Humanity has lost many beloved celebrities in the past year. David Bowie…Prince…Carrie Fisher… and, of course, Tilikum, the killer whale who stared in Blackfish. The thirty-five-year-old SeaWorld Orlando “employee” mysteriously died on January 6. Naturally, the death has sparked debate, as Blackfish portrayed the whale as a misunderstood and mistreated prisoner who murdered three people out of anger towards his captors. However, the sensationalist media has made a tragedy out of something inevitable. SeaWorld should not be blamed for keeping whales in captivity because the history of animal abuse for human entertainment is too complex to assign a single villain. Therefore, whales should be eased out of captivity, but that process should be
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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points out how most of the “SeaWorld trainers” interviewed in the film never worked with Tilikum, and how the film uses outdated information and footage to ignore SeaWorld’s modern facilities and protocol.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. However, because the directors were inspired by a SeaWorld trainer’s death to produce Blackfish, it could be argued that Blackfish’s creators exploited that SeaWorld trainer’s tragic demise to push their own agenda. SeaWorld is fighting back because they must, or else they would look like they do not care about either their orcas or the death of one of their employees. Unfortunately, Tilikum’s death is only encouraging more unfair ammo against SeaWorld, even though there is no evidence that Tilikum’s death was
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points out how most of the “SeaWorld trainers” interviewed in the film never worked with Tilikum, and how the film uses outdated information and footage to ignore SeaWorld’s modern facilities and protocol.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. However, because the directors were inspired by a SeaWorld trainer’s death to produce Blackfish, it could be argued that Blackfish’s creators exploited that SeaWorld trainer’s tragic demise to push their own agenda. SeaWorld is fighting back because they must, or else they would look like they do not care about either their orcas or the death of one of their employees. Unfortunately, Tilikum’s death is only encouraging more unfair ammo against SeaWorld, even though there is no evidence that Tilikum’s death was