essay analysis of blackfish
Blackfish is a documentary produced in 2013 about the captivity of killer whales, also known as Orca whales, in amusement and theme parks. The film targets a wide demographic of people, mostly consisting of families, who go to SeaWorld, while attempting to convince viewers that theme parks, such as SeaWorld and Sealand, are not as fun and entertaining as they advertise. Gabriela Cowperthwaite, the director of Blackfish, is no newcomer to documentaries; she has had over 12 years of experience directing documentaries. Her line of work falls right in line with Blackfish - she has directed for National Geographic, Animal Planet, as well as Discovery Channel. From these works alone, it is evident that Cowperthwaite has a high interest in wildlife and nature - she too has taken her children to SeaWorld. The tragic killing of Dawn Brancheau, who, at the time, was one of SeaWorld’s most experienced and loved trainers, moved Cowperthwaite in such a way that she was prompted to create this film. The documentary creates implications for many business enterprises, which SeaWorld is seeing as it experiences a corporate breakdown with a 30% decrease in stocks. Even companies associated with SeaWorld, such as Southwest Airlines, are ending long-term partnerships in fear of bad publicity associated with SeaWorld’s questionable practices. While Blackfish publicizes the cruel treatment of Orca whales in captivity in a way to move viewers to act, it is constrained by its availability as a documentary to viewers and by its lack of addressing potential solutions for the businesses.
The documentary Blackfish argues that, contrary to popular belief caused by propaganda through places like SeaWorld, Orca whale captivity can be harmful not only to the species, but humans as well. The cruel treatment the whales receive in captivity – being punished for not complying with trainer requests, being kept in small, tight spaces sometimes up to 14 hours a day – can exert the whales and even drive them insane to some degree, leading to poor health and dangerous behaviors. To back this claim, the documentary provides evidence by recounting the story of Tilikum and by pulling data and facts from business enterprises and whale experts.
The main premise for Blackfish relies on a life story of Tilikum, a killer whale captured as a child and used as a source of entertainment in theme parks. At the age of just two years old, Tilikum was captured and separated from his family in Iceland and held in a small cement tank as he awaited transfer to his new home – Sealand in Victoria, Canada. There, Tilikum’s home wasn’t much of an upgrade – a barely sufficient tank which he shared with two other female whales – and the whales received cruel treatment. The whales would perform eight times a day, seven times a week, which lead to exhaustion, and during training, the trainers would withhold food from all three whales if just one failed to perform a task properly. Because Tilikum was young and new to Sealand, he would often fail to complete a task; the females would get frustrated with him, which led to them raking Tilikum at night – digging their teeth into his skin leaving wounds and scratches all over his body. This brutal treatment likely lead to accumulated aggression in Tilikum, which manifested itself after trainer Keltie Byrne had fallen into the pool with the whales; Tilikum repeatedly dragged Byrne to the bottom of the pool before she ultimately drowned. Shortly after the incident, Sealand closed its doors, and Tilikum was on the market – an opportunity quickly seized by SeaWorld. There, Tilikum cost the lives of two more trainers – Daniel P. Dukes in 1999 and Dawn Brancheau in 2010. Currently, Tilikum exhibits abnormal behaviors, such as chewing on parts of the tank and floating lifelessly in the water for hours at a time– behaviors which have never been observed in the wild.
In addition to the story of Tilikum, Blackfish also presents its argument through reliance on facts from experts, data from business enterprises, and observations from the wild. Though the documentary focuses primarily on Tilikum, the occurrences go beyond that. SeaWorld’s park records, obtained by OSHA, contain 600 pages of incident documentations of unexpected or dangerous orca behavior with trainers, more than 100 in which the whales plunged at, bit, or rammed the trainer. SeaWorld testifies that the violent behavior towards humans is due to the fault of the trainer, yet, as Blackfish points out, they don’t show the videos to new trainers to allow them to learn from previous mistakes; were these truly mistakes, trainers would be encouraged to watch the videos and observe the behaviors. Many of SeaWorld’s employees claim that Orca whales live 25-35 years and that about 25% of whales develop a “floppy” fin; on the other hand, whale experts and biologists argue that, in their natural habitats, whales live much longer, and only about 1% develop a floppy fin, which occurs as a result of stress and exertion. Most Orcas in the wild are also observed to interact kindly and calmly with humans, as opposed to the aggressive behavior seen in captivity.
