Blackfish Documentary Analysis

Improved Essays
Orcas’ Behind Closed Tanks

Imagine you are a four to eight year old child and you are on vacation with your family entering into a SeaWorld. The excitement has been building up from the commercials that show you these huge and majestic animals that are not like the everyday animal you see on a daily basis. The commercials have a way of taking your imagination to another level, and any child even an adult is at awe with the level of performance these orcas’ are putting on. Amongst the magic, laughter, and adrenaline that you feel you don’t question whether or not these wild animals should be contained like they are. Blackfish, a documentary released on July 19, 2013 by Gabriela Cowperthwaite and filmed by Manuel Oteyza, answered some of the top questions about the orca’s that are behind closed tanks at SeaWorld. The documentary follows the life of a
…show more content…
With the documentary there also came lots of questions as to if everything seems to be correct and every fact can be backed up with specific evidence to prove that SeaWorld is in fact engaging with their whales the way that Blackfish states. One of the top questions that has remained unanswered is if SeaWorld says that things in Blackfish documentary were false and they used fallacies then why did SeaWorld not offer to give an interview and declined them when they offered? This is something that remains unanswered and so does every other statement stated by these top trainers that used to work at SeaWorld. Another thing that is not clear to the audience of Blackfish is why are there no recent SeaWorld trainers that are currently working with these orcas’ that were interviewed? Even though everyone that was interviewed in Blakfish were ex- orca trainers they still had more than just the facts, they gave specific evidence to back up any claims towards

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    As a child, I remember pressing my face against the TV being in absolute awe when I saw a SeaWorld commercial with the infamous Shamu jumping out of the crystal clear water. Years later I look back at my foolish innocence and open my eyes to what really happens behind the closed gates of SeaWorld. Shamu and other orcas alike are put on a spectacle with lights, music, and talented trainers for the smiles and laughter of the audience and used as a ticket selling mechanism for the multibillion-dollar company. In 2013 a documentary film directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite was released on national television on CNN; this film is known as Blackfish. Using the rhetorical components ethos, pathos, and logos Blackfish opens the gates to what really happens…

    • 857 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Blackfish Research Paper

    • 668 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Captive Killer Whales Blackfish is a movie about an orca named Tilikum who was captured at a young age and taken to perform at Sealand. Within a year and a half he was moved to Seaworld for breeding purposes and because Sealand shut down. Tilikum soon became a great attraction and everyone wanted to see him and all the trainers wanted to train him. They all thought Tilikum was an excellent whale, but that is because they were never told that anything bad happened.…

    • 668 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Blackfish is a film about the life of Tilikum, an orca captured at 2 years old and raised in captivity. While Tilikum lived in Seaworld he showed signs of frustration, and aggression leading to the deaths of three people. It appears his behavior stemmed from his experiences. For instance, at Sealand of the Pacific Tilikum and an older more experienced whale was placed in the same tank as Tilikum so that Tilikum would learn the tricks.…

    • 417 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Have you ever been to Sea World? Have you ever seen the film Blackfish? Blackfish is a documentary on how killer whales, specifically the famous Tilikum, are affected by being held in captivity. The whales are captured to be used as entertainment at SeaWorld parks around the world. People that have not watched the film may ask how they could possibly be affected and .…

    • 468 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Fallacies In Blackfish

    • 1506 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The propaganda piece Blackfish tried to turn it’s audience against the idea of whales held in captivity, yet the film was ineffective because it utilized emotional appeal, inappropriate diction, and contained many logical fallacies thus alienating those that viewed the piece. Blackfish, commissioned by CNN Films and directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, is a response to the, amongst other things, taking whales from the wild, separating whales from their mothers, and keeping them in a miniscule enclosures, and perhaps most recently the death of SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau. What Blackfish aims to accomplish is emotionally connecting with it’s audience, more likely than not being those who do not know much about orca whales in captivity. Where…

    • 1506 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    So if they are that large, their brains are 4 times larger than human brains (Killer Whales Don’t Belong In Captivity). There is a good chance that their brains are as developed as ours, maybe even more advanced than us (Killer Whales Don’t Belong In Captivity). From being in these confined spaces, these animals go through the same emotions as us like stress, depression, and anxiety (8 Reasons Orcas Don’t Belong at Seaworld, PETA). Just like it was said in the documentary, when a mother and baby are separated they go through what us humans go through, and mourn. Sometimes they will act out and break their teeth by biting at the tanks walls and iron bars from their emotions and trying to get out (8 Reasons Orcas Don’t Belong at Seaworld,…

