Journalist Stephanie Collins addresses the worldwide phenomenon of the 2013 documentary Blackfish and discusses the constructed truth we are persuaded to believe. The bias presented in this documentary works very effectively and the audience is left to feel the pity for the killer whales of SeaWorld. However, can we believe everything director Gabriela Cowperthwaite presents to us? Have we just fallen victim to the constructed truth of extreme animal activists? Documentaries are known for constructing their own version of the truth they wish to portray. Now while some documentaries may show the truth that majority of us agree with, there are always two sides to every story and many of these documentaries only showcase the truth they want us to believe.
Don’t get me wrong, documentaries are important ways to get the truth out into the public’s eye, however many of these documentaries tend to manipulate the truth in a way that relies on our emotional sides. The manipulation of truth in ever present in the documentary Blackfish and director Gabriela Cowperthwaite has effectively cleverly constructed the truth to tug on our heart strings.
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Blackfish manipulates footage and information and shows it in a way that is completely misleading. In the documentary there is footage of a killer whale dragging someone underwater and it was said that this is Tilikum, the main orca in focus of the documentary, with Dawn Brancheau, a former SeaWorld trainer who was killed by Tilikum during a show. My condolences go out to Dawn Brancheau’s friends and family. However, as said by CNN reporter Michael Scarpuzzi in 2013 it is still clear that “The three years since Dawn's death have seen the emergence of individuals who have chosen not to honor her memory, but rather to use the events of February 24, 2010, to advance their own interests. Some seek commercial
Cowperthwaite wastes no time in establishing an emotional connection between viewers and the subject matter. Cowperthwaite uses pathos in the form of an actual 911 emergency phone call related to SeaWorld incidents, interviews given by former SeaWorld trainers, and video clips of killer whales behaving in nature and in captivity. Within the first few seconds of the documentary, viewers are exposed to not one but two horrifying 911 emergency phone calls. In one of these phone calls, a man calls and communicates to the
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
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
Black; a colour closely associated with dread, a cascade of bubbles emerging, and a voice filled with sorrow reveals the events that lead to the death of a human being are present when suddenly a killer whale and person come into shot. This is what the audience first sees with the documentary Blackfish, what they do not see, however, is all of the manipulative fallacies. At first glance Blackfish looks like a strong and valid argument, however, under further examination it becomes evident that Blackfish’s argument is not as strong as it first appears to be. While Blackfish has some solid evidence, the use of fallacies in the argument makes it manipulative, and therefore invalid.
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
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 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, a documentary by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, analyzes the horrific treatment, containment, and use of Orca whales within entertainment facilities. The discussion of treatment began in 2010, when Dawn Brancheau was killed and drowned by the whale, Tilikum. Since this incident, there have been multiple investigations into SeaWorld and similar facilities. It is argued that the whales should be released from these facilities due to the posed dangers they have to humans, and themselves.
In terms of pathos, Blackfish is also strong in delivering an argument appeal to emotion. These SeaWorld trainers gave their personal stories in the documentary, all sharing how they were so excited to work with the animals when first applying and getting the job. They all explained how they truly were able to develop relationships with Tilikum and the other orcas during their time at SeaWorld. When talking about the incidents between Tilikum and trainer Dawn Brancheau, the trainers’ emotion is shown when they stutter in their words, cry, and give their deepest regrets
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.
Throughout the documentary, the director has elucidated how victims are accused of their own deaths by corporation in order for the corporations to maintain the positive reputation and confine their financial success. One of the focus of Blackfish is Dawn Brancheau's death which is critical about keeping orcas in captivity. Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite has argued that the claim that orca had targeted Brancheau because she had worn her hair in a long ponytail was conjecture and that "there had to be more to this story". Archival footages of various news reports were used and had juxtaposed with actuality footage of experts’ inference. By evaluating the news report, experts and ex-trainers had said the converse and justified the logic. Non diegetic sound was also used to further portray corporations as villainous and incorrect. Low, fast beat and suspenseful music was played in the background the news report. With effect, these techniques had drawn the audience to agree to the idea and had mock corporations on how they have institute reason to unjustly blame to sustain their
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 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
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.
“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.