Analysis Of The Documentary ' Black Fish '

Blackfish shows all of rhetorical situations throughout the documentary. The rhetor in Blackfish is Gabriela Cowperthwaite, the director. The audience is Sea World customers or potential customers. The purpose of the documentary Blackfish is to inform people on how damaging mentally and physically it is to keep an orca whales captive. The exigence in this documentary is that holding killer whale’s captive and it is very dangerous mentally and physically to the whale, but also can be dangerous for the workers. The constraints in Blackfish is that the film may appear to be slightly biased against SeaWorld, making the audience see only one side of the issue. The affordances are you get to see live footage from the harmful attacks and listen to real life stories that people that witnessed it. Cowperthwaite goes on and appealeed to Pathos, Ethos, and Logos to create awareness on the harm of keeping killer whale’s captive.

Blackfish is a documentary centered around the treatment of killer whales held in captivity, most notably that of Tilikum, an orca that was held by SeaWorld at its facility in Orlando, Florida. The documentary begins in 1983 with the capture of Tilikum and sheds light on the deaths involved with the infamous killer whale. Moreover, it features interviews with former SeaWorld employees who interacted with Tilikum and witnesses who were present for some of Tilikum’s reported attacks. Jeff Ventre, a board-certified medical doctor and former SeaWorld Trainer, and John Jett, a marine mammal scientist are also brought onto the documentary to analyze the scientific facts presented and to describe it in a way that is easily understood by the viewer. In the documentary, there are many examples of rhetorical devices used to provoke the viewer to stand against the captivity of killer whales.

A documentary is an expository text that informs its audience about an issue person or event using visual and auditory conventions to convey a message. Documentaries are often used to reveal an unusual, interesting or unknown angle. Topics are limited only by one's imagination. The documentary Blackfish is the story of Tilikum, a captive killer whale that has taken the lives of several people, it underscores problems within the sea-park industry, man's relationship to nature, and how little has been learned about these highly intelligent mammals. This documentary was directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite. The ideas that orcas are wild and unpredictable, Seaworld’s treatment of orcas are inhumane and Seaworld’s was negligent in their training of their trainers. These ideas are shown throughout the documentary as visual techniques of Celebrity figure, expert opinion, audio codes, the documentary technique of interviews, archival footage and written codes. I think these ideas in the documentary are quite true and are well proven throughout the documentary.

In 2013 Gabriela Cowperthwaite produced and directed the documentary “Blackfish”. This documentary mainly focused on the issues behind killer whales being held in captivity such as at the famous amusement park Sea World, instead of the open ocean. Some negative outcomes of these animals being confined to such small spaces is, many accounts have been documented of the whales being agitated and having an aggressive tone with other whales and the trainers as well that work with them. A handful of these are human deaths caused by the orca whales. Throughout the documentary the director uses the Rhetorical strategies ethos, pathos, and logos to persuade the audience and try to convince them that her argument has a valid point and can be

Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s activist documentary, Blackfish, spurred a significant public dialogue following its 2013 premier. The film centers on the role of Tilikum, an orca whale at SeaWorld, in the deaths of three SeaWorld trainers, including, most recently, Dawn Brancheau. Cowperthwaite follows a suit brought against Sea World by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), weaving together testimony of scientists, former trainers, and family members of the deceased, among others, to make a compelling case against SeaWorld’s practice of holding and performing alongside orcas. Nevertheless, after its release, the film drew criticism from some of its participants as well as Sea World itself. Cowperthwaite claims not to have tried to vilify SeaWorld. However, this claim seems dubious given the film’s fairly evident anti-SeaWorld bias.

          The website for SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment is speaking towards anyone that has seen the documentary BlackFish, or anyone who thinks that SeaWorld is abusing or mistreating the orcas or other animals by keeping them in captivity. They also attract the corporate side of SeaWorld as a business. The website gives information about what the business does to give back to the community, how their animals are treated and shows their credibility to draw in customers.  The tab titled “The truth about Blackfish” states multiple points about how the producers of the documentary were lying about their facts or over exaggerating to appeal to multiple viewers. The purpose is to fight back against

Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite in the documentary, Blackfish (2013), argues that captivity triggers aggression in killer whales. Cowperthwaite supports her argument by demonstrating shocking footage and emotional interviews to present a convincing case against keeping these animals in captivity and for human entertainment. The author’s purpose is to show the problems that are caused by captivity in order to aware the audience that keeping killer whales in captivity affects their behavior mentally and physically. The author writes in resentful tone to Sea World, the people who visited Sea World, and those who were present during the killer whale incident. Gabriela Cowperthwaite argues that keeping killer whales in captivity at SeaWorld affects their mentality due to how they are being treated. She makes this argument by applying pathos, ethos, and logos.

