Blackfish Documentary Analysis
I have recently watched a movie called blackfish. Actually it was a documentary about orca whales written and directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite. For those of you who don't know orcas are the black and white whales, they have also been referred to as Shamu, blackfish, and my favorite, the killer whale. I've always found it kind of fascinating that they are called the “Killer Whales” because they are used at water parks such as SeaWorld. Disney World wouldn't use anything dangerous in their parks. Would they? As it turns out that is a far more complicated question than a simple yes or no answer. Blackfish tells the story of the orca whale and their trainers at SeaWorld. How they interact with each other on a daily basis and ultimately how they felt about each other. Throughout the documentary you see several whales; however, it was
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The first trainer that was killed was Kelsey Bern while Tilikum was at Sealand in British Columbia. The second death was at SeaWorld in Orlando Florida. Daniel Dukes was the name of the civilian and Dawn Branchaeu was the lead trainer at Seaworld in Florida. In all three cases the judge ruled the park was not responsible for the deaths of the victims. Tilikum is still being used to this day. The film was very well done; Gabriela Cowperthwaite explained how the whales were herded and captured. Several trainers were interviewed that were directly involved with the training of Tilikum and several other whales. Listening to the trainers tell their stories I was very moved, it felt like I was personally invested in the whales. There's times where you laughed, when you wanted to cry, and when you were just plain mad about how these whales have been treated. Even knowing Tilikum has killed three people and doesn't always cooperate with the trainers, you still develop a certain sense of admiration for
The first trainer that was killed was Kelsey Bern while Tilikum was at Sealand in British Columbia. The second death was at SeaWorld in Orlando Florida. Daniel Dukes was the name of the civilian and Dawn Branchaeu was the lead trainer at Seaworld in Florida. In all three cases the judge ruled the park was not responsible for the deaths of the victims. Tilikum is still being used to this day. The film was very well done; Gabriela Cowperthwaite explained how the whales were herded and captured. Several trainers were interviewed that were directly involved with the training of Tilikum and several other whales. Listening to the trainers tell their stories I was very moved, it felt like I was personally invested in the whales. There's times where you laughed, when you wanted to cry, and when you were just plain mad about how these whales have been treated. Even knowing Tilikum has killed three people and doesn't always cooperate with the trainers, you still develop a certain sense of admiration for