Rhetoric Techniques In The Film, Blackfish

Improved Essays
The film, Blackfish, was a phenomenal movie; it convinced and informed the public, that orca whales in captivity should be free, by the using the art of persuasion. A plethora of persuasive rhetoric was evident throughout the duration of the film. It is clear orcas should stay in the ocean since they are killing more people when captive. In addition, killer whales are better off in the wild since they are cruelly captured and handled by humans. The motion picture used an exceptional variety of techniques known as ethos, pathos, and logos to persuade the public that whales so not belong in captivity. In summary, Blackfish aimed to persuade the public to realize killer whales belong in their natural habitat, not SeaWorld shows. This educational film revealed SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau’s tragic accident as she was ripped apart by an orca. It exposed the tragic history of mistreatment of orca whales in the SeaWorld entertainment industry. The stirring film, Blackfish, will keep …show more content…
It is an excellent example of the rhetoric appeal known as pathos. First, the author connects to the audience by pricking emotions. That is done by playing depressed or sensitive music in the background throughout the entire movie to move the viewer further. The film did a fine job of showing the inhumane conditions the whales endure upon first contact with humans. The tactics use to capture the orca’s was very upsetting. Nothing makes you want to cry more than a full grown burly man telling you, with tears in his eyes, he made the “biggest mistake” of his life by capturing killer whales. Also, somber scenes of enormous whales in puny tanks creates an emotional picture to effectively prove the argument that orca whales should be returned to the wild. Blackfish stabs emotions by using a rhetoric appeal of emotion, known as pathos. The tone is sad and somber throughout the entire film to aid the appeal of

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    Tilikum Case Study

    • 167 Words
    • 1 Pages

    The argument that was that was been touched upon in Blackfish was that if killer whales turn aggressive when been kept for amusement. For example, Tilikum a male orca that was kept being judged for accidents that he was involved in like the one with a former SeaWorld trainer where it’s said that she slipped into the pool and Tilikum drowned her, but other former workers would say it happened because she wasn’t being careful, so it was all her fault not Tilikums. Also, there was another accident that happened with Daniel Dukes he wandered into the pool after hours. The next day a former trainer saw Tilikum swimming with him on his back. After having the autopsy it was proven Tilikum attacked him and after he was dead.…

    • 167 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • 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

    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

    Blackfish Critique

    • 1204 Words
    • 5 Pages

    It honestly feels like SeaWorld spent thirty minutes or less on this and just posted it on their websites. The entire article is spent trying to shift focus away from what SeaWorld does wrong and instead redirect focus onto what Blackfish does wrong. In the same article multiple times they state that “Blackfish” makes false statements about the circumstances of Ms. Brancheau’s death, stating "The film spins an entirely fictitious account of Dawn Bracheu 's death in order to advance its anti-captivity narrative". However the reality is that an experienced trainer in SeaWorld was killed either on purpose or by accident by a killer whale in SeaWorld.…

    • 1204 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Sharkwater Rhetorical Analysis Sharkwater is a 2006 documentary created by Rob Stewart, a young biologist and underwater photographer. Being passionate about the ocean and those who inhabit it, Stewart created his documentary with the intention of destroying the bad reputation that society and the media has put on sharks. Stewart also highlights in his documentary how humans have cruelly made sharks the prey and the enemy for decades. Ethos, pathos, and logos played a very important role in Sharkwater, and was strategically used throughout the documentary in order to persuade the audience that sharks aren’t the enemy, and shouldn’t be treated as such. Pathos, the appeal to one’s emotions, was heavily relied on throughout the documentary in…

    • 1141 Words
    • 5 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

    Throughout the documentary Blackfish, which debuted in 2013, director Gabriela Cowperthwaite argues that SeaWorld keeping killer whales in captivity is not only inhumane and dangerous for the whales themselves, but also dangerous to humans that train them and interact with them on a daily basis. The documentary starts off with a very famous phone call to the Orange County sheriff saying that the Senior trainer for SeaWorld, Dawn Brancheau, had been eaten by a Killer Whale; her arm was completely ripped off her body and swallowed by the whale. A few moments later groups and families of killer whales are shown in the ocean as peaceful and majestic animals. This indirectly gives the impression that killer whales are peaceful animals when not confined to captivity.…

    • 974 Words
    • 4 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

    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
  • Improved Essays

    Captivity In Captivity Essay

    • 2433 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Killer Whales in Captivity Ever since humans had first started capturing killer whales from their natural habitats in order to place them in captivity, there has been ongoing controversy that only continues to grow as time goes on. The recent 2013 documentary that discusses the reality of captive orcas, called "Blackfish", only strengthens the arguments against holding killer whales in captivity for their entire lives. The main problem is that it does not seem humane to keep such large animals enclosed in man-made environments that hold no comparison to the world 's seemingly endless oceans. The only purpose these enclosed animals serve is to entertain us in order to gain profit for the places that keep them confined. The long-term captivity…

    • 2433 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Improved 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