In the documentary “Blackfish”, directed by Gabriela Cowperthawaite in 2013, is asking the audience to take up a position on the inhumane treatment of whales in captivity. In particular, she invites us to feel sympathy for the whales and anger toward SeaWorld cruelty and denial of culpability. Cowperthawaite makes choices of visual image, language, sound and structure achieve her outstanding outcomes.

The documentary, Blackfish, proves that there was and still is quite a bit of controversy over whether it is ethical to keep Orcas in captivity. Some people believe that it is acceptable since the Orcas are being treated and fed well. Other people, however, believe that this is not ethical because being kept in a tank for twenty years leads to aggression and therefore is too dangerous for humans. The documentary proves that there are many incidents, in the past, where a whale has harmed their trainer. One example of this, that made people more aware of the danger, was the death of Dawn Brancheau in 2010 (Cowperthwaite & Oteyza, 2013). The incidence has led to many different debates over the years and Sea World has had to try to refute the claims that were made about them. The claims were regarding their treatment of the whales and other issues. However, Sea World was not

“Blackfish” the documentary film was created to reveal how confinement of killer whales can lead to dangerous behavior toward human trainers. The main claim this film displayed is how the captivity of Killer Whales triggers aggression and is unsafe for humans and other marine mammals. Blackfish uses the story of Tilikum (most aggressive killer whale who killed the most amount of Sea World trainers), interviews of previous trainers, and court hearings regarding OSHA and Sea World to support their claim.

David Kirby’s book describes the complex issues of whales in captivity. The death of a SeaWorld trainer brought up many objective reasons of the training practices of this business were not effective at keeping trainers safe in the water. Currently this debate is still being tested in a court of law. OSHA claims that even with the precautions that SeaWorld tries to use, it still cannot guarantee the safety of trainers in the water. This cultural topic has been gaining ground, and recently prompted a movie based off this book titled, Blackfish. The audience of this book includes animal activists, followers of David Kirby, and people that are interested in the topic of killer whales in captivity. Rob Grom was contracted to create a book

Sea World rebuttal was not considered in the documentary of “Blackfish” which clearly defines the bias views of the creator. So without choice, viewers are marked to take the side of the creator or leave the documentary feeling like a kid in a fine china shop, unable to touch or lose your balance for fear of shattering the look of the shop. Unfortunately, the problem with animal activist groups is that they force their religious views of animals on others with no other biases to consider. Hence, their real arguments are skewed and we are unable to clearly see the real poignant side without the opinions.

The death of Dawn Brancheau made national news back in 2010. Dawn was working as an orca trainer at the SeaWorld of Orlando when the tragic accident occurred. While doing a relationship session with Tilikum, the largest orca in captivity, Dawn was pulled into the water and drowned. It was a story that not only shocked the nation but left people wondering how something so horrible could happen. Gabriela Cowperthwaite‘s use of the accounts of retired SeaWorld trainers exposed the harsh reality of captured animals in her documentary Blackfish. In creating a piece focused on the life of one orca, Cowperthwaite has allowed viewers to look into the lives of captured animals and has shown the greater social issue of animal rights, the treatment

Ultimately this moment change my views regarding all zoos, aquariums, and especially SeaWorld. My interest in this subject was sparked once again when a documentary call Blackfish was released

A documentary is defined as ‘a nonfiction motion picture intended to document some aspect of reality, for the purpose of education or maintaining a historical record’. Documentaries throughout history have covered a wide range of topics, including animal rights and the issues surrounding it. The documentary The Cove (2009), directed by Louis Psihoyos, examines and questions dolphin hunting practices in Taiji, Japan. The film scrutinises Japanese fishing practices and the Japanese government’s involvement in the International Whaling Commission, from an ocean conservationist’s point of view. Blackfish (2013), directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, focuses on the consequences of keeping orcas in captivity.