Rhetorical Techniques In Blackfish

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 . Blackfish has shown that keeping killer whales in captivity brings danger to the whales themselves, the whales they interact with on a daily basis, and the people around them. The film uses many rhetorical techniques such as pathos, ethos, and logos, to demonstrate that it is inhumane for whales to be held in captivity. Killer whales are very human-like in terms of their brain …show more content…
The two witnesses were in tears saying what they saw and also showing another form of pathos in the film. It was a tragic story to hear, nearly brought me to tears. Keltie’s death was also heartbreaking and I feel bad that something so awful happened to her all because of Tilikum’s frustration and stress from being held captive against his own will.
Throughout the film, there was several former Sea World trainers that were interviewed. They all talked about what would go on at Sea World and what they were doing with the orcas. Ethos is shown in the way that former Sea World trainers spoke in the perspective of being against the corrupt treatment of the orcas. The former trainers would work with the orcas on a daily basis and they knew they weren’t doing the right thing with them. The former Sea World trainers knew how violent the orcas eventually became. I think credibility was greatly shown with the former trainer’s own experience that they had with the orcas. In addition, the director, Gabriela Cowperthwaite, included actual videos of some of the incidents making the argument of the film more