Another documentary that has seen great success is the 2013 documentary Blackfish. This film takes a unique view on animal captivity, and spends the majority of the film discussing the consequences and practices of the theme park SeaWorld. An article talking about the effect of the film describes the film by saying, “it critiques the industry surrounding the captive marine mammals from its beginnings in the late 1960s to the present day, with SeaWorld emerging as the major corporate target” (Brammer 73). The film is able to gain the viewers’ attention by looking at this familiar theme park that most people are familiar with. If someone has not been to a SeaWorld Park, then they have at least heard of the name and know what the park is known …show more content…
Over 21 million people have seen the film (Brammer 74), and it is almost impossible to go onto a SeaWorld social media accounts without seeing countless number of comments and posts from people who are advocating the shutting down of SeaWorld and trying to end their practices of keeping animals in captivity. After the film had been released, a survey done by Born Free Foundation stated that “86 percent of travelers would not visit a marine mammal theme park” (77). This is a huge percentage of people, and while we may not know if this is a statistically sound sample and if it can be used to make predictions of the future, we do know that films such as Blackfish have shown to have had an effect on people and their attendance at marine theme parks such as SeaWorld. People were outraged with SeaWorld after viewing the film and many of them protested on social media accounts, and even outside of SeaWorld’s …show more content…
This goes to show that if enough people take action against a company, then t hey may get the result that they are fighting for. The company does want to rebuild its reputation and will have to make sacrifices in order to help make them a trustworthy brand again. By doing things like this, SeaWorld can hopefully regain the respect of some of its customers. However, while they have decided to stop breeding orcas, they still do not agree with many of the facts that are presented in Blackfish. They have published their own website with references saying that the film is closer to propaganda rather than a documentary (seaworldcares.com). As with many documentaries, Blackfish only presents one side of the story and does not show any of the good things that SeaWorld does to help rehabilitate and save animals. Before taking any action, people should try and get all sides of the story and make a decision for
Blackfish is a well-known film about how whales were kept in captivity while being mistreated. This film explained the situation in more of a sequential order stating each event one after another from occurrence. This film was made to inform people of all the cruel and monstrous things that Sea Land and Sea World were doing to the whales.
Among the many things that individuals enjoy doing with their families, visiting amusement parks is at the top of the list. Sea World is a multi-billion dollar chain of marine animal parks, aquariums, and animal theme parks. (Wikipedia) When people are watching the rehearsed performances that the animals and the trainers do, the animals and the trainers seem to be happy. Witnessing the interaction between the animals and the trainers can remind individuals of the beauty of nature and it serves as entertainment.
The captivity of large, wild animals is accepted for theme parks all around the world. Tickets are sold for people to come and watch these animals live and even preform in an exhibit that almost resembles their natural environment. It is impossible for parks and zoos that use animals as attractions to provide the same resources and space they would have in the habitat they are usually found in. They can, however, help injured or ill animals that cannot survive in the wild. This is where I believe they should draw the line for keeping animals in captivity. SeaWorld has gotten a lot of attention in the last few years, especially since the Netflix documentary, Blackfish, was released. This film targets the company for the mistreatment of their orca whales. In particular, it told the story of one named Tilikum and shows the problems he and the other orca whales face while living under the care of SeaWorld. Gabriela Cowperthwaite, the director
Millions of people come from across the world to visit Seaworld every day without thinking about the lives of the animals behind the scenes. Why would they have concerns? From Seaworld’s commercials to the website, they convince the general public that Seaworld is the place to go to see the happy sea animals perform. If Seaworld is such an ecstatic place, what excuse does Tilikum, their greatest well known orca whale, have for the three attacks on trainers? The documentary “Blackfish” was created by the director Gabriela Cowperthwaite because she questioned herself after realizing Tilikum's odd behavior over time in captivity, and if there was any indisputable parts to animal captivity?
The documentary Blackfish directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, leaves the viewer with many different emotions. This documentary follows the life of Tilikum, a captured killer whale who is forced to preform for SeaLand. The director uses different interviews from people who have worked with Tilikum or have seen him attack people during the shows. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, has said that swimming with and training killer whales is not safe at all and should not be done. They believe it is a very high risk to the human working with the whale.
Blackfish is a 2013 documentary attempting to elevate public awareness regarding the orca that are being kept in maritime amusement parks, specifically SeaWorld, and the inherent danger of their captivity. The film is effective because it raises a set of important ethical questions for the viewer while presenting with a necessary fact-based style of documentation that does not evoke gratuitous scenes of abuse in order to inspire sympathy, unlike some of the other films that are intended to raise awareness about animal abuse.
