Swimming South Documentary Review

In the documentary “Blackfish”, directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, she discussed the harmful events that have occurred when keeping killer whales contained for show and entertainment purposes. Cowperthwaite argued the fact that the killer whales become aggressive when held captive in an area too small for them and separated from their families. Throughout the documentary there were many horrifying stories about the attacks told by people who had saw the tragedies first-hand.

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.

Any little child is able to connect the name Shamu to the massive black and white creatures that dwell in the ocean waters, termed orcas or killer whales. However, the recent release of the film “Blackfish” has aimed to revise the common opinion of killer whales who are known by the title Shamu. As the film strikes marine life parks such as SeaWorld with apparent reasons as to why these orcas should not be in captivity, the question of “Blackfish”’s validity arises. How truthful can a film be that was created to persuade its viewers to ceases visiting attractions such as the killer whale shows? Since the release of “Blackfish,” animal rights activist, writers, and amusement park aficionados have been expressing their speculations on the “Blackfish”

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.

While Blackfish does not touch upon any of the good that SeaWorld does. Again, this does not mean that the film is unreliable in and of itself. However, it again casts reasonable doubt over the film’s veracity, an issue that the director of a compelling film should strive to avoid. If Cowperthwaite aimed simply to get people thinking, she would have given viewers a positive perspective as well, so as to enable viewers to conduct their own robust cost-benefit analyses of SeaWorld’s business

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.

For this essay, I am going to be discussing the short story “Swimming” found on the New Yorker, and written by T. Cooper. I have chosen this story for many reasons, and among those reasons is the personal sadness I felt when I first read the story, almost as if the universe was placing a certain theme in my life, that only the main character could possibly understand. I am talking about running, the god given instinct felt by all men, inherent in the nature of fear, and brought out in all who feel sadness in its full intensity. Though in my short life I can not compare the sadness I have felt with that of losing a child at my own hand, but if I had been placed in that situation, if fate had tempted my soul with such a sequence of events, I would like to think I could find the strength to endure and the courage to not abandon all I had previously known. Yet I am able to reconcile the themes of grief, the mode of recovery, and the longing to escape such a terrible tale. I think in this piece, as I will discuss in later parts, the author was able to put into words a transformation we rarely get to observe in closeness, the kind of transformation that turns a kind man into a “just man” the kind of death that turns this world from a beautiful and happy place into a world that is closing in on our main character, that is forcing him to surface temporarily and gasp for air, much like he does when he finds peace in the water, wading breath after air, after sea. I firmly believe that

“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.

Blackfish (2013), a mesmerizing, psychological documentary with 7 film awards and 38 nominations, presents an extensive look into the negative effects captivity has on Orca whales. The director and writer Gabriela Cowperthwaite calls her audience to action, similar to documentaries such as Food, Inc., The Cove, and Super Size Me. In all of these documentaries, the director and writers reach out to an audience that is not fully knowledgeable on a certain topic, in order to persuade them into taking a stance on a certain topic. In Gabriela’s film, she illustrates the story of Tilikum, a performing Orca who killed many people while at SeaWorld, Orlando. Though at times graphic, the film investigates the harmful effects captivity has had on these wonderful creatures and their trainers. Blackfish uses credible interviewees, powerful voice-overs, and influential outside evidence to persuade those who are un-informed of the negative effects of captivity on killer whales. The ultimate goal in doing this is to urge these individuals to take a stance against aquatic captivity.

The Irukandji is another potent jellyfish that has caused several fatalities. Mostly common to Northern Australia in deeper waters, they have been known to periodically come into shallow waters by ocean currents. It is one of the smallest of the Cnidarians and can really pack a punch for its size. It is only one inch in length and has four tentacles that are also about one inch in length. They are virtually impossible to spot because of their size and

“How can you buy or sell the sky-the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us. Yet we do not own the freshness of air or the sparkle of the water. How can you buy them from us? We will decide in our time” (Chief Seattle: 1855). In the Documentary “Flow – for the love of water” it visualizes the global crisis we face on Mother’s Earth as it pertains to the diminishing of fresh water. The Documentary portrays along with the help of experts that this global crises is affecting each and every one of us in today’s society including animals. The film shows us that water is constantly being wasted, polluted, and privatized by big co operations. Prime examples of these greedy companies were mentioned in the film such as Nestle, Thames, Suez,

The documentary Blackfish was made so that the whole public could be made aware of the inhumane way animals were treated. The movie was as a response to the incident

Through a collection of research, commercials, and interviews, the documentary, Blackfish, reveals the possible reasons for the number of recent killer whale attacks. Blackfish argues that killer whales experience frustration and abuse when held in captivity. In addition, many theme parks, like Sea World, withhold information about the treatment and natural history from both employees and tourists.

During the swim season of my sophomore year I was at the peak of my swimming career. I was swimming great times and had a very successful season. Prior to the regional swim meet I was qualified and all I had to do was swim my qualifying times to advance to the 1A/2A state swim meet. Exactly one week before the regional meet I broke my foot in two places. I was heartbroken because for a swimmer this is what you train for all year long. I felt like all my hard work and hours in the pool were for nothing. I immediately began physical therapy and told my parents I wanted to try and swim the following Saturday at regionals. My foot was not in a cast, but in a boot. My physical therapist even told me there was no way I would be able to swim at regionals.

Support 1: Over Swimming- Excessive practice of swimming can cause damage to your joints such as tendinitis in the knees. It can also darken your skin because it requires minimum coverage of the body and since the body is always surrounded by water therefore you also don’t feel the sunburn. It can also cause infection of the ear and from viruses in case of using public pools.To avoid effect. Buy ear plugs to eliminate risk of ear infection as it is easy while swimming long periods of time to get infections. And for the case of sunburn you can use community pools to swim.