The documentary assumes that most people care not only about the safety of trainers, but about the sanctity of animals and their preservation in nature as well. Whales are an integral part of our planet’s ecology, and tampering with their ecosystem can have harmful effects on not only humans, but other animals, too. In addition, the safety of trainers is ultimately more important than the entertainment they provide us. Many people do recognize, to some degree, the moral issues of holding whales in captivity; this argument is limited, however, by the fact that whales are a large part of the entertainment business and bring in a lot of revenue for theme parks.
Extrinsic ethos is demonstrated through various members of the film crew having a very extensive and solid background in their field to show that they have the right experience and credentials. Additionally, director Gabriela Cowperthwaite has 12 years of experience working and creating films for ESPN, Discovery, History Channel, and National Geographic. The producer Manuel V. Oteyza is also established; he has produced films for over 11 years, according to Internet Movie Database (IMDb) and has worked as a producer on Bill Nye's show, K:2 Surviving The Mountain, Wayne Quinton and Engineering life, and many more. Writers Eli Despres and Tim Zimmerman also have similar extensive backgrounds on IMDb.
Although members of the film crew have a strong background, they do not seem to be well known, nor do they seem to be famous for the documentary. No members have an extensive wiki page, and IMDb is the only site that shows what they have accomplished. This might dissuade some viewers or raise some questions on why their work has not gained enough individual recognition.
Throughout the film there are numerous examples of intrinsic ethos; many of the statements and conclusions that are drawn are backed by using media reports, actual video footage of whale attacks, court cases, and medical reports of the victims. The documentary states many facts that disprove Sea World's statements about whale life, behavior, and health, which are backed by the scientists and trainer interviews. Many highlights of whale aggression are shown and backed with both paper and footage evidence to bolster their claims. Additionally, many individuals of different occupations, including SeaWorld trainers, whale hunters, and scientists, were interviewed in the film to gain different perspectives and different reasons to fight against whale captivity. Having different perspectives that agree on a similar argument creates credibility in that there are more reasons to believe the argument.
Cowperthwaite the director only interviewed Mark Simmons on opposing viewpoint against whale captivity. It is not known whether he argued for whale captivity so he wouldn't discredit "Ocean Embassy," a company he co-founded that captures dolphins. The film however argues that SeaWorld refused to express their opinions about whale captivity as an apparent excuse for not investigating an opposing viewpoint. It does affect the credibility of the argument in some way because the audience is not able to draw a connection to why people argue for animal captivity. Also the film avoids countering and mentioning the arguments about the benefits of whale captivity. A strong pathetic appeal is used to push the audience from raising any questions.
The emotional appeal in Blackfish is heavily emphasized. Immediately, the audience’s ears are presented with a phone call to 911 about something that would change SeaWorld forever - Dawn Brancheau was killed by a killer whale, Tilikum. The speaker’s voice is frantic and worried throughout the call while the 911 operator’s voice is confused; a SeaWorld trainer being killed by a Orca whale is not something of the ordinary. During the call, the audience is shown captured video footage of the incident from an underwater camera. The video is gruesome and shows Brancheau suddenly being snatched by Tilikum from below. After the video is shown, a follow up call from a detective is played, revealing the cold-blooded details of the killing - there was no blood: Brancheau’s arm was swallowed whole, her head scalped. The introduction appeals to the audience’s sense of tragedy in order to keep the audience hooked on for the main argument.
Blackfish creates a sense of sympathy in the audience for Tilikum by displaying news reports that aired surrounding the controversy that arose out of the death of Brancheau. A news reporters from CNN posed the question: “If you were trapped in a bathtub for 25 years, wouldn’t you feel irritated, aggravated, maybe a little psychotic?” The rhetorical question places the audience into Tilikum’s “shoes,” being trapped in a small space for a prolonged amount of time is analogous to spending life in a jail cell. By using the word “trapped,” the reporter is conveying remorse into the cruel actions committed by SeaWorld. Actions done by SeaWorld are also actions done by humans; the film makes the entire human race feel guilty for trapping these whales - especially the helpless juveniles - into something they can never escape from.
Blackfish uses the fact that whales are captured at a young age to pull on the heartstrings of young parents who are able to relate to the familial bond between the whales and their offspring just like the bond shared with their sons and daughters. This bond is something that they would never want taken away. The films conveys this through interview with whale hunters; they too feel like they are taking away something precious, but the money is too good for them to stop. The interview frames the hunters as people with hearts - just very cold and greedy ones. SeaWorld trainers, when asked, cried when responding to questions about the post birth care of newborn whales. The moment the whales are born, they are taken away to be trained and fed by trainers. No time is spent between the mother whale and her offspring. This is absolutely heartbreaking because, in the wild, mothers stay by their babies and care for them until they are mature enough to go on their own - essentially Orca whales raise their young just as many humans do.