The fact that the animals in Seaworld are depressed and angered means that kids are going to see animals not only in an unnatural state. Unfortunately, they will also have the potential to see aggressive Orcas. Children are going to absolutely terrified by these animals when they are actually very calm. Peaceful animals. Plus, the facts that Seaworld gives their guests about all the animals are downright false! If we were going to compare Seaworld to anything, then I would compare it to a judge sentencing an innocent man to life in prison. Places like this truly show us that mankind is downright evil! Now, let's look back, what are our kids truly learning
An orca, more commonly known as a killer whale, is currently one of the largest marine animals held in captivity. Countless arguments are being made, supporting and opposing captivity of orcas to be exploited as circus animals in theme parks around the world. Throughout recent history, Sea World trainers have been injured and killed by the orcas and the whales, and the whales themselves have been observed as severely depressed. If Sea World releases the whales, they would undergo an immense economic downfall and the whales would be too weak to survive in the wild if they were freed. Since the first Sea World park opened in San Diego, California in 1964, common questions have arose concerning the well-being of orcas in captivity, the dangers of humans training them, the physical capability of whales theoretically being released, and the psychological differences between whales living in the wild versus whales living in Sea World's confinement.
"Blackfish" might not make an airtight case against training wild animals for our enjoyment, but it very convincingly argues that those animals remain what they are, no matter how SeaWorld or any other corporation invested in presenting them as cuddly attractions tries to say otherwise.
In some ways this documentary is bias because it is not showing different points of views, all it’s showing and talking about is why we shouldn’t kill sharks. But for some people especially the Japanese and Chinese eating shark is a delicacy and it their country it’s normality. In a way it’s hypocritical to ban shark meat and not to ban other meat such as chicken and cow.
To demonstrate this point, Stayer discussed the show about sharks. And saying that there is a huge misconception in America and sharks do not attack humans. In other words, Sea World says that sharks are friends not fiends, and that the fishermen are the true evildoers. Indeed this very characteristic view of a person who anthropomorphize an animal. Because there is so much objective evidence to support the notion that sharks like any living thing will eat almost anything digestible in order to survive and that includes humans leads any coherent person to realize that Sea World is unserviceable information to make a
In the documentary, The Black Atlantic, the narrator explores the beginnings of slavery and the impact slavery had on the new world up to 1800. The black Atlantic is the first episode of a series of films called The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. in which African American culture is analyzed since slavery up to the election of the first African American president. The purpose of the documentary is to inform viewers of what slavery was like by providing stories of those who lived through slavery. For example, a ten-year-old girl named Priscilla who was taken from Sierra Leone to South Carolina in the mid-18th century. in the documentary, Henry Louis Gates Jr discusses the slave trade after the discovery of America while doing so he incorporates the experiences of certain slaves for example the slaves who arrived at Jamestown, Virginia. Additionally, the narrator talks about the first known African in America, Juan Garrido, who was brought along with Spanish explorers in 1513. The filmmakers reveal the story of another black man, Esteban the moor, who crossed a Texas desert with three other men while taking part in a Spanish expedition. Eventually throughout the documentary the filmmakers discuss and illustrate how slavery transformed from an informal arrangement to a racial system.
A reason why SeaWorld shouldn’t keep the orca exhibit is due to the amount of space that the animal is given while in captivity is not nearly the amount it should have. In SeaWorld the whales don’t have very much room to move around, so the tanks aren’t deep enough for them to dive down. SeaWorld’s tanks are 40 feet deep, 180 feet long, and 90 feet wide (“Hammond 203”). The whales need deeper tanks because they can’t get deep enough to shield themselves from the harsh rays of the sun. In order for them to hide this from the public they apply black zinc oxide: this acts as a sunscreen for the animal but
In Blackfish, Director, Gabriela Cowperthwaite, addresses the accidents that occurred at SeaWorld involving trainers and whales. Cowperthwaite’s purpose is to educate the audience on the cruel treatment and rough conditions of whales that occur in SeaWorld. The film maintains a shocking tone in order to persuade the audience and appeal to feelings of sadness and anger.
Thesis Statement: Closing SeaWorld’s doors would be unjust, however; SeaWorld can repair its image by providing excellent care for its current residents and by shifting the business model from entertainment to rescue, rehabilitate and release at all locations.