SeaWorld is a multi-million dollar corporation that serves as home for 23 of arguably some of the oceans’ most beautiful creatures. Blackfish is trying to change that with a very captivating argument. Although emotionally compelling, Blackfish is an invalid argument against captivity, It offers a solution and demonstrates practicality, which makes it an argument of policy. However, it is not a valid one, for it lacks a strong and reliable foundation of evidence to support its reasoning for the solution it demands. Blackfish presents former trainers and scientific representatives who present facts about SeaWorld, as well as scientific claims that object to captivity. Although in actuality, these people, predominantly the trainers, are no longer
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This cinematic distortion of facts casts SeaWorld in an incriminating light. One example is the very opening scene of the film, a construction of various clips of killer whales and trainers, with inauspicious music and an audio clip of a 911 call made regarding Dawn Brancheau’s death. This is formulated with the intent to mislead the audience into believing that Dawn Brancheau was killed during or surrounding a water event, or that she engaged in waterwork with Tilikum, which is not the case. Not only is the footage at the beginning not of Dawn Brancheau, but the opening scene is not even all the same trainer footage. Neither are the clips of Tilikum, nor do they feature an attack or aggressive act of any kind. 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
This cinematic distortion of facts casts SeaWorld in an incriminating light. One example is the very opening scene of the film, a construction of various clips of killer whales and trainers, with inauspicious music and an audio clip of a 911 call made regarding Dawn Brancheau’s death. This is formulated with the intent to mislead the audience into believing that Dawn Brancheau was killed during or surrounding a water event, or that she engaged in waterwork with Tilikum, which is not the case. Not only is the footage at the beginning not of Dawn Brancheau, but the opening scene is not even all the same trainer footage. Neither are the clips of Tilikum, nor do they feature an attack or aggressive act of any kind. 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