Ethos In Blackfish

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.

One of the most effective strategies that the director amplifies in the film is pathos. Pathos is shown by phone calls that have been made to dispatch when attacks occurred, actual footage from attacks and baby orcas crying when they were separated from their mothers. This allows the audience to see and hear all of the incidents regarding the killer whales and be able to feel more connected. When the director uses pathos the appeal is to have the sympathy directed for the killer whales. A claim that ties in with all of this is in the documentary when they are saying killer whales are normally peaceful in the wild, and they only attack while in captivity. Detailed facts about how the whales are to an extent, tortured and become agitated with no outlet support this reasoning, since there are documented reports and footage of this as well.

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.

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.

Black Fish uses the death of a recognized Killer Whale trainer at SeaWorld, Dawn Brancheau who was one of Tilikums trainers thorough his twenty years in captivity, almost as a framing device to explore the theory that possessing Orcas in captivity is corrupt and unnatural for the whales. In Black fish, there are many different tragedies that went on while the Orcas were in captivity. Fisher men separated the young from the mothers and took them into SeaWorld. Many of the workers were unaware of all of the immoral actions they were taking part in. Tilikum was the Killer Whale that ended up killing Dawn Brancheau and causing a stir in SeaWorld. Having Orcas in captivity damages them but, the trainers were scared to leave because they want to continue to care for the whales. There is a relationship shared with the trainers and the whales yet it is obvious that very little was taught in the SeaWorld industry about these intelligent mammals.

With all of the incidents and interviews provided in the film, my interpretation of what the Filmmakers purpose was to provide evidence and information explaining why there are so many deadly killer whale accidents. Viewers can take away enough information from this film to make their own opinion on Sea Worlds captivity of killer whales. The filmmakers of blackfish pieced together Tilikums story with different film footage, interviews with trainers who know Tilikum the most, and expert testimonies. It creates a great set up for their claim about captivated killer whales used for entertainment.

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

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

Blackfish is an extraordinary documentary, being ranked alongside ‘Bowling for Columbine’ the documentaries shed light on real world issues. Blackfish gives the audience an insight into what we knew was happening but never knew to what extent and should be watched by people across the globe. The moral of the documentary is “Never capture what you can’t

The film is directly targeted at the general population, with the intent to notify the public about the cruel management and the inhumane practices of SeaWorld. They use Logos to assure that Orca whales are more than a simple creature. They inform the audience that Orcas are intellectual, and are capable of understanding emotion. The film supports this claim by further saying that orcas have a limbic system that is more complex than that of humans. Additionally, Blackfish supports its argument by claiming that scientists have used MRI's on the whales, proving them to be conscious of human-like relationships and feelings. This source of Logos becomes very apparent when the film shows the Orca whales being taken from their ocean environment. They become lethargic and show signs of depression while captive in their tanks. Another sign of the whales having the capacity to understand emotion and human-like relationships is when one of the mother Orcas gives birth. Form research, it is found

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.

In 2013, a documentary called Blackfish was released to criticize SeaWorld for its treatment of Killer Whales(NewsyBusiness). Ever since, SeaWorld has been fighting its way to redemption. Recently, a new Ad campaign called the Blue World Project, that has highlighted SeaWorld’s involvement with the Killer Whales, was released. These Ads have become very helpful to the influence of the public on the real background of SeaWorld.

The Blackfish film by Gabriela Cowperthwaite begins with the interview of several orca whale trainers. The trainers say that they have enjoyed spending several years in disciplining and mastering the interaction with killer whales. After the interview, Blackfish shows a police case about a killer whale at SeaWorld swallowing a woman’s arm. This police case causes the Occupational Safety & Healthy Administration to sue SeaWorld and claim that interacting with killer whales is always dangerous and has unpredictable outcomes.

Notable for its destruction of the SeaWorld Killer Whale exhibits, Blackfish is an engaging exposé on the potential for aggressive behavior in captive killer whales. I enjoyed the film because it could have been critical of the killer whales and their species as a whole, but it was not, and the movie told the whole story without requiring graphic scenes, explicit language, or traumatic anecdotes. Blackfish was an excellent film because it kept the watchers engaged, despite being a documentary, and presented all the information it had in an informative and interesting way.