Overall, Blackfish utilizes all three components - ethos, pathos, and logos - to create a documentary that not only provides credible, concrete facts and evidence, but touches the viewers' emotions and moves them to take a stand against amusement parks' practices. The numerous interviews and expertise of the speakers gives the documentary credibility, the connection to human beings creates an emotional appeal, and the reliance on data, facts, and evidence creates a logical basis for the argument. The effectiveness of the documentary, however, may be limited by its availability as a movie and its focus on solely one incident.
The documentary Blackfish argues that, contrary to popular belief caused by propaganda through places like SeaWorld, Orca whale captivity can be harmful not only to the species, but humans as well. The cruel treatment the whales receive in captivity – being punished for not complying with trainer requests, being kept in small, tight spaces sometimes up to 14 hours a day – can exert the whales and even drive them insane to some degree, leading to poor health and dangerous behaviors. To back this claim, the documentary provides evidence by recounting the story of Tilikum and by pulling data and facts from business enterprises and whale experts.
The main premise for Blackfish relies on a life story of Tilikum, a killer whale captured as a child and used as a source of entertainment in theme parks. At the age of just two years old, Tilikum was captured and separated from his family in Iceland and held in a small cement tank as he awaited transfer to his new home – Sealand in Victoria, Canada. There, Tilikum’s home wasn’t much of an upgrade – a barely sufficient tank which he shared with two other female whales – and the whales received cruel treatment. The whales would perform eight times a day, seven times a week, which lead to exhaustion, and during training, the trainers would withhold food from all three whales if just one failed to perform a task properly. Because Tilikum was young and new to Sealand, he would often fail to complete a task; the females would get frustrated with him, which led to them raking Tilikum at night – digging their teeth into his skin leaving wounds and scratches all over his body. This brutal treatment likely lead to accumulated aggression in Tilikum, which manifested itself after trainer Keltie Byrne had fallen into the pool with the whales; Tilikum repeatedly dragged Byrne to the bottom of the pool before she ultimately drowned. Shortly after the incident, Sealand closed its doors, and Tilikum was on the market – an opportunity quickly seized by SeaWorld. There, Tilikum cost the lives of two more trainers – Daniel P. Dukes in 1999 and Dawn Brancheau in 2010. Currently, Tilikum exhibits abnormal behaviors, such as chewing on parts of the tank and floating lifelessly in the water for hours at a time– behaviors which have never been observed in the wild.
In addition to the story of Tilikum, Blackfish also presents its argument through reliance on facts from experts, data from business enterprises, and observations from the wild. Though the documentary focuses primarily on Tilikum, the occurrences go beyond that. SeaWorld’s park records, obtained by OSHA, contain 600 pages of incident documentations of unexpected or dangerous orca behavior with trainers, more than 100 in which the whales plunged at, bit, or rammed the trainer. SeaWorld testifies that the violent behavior towards humans is due to the fault of the trainer, yet, as Blackfish points out, they don’t show the videos to new trainers to allow them to learn from previous mistakes; were these truly mistakes, trainers would be encouraged to watch the videos and observe the behaviors. Many of SeaWorld’s employees claim that Orca whales live 25-35 years and that about 25% of whales develop a “floppy” fin; on the other hand, whale experts and biologists argue that, in their natural habitats, whales live much longer, and only about 1% develop a floppy fin, which occurs as a result of stress and exertion. Most Orcas in the wild are also observed to interact kindly and calmly with humans, as opposed to the aggressive behavior seen in captivity.
The documentary assumes that most people care not only about the safety of trainers, but about the sanctity of animals and their preservation in nature as well. Whales are an integral part of our planet’s ecology, and tampering with their ecosystem can have harmful effects on not only humans, but other animals, too. In addition, the safety of trainers is ultimately more important than the entertainment they provide us. Many people do recognize, to some degree, the moral issues of holding whales in captivity; this argument is limited, however, by the fact that whales are a large part of the entertainment business and bring in a lot of revenue for theme parks.
Extrinsic ethos is demonstrated through various members of the film crew having a very extensive and solid background in their field to show that they have the right experience and credentials. Additionally, director Gabriela Cowperthwaite has 12 years of experience working and creating films for ESPN, Discovery, History Channel, and National Geographic. The producer Manuel V. Oteyza is also established; he has produced films for over 11 years, according to Internet Movie Database (IMDb) and has worked as a producer on Bill Nye's show, K:2 Surviving The Mountain, Wayne Quinton and Engineering life, and many more. Writers Eli Despres and Tim Zimmerman also have similar extensive backgrounds on IMDb.
