Blackfish Documentary

“Never capture what you can’t control.” This chilling tagline for the documentary Blackfish has reverberated across the United States for the past three years and has no sign of fading out anytime soon. Released in January 2013 at the Sundance film festival with a later widespread US release, Blackfish immediately captivated audiences with its dramatic footage and evidence backed claims about killer whales in captivity at SeaWorld. Sparking huge controversy, the documentary has garnered attention from celebrities, lawmakers, shareholders, and the general public alike. The film seeks to open the eyes of Americans to the treatment of animals in captivity and our relationship with nature itself. In an analysis of the impact this documentary has
The biggest push so far in American history for animal welfare took place during the 60’s. With the civil rights movement coinciding with the movement, it was a time of great change in America. The Animal Welfare Act of 1966, signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson, is the only Federal law that regulates the treatment of animals. Other laws have included addition policies and guidelines but all refer back to the Animal Welfare Act. The USDA and APHIS oversee this Act with the House and Senate Agriculture Committees having primary jurisdiction over it. The bill has been amended several times since it’s passing with the last amendment in 2013 right before the release of Blackfish. However the main catalyst for the making of the film came from the killing of SeaWorld Orca trainer Dawn Brancheau’s in 2010. In the CNN article, “Filmaker: Why I made Blackfish,” filmmaker and producer Gabriela Cowperthwaite posed many questions upon hearing about the trainer’s death such as why an incredibly intelligent orca would attack its trainer who is essentially the hand that feeds it. Why would they turn against us? “I came in with these questions. I set out to understand this incident, not as an animal activist – because I’m not one – but as a mother who had just taken her kids to SeaWorld, and of course as a documentary filmmaker who unfortunately can’t let sleeping dogs lie” (Cowperthwaite,