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Blackfish
The documentary Blackfish is an American film that was directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite and released July 19, 2013. The film is an emotional, eye opening, and heart captivating movie that talks about Tilikum, an orca also known as killer whales, who has supposedly been involved in 3 or more incidents while in captivity at SeaWorld facilities. Throughout the movie there are different clips from former SeaWorld trainers speaking on the cruel treatment the whales endured, the pressure they felt from the company to make sure "The Show Went On," emotional interviews from people who witnessed incidents while attending shows at SeaWorld, and the lives of trainers who were injured and lost while working with these Killer Whales.
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release of Blackfish was met with both public uproar and critical praise. Soon after this film was aired, activists and orca lovers exploded on social media, calling for a boycott of SeaWorld. However, more news was heard about little school children and the musicians being the ones known for their boycotting. The children protested to having anymore fieldtrips where they attended SeaWorld, one school even fought to stop having their High School Prom held at SeaWorld. Even the musicians such as Willie Nelson, Martina McBride, Neil Giraldo, Pat Benatar, and The Beach Boys, who were to perform at SeaWorld at a point and time canceled due this eye opening film, Blackfish. Some musicians even went as far to fight to have SeaWorld's rights to play their songs revoked! Then late in 2015 SeaWorld started launching a marketing campaign and a series of advertisements on TV to clear their name. In their commercials they claimed to treat the orcas well, and they swore that the whales held in their facilities lived just as long as those in the wild. As a result of the Blackfish documentary "the first nine months of the year 2014, SeaWorld's revenue fell by more than seven percent, and its attendance dropped by nearly five percent." This statement was made on December 12, 2014. However, that was the least of their worries. On February 26, 2015 SeaWorld was reported to have loss more in their fourth quarter of $25.4 million as attendance to its theme parks continued to fall. SeaWorld continued their long battle with negative publicity after a 2013 documentary, Blackfish. SeaWorld continued to plummet, August 6, 2015 "SeaWorld Entertainment faced an 84% drop in net second-quarter income, from $37.4 million in 2014 to $5.8 million in 2015, in the second quarter. Revenue fell from $405.1 million to $391.6 million, a drop of 3%, in the second quarter of 2015 when compared to 2014. The park saw 100,000 fewer visitors than it did at the same time in 2014, a decrease of 2%." SeaWorld was outranged with Blackfish and they decided to take drastic measures to rectify the damage done to their image, which included creating the website SeaWorld Cares, where they have articles such as "Truth about Blackfish," "Why Blackfish is propaganda, not a documentary," and "69 Reasons you Shouldn't Believe Blackfish" that bashes and puts down the allegations made about SeaWorld in the documentary Blackfish.
Unfortunately that did stop the fact they still had taken a huge financial hit. Along with losing financial loss they lost so much more. On their list of loss, the loss of some corporate sponsors and legislation has been placed in motion at both the state and federal level to end the captive breeding of orcas. That which had long been SeaWorld’s signature attraction. November 9, 2015 SeaWorld was written to be one of the "Worst Companies in America," according to Consumerist. Despite the consistent negativity SeaWorld refuses to just sit back and take the hits. They're fighting back and taking further measures to repair their imagine and reputation. The SeaWorld announced plans to phase out its longstanding Shamu orca show in San Diego, which will be replaced by a new orca attraction in 2017. According to SeaWorld CEO Joel Manby, "the new show featuring the park’s 11 orcas will be staged in a more natural setting, with a conservation message inspiring people to act." However, there was no mentioning whether the killer whale shows would be at SeaWorld’s other
two locations, in Orlando and San Antonio. As of today SeaWorld still have orcas in there faculties. Word has been spread that they're going to stop doing killer whale shows this year, 2016, but so far nothing has changed. Whales are still swimming about performing, and splashing people. However, even if they stopped the orca performances, they have stated that they would not, and will not set the whales free. They believe their whales are not able to survive in the wild due to being in captivity for so long. They seem to still be fighting to recover from the hit they took after the release of Blackfish. Their Stock price: SEAS (NYSE) $19.50 -0.17 (-0.86%) as of Feb 24, 11:27 AM EST.
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.
Thesis Statement: Closing SeaWorld’s doors would be unjust, however; SeaWorld can repair its image by providing excellent care for its current residents and by shifting the business model from entertainment to rescue, rehabilitate and release at all locations.
Seaworld is a giant marine life theme park. The greatest attraction to these many theme park would be those killer whales. In fact, these killer whales are the face of the park. As gigant as these mammals are, seaworld is keeping them in some pretty tight quarters. Mr. Jett and Mr.Ventre says “Wild killer whales can swim a hundred miles daily as they socialize, forage, communicate, and breed. In stark contrast, with little horizontal or vertical space in their enclosures, captive orcas swim only limited distances, with most spending many hours surface resting.” The animals don't have the freedom they need. Also when taking the whales out of their natural habit the whales tend to be depressed and not as heath in that situation. They need their freedom in the big ocean blue. Bring them into the small living units, breeding whales in captivity all for the entertainment of humans. At young ages the calves are taken away from their mothers on to a new seaworld park. Mothers of the calves have even been seen denying their offspring.
