Gabriela Cowperthwaite Blackfish

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Recommended: Seaworld animal cruelty

Gabriela Cowperthwaite directed Blackfish to illustrate the mental and physical struggles orca whales face in captivity and highlight its negative effects on the death of SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau. Cowperthwaite’s intertwined usage of logos and pathos throughout this film allows the viewer to comprehend this scenario in a new light to expose the truth behind the deaths of the three individuals murdered by SeaWorld killer whale, Tilikum.

Throughout the film, Cowperthwaite’s ability to personify killer whales definitely could not have been accomplished without her tactical use of logos. Cowperthwaite’s film reveals that a scientific brain study of the orcas found that they have large limbic system, which indicates they process emotions on a larger spectrum. While Tilikum was kept in Sealand of the Pacific, he would constantly be taunted and chased by the older female orcas to the point of trainers moving him to the medical bay by himself. Including the brain …show more content…

Furthermore, the documentary references to an actual clip of a SeaWorld trainer explaining to visitors that, “25% of killer whales have a floppy fin as they age.” Although to the common eye it may seem to be the truth, the film reveals that, “less than 1% in the wild” have this condition. By providing these contrasting details, it introduces the viewer to idea that SeaWorld is prone to this type of manipulative behavior which undermines situations involving the maltreatment of orcas and its effects immensely. The use of the “floppy fin” facts in the documentary are purposeful in the portrayal that if the chances of the dorsal fin of an orca increases drastically in

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