Although members of the film crew have a strong background, they do not seem to be well known, nor do they seem to be famous for the documentary. No members have an extensive wiki page, and IMDb is the only site that shows what they have accomplished. This might dissuade some viewers or raise some questions on why their work has not gained enough individual recognition.
Throughout the film there are numerous examples of intrinsic ethos; many of the statements and conclusions that are drawn are backed by using media reports, actual video footage of whale attacks, court cases, and medical reports of the victims. The documentary states many facts that disprove Sea World's statements about whale life, behavior, and health, which are backed by the scientists and trainer interviews. Many highlights of whale aggression are shown and backed with both paper and footage evidence to bolster their claims. Additionally, many individuals of different occupations, including SeaWorld trainers, whale hunters, and scientists, were interviewed in the film to gain different perspectives and different reasons to fight against whale captivity. Having different perspectives that agree on a similar argument creates credibility in that there are more reasons to believe the argument.
Cowperthwaite the director only interviewed Mark Simmons on opposing viewpoint against whale captivity. It is not known whether he argued for whale captivity so he wouldn't discredit "Ocean Embassy," a company he co-founded that captures dolphins. The film however argues that SeaWorld refused to express their opinions about whale captivity as an apparent excuse for not investigating an opposing viewpoint. It does affect the credibility of the argument in some way because the audience is not able to draw a connection to why people argue for animal captivity. Also the film avoids countering and mentioning the arguments about the benefits of whale captivity. A strong pathetic appeal is used to push the audience from raising any questions.
The emotional appeal in Blackfish is heavily emphasized. Immediately, the audience’s ears are presented with a phone call to 911 about something that would change SeaWorld forever - Dawn Brancheau was killed by a killer whale, Tilikum. The speaker’s voice is frantic and worried throughout the call while the 911 operator’s voice is confused; a SeaWorld trainer being killed by a Orca whale is not something of the ordinary. During the call, the audience is shown captured video footage of the incident from an underwater camera. The video is gruesome and shows Brancheau suddenly being snatched by Tilikum from below. After the video is shown, a follow up call from a detective is played, revealing the cold-blooded details of the killing - there was no blood: Brancheau’s arm was swallowed whole, her head scalped. The introduction appeals to the audience’s sense of tragedy in order to keep the audience hooked on for the main argument.
Blackfish creates a sense of sympathy in the audience for Tilikum by displaying news reports that aired surrounding the controversy that arose out of the death of Brancheau. A news reporters from CNN posed the question: “If you were trapped in a bathtub for 25 years, wouldn’t you feel irritated, aggravated, maybe a little psychotic?” The rhetorical question places the audience into Tilikum’s “shoes,” being trapped in a small space for a prolonged amount of time is analogous to spending life in a jail cell. By using the word “trapped,” the reporter is conveying remorse into the cruel actions committed by SeaWorld. Actions done by SeaWorld are also actions done by humans; the film makes the entire human race feel guilty for trapping these whales - especially the helpless juveniles - into something they can never escape from.
Blackfish uses the fact that whales are captured at a young age to pull on the heartstrings of young parents who are able to relate to the familial bond between the whales and their offspring just like the bond shared with their sons and daughters. This bond is something that they would never want taken away. The films conveys this through interview with whale hunters; they too feel like they are taking away something precious, but the money is too good for them to stop. The interview frames the hunters as people with hearts - just very cold and greedy ones. SeaWorld trainers, when asked, cried when responding to questions about the post birth care of newborn whales. The moment the whales are born, they are taken away to be trained and fed by trainers. No time is spent between the mother whale and her offspring. This is absolutely heartbreaking because, in the wild, mothers stay by their babies and care for them until they are mature enough to go on their own - essentially Orca whales raise their young just as many humans do.
Overall, Blackfish utilizes all three components - ethos, pathos, and logos - to create a documentary that not only provides credible, concrete facts and evidence, but touches the viewers' emotions and moves them to take a stand against amusement parks' practices. The numerous interviews and expertise of the speakers gives the documentary credibility, the connection to human beings creates an emotional appeal, and the reliance on data, facts, and evidence creates a logical basis for the argument. The effectiveness of the documentary, however, may be limited by its availability as a movie and its focus on solely one incident.