals that should be kept in the wild. The creators of these documentaries use a variety of film techniques to persuade the opinion of the audience, by including heart wrenching interviews, live footage of their chosen animals in the wild and how they are inhumanely treated and poignant music to accompany this all.

Psihoyos and Cowperthwaite use emotional interviews in a variety of ways to generate empathy for animal rights. The Cove uses Ric O’Barry former trainer of flipper; the TV show that made the world love dolphins as a huge persuasive technique. With him changing sides from the commercialisation of dolphins to the conservation of dolphins. Psihoyos use to showcase if he can change sides then so can the viewer. Likewise, Blackfish uses this same technique with numerous interviews with former SeaWorld trainers to show us that people who worked so closely with the animal in captivity loathe SeaWorld then so should we. Cowperthwaite use interviews to evoke emotion with John Jett one of the formal trainers saying in an interview “When you look into their eyes, you know someone is home. Someone is looking back” He has tried to make the viewer no longer see the whales as animals but to try and humanise them. When the interviews are with the protagonist the interviewee has had time to plan their answers, which gives the impression of well-informed, truthful and educated answers which we should side with. When the interview is with the differing interviewee they are given questions on the spot and they have to scramble to answer portraying them as less credible. These examples show how documentary filmmakers are very deliberate in how they choose to interview others to further their agenda.

Psihoyos and Cowperthwaite use of live and archival footage to persuade the opinion of the viewer.

One of The Cove main arguments is highlighting how difficult it is to see what really is happening with the dolphins, and how it is blocked from the public. We the viewers are instinctively drawn into this idea with the first line of the documentary being “I want to tell you, we tried to do the story legally”. We feel as if we are going undercover and exposing the truth. Juxtaposition is used with a woman eating dolphin at a Taiji theme park as she watches a dolphin show while Ric O’Barry narrates: “Here in Taiji, you can go to the Whale Museum and watch the dolphin show and eat a dolphin at the same time. They sell dolphin and whale meat right in the dolphinarium. It's the captivity industry that keeps this slaughter going by rewarding the fishermen for their bad behaviour.” Psihoyos intent is to shock the audience and persuade them to question Taiji methods. Blackfish pushes it agenda using archival footage with John Crowe a former orca capturer. Along with archival footage shown of the babies being captured while the rest of the family “communicate back and forth”. “You understand then what you’re doing. I lost it. I started crying…it’s like kidnapping a little kid away from its mother…it’s the worst thing I can think of.” These examples show how documentary filmmakers are very deliberate in how they of live and archival footage showcases how these video are deliberately chosen to further their

agenda.

Psihoyos and Cowperthwaite used music in their films to manipulate the audience emotionally. Psihoyos uses music as an extremely influential technique with a scene of dolphins shown swimming free in the wild. “You have to see them in the wild to understand why captivity doesn’t work” Wondrous music (harp, piano). Psihoyos uses this technique to showcases that dolphins belong in the wild.
Even when Ric the protagonist of the documentary takes on the IWC triumphant music is played in the background to further their agenda. Cowperthwaite uses music throughout the documentary is suspenseful, portraying the whales in captivity as “ticking time bombs”. Anything could happen, any time. It keeps you on edge. These examples show how documentary filmmakers can use music to manipulate their audience to feel a certain way about the content and therefore persuade the opinion of viewers.

Psihoyos and Cowperthwaite use many different persuasive techniques to sway the viewers’ opinion on particular issues. Both films use similar film techniques to convey their truths in interviews, and live and archival footage. However, the films differ in their use of music– Psihoyos choosing music to pull at the heart strings; Cowperthwaite using music to set the tone although both prove to be persuasive in the end.