I watched the documentary Blackfish written by Gabriela Cowperthwaite and Eli B. Despres for the second time last week. The documentary is about Tilikum, an orca that killed three people at SeaWorld. The directors wanted to build a case against using wild animals for commercial value and against keeping wild animals in captivity. The first time I watched the film was shortly after it came out in 2013. I was sitting in my family room with my two friends who had seen it before and had strong opinions that keeping animals in captivity is wrong, no matter what the circumstances. With solely the statements from my friends, I quickly created a preconceived notion that made me feel sympathetic for the orcas. The film began with dark, suspenseful
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The divers described their experience as torture. One of the divers, John Crower said, “It’s just like kidnapping a little kid from their mother”. My heart ached while witnessing Crower, who to my surprise was wearing a cut off t-shirt displaying his many tattoos, react as if he was a soft, emotional kid. Crower was a statement that the directors were trying to make. If a “tough guy” is practically in tears while thinking back to how these animals were treated, the audience will feel more sympathetic for these orcas. That was exactly what happened to me, my emotions got the best of me, and I continued to watch the film while mainly focusing on the emotional …show more content…
I began to question, “Could it really be that the animals were psychotic based on captivity or is there an underlying trait about orca whales that is natural to them that would cause them to be aggressive?” The bias in this documentary is that the orcas only show aggression because of their captivity. In my opinion this is not true. Even though it was from afar, while sailing the Caribbean Sea, I had the chance to see why these gigantic black and white creatures are often known as “killer whales”. It is because they kill their pray in order to survive. So it is not surprising to me to see the orcas show aggressive behavior while held in captivity, but at the same time it is not fair to say that the orcas do not show aggressive behavior in the wild. Killer whales are social and intelligent animals that many people enjoy to watch, but the bottom line is that they are not meant to be around humans. Therefore, should not be held
The divers described their experience as torture. One of the divers, John Crower said, “It’s just like kidnapping a little kid from their mother”. My heart ached while witnessing Crower, who to my surprise was wearing a cut off t-shirt displaying his many tattoos, react as if he was a soft, emotional kid. Crower was a statement that the directors were trying to make. If a “tough guy” is practically in tears while thinking back to how these animals were treated, the audience will feel more sympathetic for these orcas. That was exactly what happened to me, my emotions got the best of me, and I continued to watch the film while mainly focusing on the emotional …show more content…
I began to question, “Could it really be that the animals were psychotic based on captivity or is there an underlying trait about orca whales that is natural to them that would cause them to be aggressive?” The bias in this documentary is that the orcas only show aggression because of their captivity. In my opinion this is not true. Even though it was from afar, while sailing the Caribbean Sea, I had the chance to see why these gigantic black and white creatures are often known as “killer whales”. It is because they kill their pray in order to survive. So it is not surprising to me to see the orcas show aggressive behavior while held in captivity, but at the same time it is not fair to say that the orcas do not show aggressive behavior in the wild. Killer whales are social and intelligent animals that many people enjoy to watch, but the bottom line is that they are not meant to be around humans. Therefore, should not be held