    • 857 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    An article counteracting the renowned film, Blackfish, a documentary about the inhumane treatment and situation of orcas in captivity, was released by Seaworld Cares. Seaworld Cares is a foundation for animals supported by Seaworld. The article was the company’s retort against the film’s “ultimately false and misleading points”. The main purpose of the article is to persuade the reader, while providing some information to support their points. They wish to urge the reader to believe that not everything in the film, Blackfish, was true nor trustworthy.…

    • 617 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Blackfish Analysis

    • 1017 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Contributing to false authority, as well as invalidating the film’s claim, Blackfish implies through audio and visual effects that certain trainers have more experience than they really do. For instance, Samantha Berg, a former trainer who worked at SeaWorld from 1990 to 1993, and had very limited experience with whales. The film plays a clip of her speaking about doing waterwork with an orca over footage of another trainer interacting with a killer whale, when in actuality, the footage was from 10 years after the end of Samantha Berg’s employment with SeaWorld. To further illustrate the false implications the film makes, Blackfish uses video footage of a former trainer John Hargrove with a bloody face, insinuating that he was injured in an act of whale aggression, when in reality he was injured by making a mistake during a maneuver. In addition, Blackfish uses false and misleading footage to specifically further the movement against the animal handling practices of SeaWorld, and an example of this is when the film discusses the separation of mother and calf, wherein the film uses…

    • 1017 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In 2013 the documentary “Blackfish” premiered at the Sundance festival, but was later spread to a larger community with the help of CNN. The film “Blackfish” questions the treatment and imprisonment of Orca Whales and proposes the idea that being held in small enclosures is detrimental to the health of these intelligent beings. After the documentary aired, “Seaworld’s profits dropped 84%” (Rhodan), but there are some visitors who still choose to attend the amusement park. What is the amoral history behind Seaworld? Are Seaworld visitors an accomplice to the abuse of Orca Whales?…

    • 569 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Is it an Immeasurable Lie “Blackfish” the truth comes out. At Sea World animals are being abused, and the truth withheld from the public. In the movie “Blackfish” the whole truth comes out about how Sea World lied about whales and the death of trainers. Using ethos, logos and pathos the movie tells the whole truth. The truth that Sea World would not release to the public, but instead lied about just about every situation there was, that involved a whale or a trainer.…

    • 859 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Blackfish Film Techniques

    • 1081 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Captured Entertainment In a notorious documentary directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, stories of remarkable yet highly viscous orca whales are recognized. In this film, Blackfish, former SeaWorld trainers and employees are interviewed in order to discover and expose the truth about the astounding conditions and treatment of these well cherished killer whales. While held in captivity, the orca whales exemplify horrific and shocking behavior, that would not otherwise exist in the wild. Blackfish thoroughly illustrates why holding these beloved and majestic animals in captivity is not only detrimental to the whales themselves but also to the people around them.…

    • 1081 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Effects of Orcas in Captivity Ever wonder what goes on behind the scenes of the killer whale shows at SeaWorld? So much preparation goes into the shows at SeaWorld. This causes frustration within the whales that can result in whales acting out on other whales and SeaWorld trainers.…

    • 1603 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Ethos In Blackfish

    • 344 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In the documentary Blackfish, the director is Gabriela Cowperthwaite, and when she created the documentary, she used ethos, pathos, and logos to described how SeaWorld treats the killer whales. An example of pathos in the documentary is when SeaWorld went to go capture the baby killer whales from the wild, they would take the calves away from their mom by following the adult killer whales that they believed were the moms, so that the mother and the calf can use another path to escape, which sadly ended with the killer whales being captured. The people that captured the killer whale chose the calves because the calves have more of their life to live then the moms, and they can work for a longer period of time. When the whales are in captivity,…

    • 344 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Great Essays

    SeaWorld has made several online statements about the inaccuracy of Blackfish. The most impressive of these statements was a 32-page document outlining many of Blackfish’s inaccuracies with cited evidence. For example, SeaWorld points out how most of the “SeaWorld trainers” interviewed in the film never worked with Tilikum, and how the film uses outdated information and footage to ignore SeaWorld’s modern facilities and protocol. News outlets still unfairly consider SeaWorld a target anyway, because Blackfish appeals to emotion while SeaWorld fights back with facts. Blackfish in news articles is often framed as if the film’s producers are underdogs stepping up against the soulless corporate entity that is SeaWorld.…

    • 802 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    While growing up in America, I have always been brought to zoos and aquariums. These animal holding locations give people an opportunity to see animals up close and personal. But to what expense on the animals does this bring? Blackfish is a documentary about Orca whales being held in captivity around the world and the effect it brings to the animals. This documentary provides the real information on how an animals can lose their natural abilities to live.…

    • 935 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays