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 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 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 behind the scenes of SeaWorld to show viewers that orcas are not meant to live in concrete pools due to the threat they pose on themselves and the
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Also with the help of CNN, a news station that many people trust, airing the documentary helps make it more plausible with the information being shown. In one of the many interviews being bared throughout the documentary to show credible information how the whales are treated they interviewed former Director of Sealand, Steve Huxter. Huxter admitted to the terrible abuse the whales in his park faced. While training their new whale Tilikum, they would pair him with a trained whale and if Tilikum did not do what he was told then both whales would be punished. Deprived of food to keep them hungry, the trained orca became frustrated with Tilikum and would rake him with his teeth. This inhumane treatment of orcas in captivity is what leads these animals to become unstable and irate which is why they attack the trainers, themselves, and the whales near
Also with the help of CNN, a news station that many people trust, airing the documentary helps make it more plausible with the information being shown. In one of the many interviews being bared throughout the documentary to show credible information how the whales are treated they interviewed former Director of Sealand, Steve Huxter. Huxter admitted to the terrible abuse the whales in his park faced. While training their new whale Tilikum, they would pair him with a trained whale and if Tilikum did not do what he was told then both whales would be punished. Deprived of food to keep them hungry, the trained orca became frustrated with Tilikum and would rake him with his teeth. This inhumane treatment of orcas in captivity is what leads these animals to become unstable and irate which is why they attack the trainers, themselves, and the whales near