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 captivity of large, wild animals is accepted for theme parks all around the world. Tickets are sold for people to come and watch these animals live and even preform in an exhibit that almost resembles their natural environment. It is impossible for parks and zoos that use animals as attractions to provide the same resources and space they would have in the habitat they are usually found in. They can, however, help injured or ill animals that cannot survive in the wild. This is where I believe they should draw the line for keeping animals in captivity. SeaWorld has gotten a lot of attention in the last few years, especially since the Netflix documentary, Blackfish, was released. This film targets the company for the mistreatment of their orca whales. In particular, it told the story of one named Tilikum and shows the problems he and the other orca whales face while living under the care of SeaWorld. Gabriela Cowperthwaite, the director
Out of the 156 whales they have taken into captivity from the wild, 129 are dead. Including orcas bred within SeaWorld, at least 165 have died in their facilities (Schelling). Another falsehood SeaWorld claims is that collapsed dorsal fins are completely normal and common of all male orcas. It is actually quite rare to find in the wild, while every single one of their male whales has a collapsed dorsal fin (“8 Shocking Facts…”). SeaWorld also guarantees that they never separate a calf from its mother and even have posted a picture of a baby and its mother as proof. What they didn’t tell the public was that soon after that picture was posted they shipped the calf off to Spain alone to a different park. A past trainer even said that there had been at least 19 separations of mother and calf that he knew of at his location. All of these factors previously stated added up have a large influence on the whales mentally. Many whales are afflicted by psychosis and anxiety and in turn are given drugs such as Valium to keep them performing in shows. There have been various occasions, often swept under the rug by SeaWorld and away from the public eye, where the drugs didn’t work enough (Schelling). There
Blackfish is a well-known film about how whales were kept in captivity while being mistreated. This film explained the situation in more of a sequential order stating each event one after another from occurrence. This film was made to inform people of all the cruel and monstrous things that Sea Land and Sea World were doing to the whales.
Millions of people come from across the world to visit Seaworld every day without thinking about the lives of the animals behind the scenes. Why would they have concerns? From Seaworld’s commercials to the website, they convince the general public that Seaworld is the place to go to see the happy sea animals perform. If Seaworld is such an ecstatic place, what excuse does Tilikum, their greatest well known orca whale, have for the three attacks on trainers? The documentary “Blackfish” was created by the director Gabriela Cowperthwaite because she questioned herself after realizing Tilikum's odd behavior over time in captivity, and if there was any indisputable parts to animal captivity?
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.
It all began with good intentions. People thinking that they can control these animals and not expect any negative impacts. It was all due to wanting to explore and entertain with the animals. However, not all animals are meant to be taken from the wild to be show animals. After many years of unfair ways, SeaWorld is doing the right thing by closing down the whale exhibit even if it isn’t by choice because it is unhealthy for both the humans and animals involved.
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. The film focuses on one orca, commonly referred to as a killer whale, in particular by the name of Tilikum. The documentary begins as a group of contract fishermen hunt a family of killer whales off the coast of Iceland.
For 50 years, SeaWorld has entertained park guests with numerous stunts involving the majestic sea creature, the orca, also referred to as the killer whale, and their human trainers. What the on-lookers don’t see at these shows is what goes on behind the scenes: how the whales got there in the first place, and the conditions in which they are housed. SeaWorld San Diego opened on March 21, 1964. This was the first SeaWorld park to be established. There are three parks all together, the other two being SeaWorld San Antonio, and SeaWorld Orlando (Ask Shamu).
In the documentary, The Black Atlantic, the narrator explores the beginnings of slavery and the impact slavery had on the new world up to 1800. The black Atlantic is the first episode of a series of films called The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. in which African American culture is analyzed since slavery up to the election of the first African American president. The purpose of the documentary is to inform viewers of what slavery was like by providing stories of those who lived through slavery. For example, a ten-year-old girl named Priscilla who was taken from Sierra Leone to South Carolina in the mid-18th century. in the documentary, Henry Louis Gates Jr discusses the slave trade after the discovery of America while doing so he incorporates the experiences of certain slaves for example the slaves who arrived at Jamestown, Virginia. Additionally, the narrator talks about the first known African in America, Juan Garrido, who was brought along with Spanish explorers in 1513. The filmmakers reveal the story of another black man, Esteban the moor, who crossed a Texas desert with three other men while taking part in a Spanish expedition. Eventually throughout the documentary the filmmakers discuss and illustrate how slavery transformed from an informal arrangement to a racial system.
SeaWorld a leader in the captivity and use of killer whales for entertainment has counterattacked the points made by the documentary Blackfish, which brought many points to light. For example, SeaWorld asserts “that while research suggests that some wild killer whales can live as long as 60 to 70 years, their average lifespan is nowhere near that,” (source). In the wild, average lifespan is 30 for males, 50 for females, and can live up to be 80-90 years old. In captivity, in such environments as those at SeaWorld, most orcas die in their teens or 20s and only a handful survive past 25. The annual mortality or death rate for orcas is 2.5 times higher ...
It’s a very common practice in todays society for people to go to Sea World and see the famous shamu show while on vacation or out for a day of fun. Many people don’t fully understand how these animals feel while in captivity. Light has been shed on having these killer whales in captivity when a trainer was killed at Sea World recently. At one of the early parks called Sea Land one of the male killer whales Tilicum killed one of his trainers. After this incident Sea Land closed its doors. This meant that Tilicum was up for sale, Sea World jumped at the chance to buy him at a good price. Sea World was not fully aware that Tilicum was the actual cause of his trainers death. This was a death sentence for one of Sea Worlds female trainers. Sea World and companies like it are only in it to make money, these large animals should not be kept in captivity by any means.