The Cove

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.

"People always wonder whether I believe SeaWorld should be closed down. I always say no. They have tremendous financial resources and could play a key role in creating sea sanctuaries which could be a profit-making endeavor. I believe people would flock to a site where a killer whale is being a killer whale for the first time -- something infinitely more satisfying than seeing a killer whale dance the Macarena." - Gabriela Cowperthwaite. Cowperthwaite, the director of the documentary film Balckfish, is one of many that urges for change at the infamous marine park SeaWorld. For years on end SeaWorld has been a place of family fun and amazement; using one animal in particular as their spokesman and main attraction, Killer Whales. However, in recent years that image has gotten more than just a meager makeover. Over the past six years, following the tragic death of Dawn Brancheau, SeaWorld and the captivity of Killer Whales has been under serious scrutiny. There have been several findings of how captivity negatively affects these great creatures and the conversation of keeping Killer whales has only been gaining momentum. It is clear that the death of Dawn Brancheau is what sparked societies ideological shift, yet another key part in the start of this discourse is, without a doubt, the release of Gabriela Cowperthwaite 's documentary film Blackfish.

Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s documentary Blackfish explores the harm captivity causes to whales and their trainers. Throughout the film the orca whales undergo a transformation from defenseless creatures into molded killers. The orcas in the film are portrayed as intelligent and caring creatures who are capable of grief. Through this character the development the documentary has affected how these animals are treated, as well as the public’s opinion on the issue.

The rhetorical situation of the documentary is presented by director and writer Gabriela Cowperthwaite when she brings to light the history of Seaworld and it’s famous orca, Tilikum by recruiting former trainers and whale experts. The context of the film is explained when it dives into the orca attacks, the most recent victim being Dawn Brancheau who was killed by Tilikum in 2010. The principle aim to this documentary is that orcas should not be held in captivity because it is detrimental to their mind citing past incidents throughout Tilikum’s life. I found this “text” to be effective because it highlights the developed brain of an orca, former incidents with Tilikum, and consistent concealment of blame from

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.

A documentary is film dedicated to recording an aspect of reality for informational purposes. Documentaries can cover a wide variety of topics, such as the wildlife in the world. A major topic that has become relevant is the discussion of endangered species and the human impact on their lives. In the movie, The Cove, the portrayal of Ric O’Barry creates pathos and ethos to gives the audience a sense of urgency to help the fight against the slaughtering of dolphins in Taiji, Japan. Ric O’Barry, in the 1960’s, was a famous capturer and trainer of dolphins for the popular TV show, Flipper.

The Cove (Louie Psihoyos, 2009) is a documentary, which follows activist Ric O’Barry and The Ocean Preservation Society to expose the brutal dolphin slaughter in Taiji, Japan. The film constructs a sense of realism through naturalistic aesthetic codes and conventions. These conventions relate to the texts content, style, form and audience response and reception. The Cove employs these four levels of realism to construct a sense of authenticity and to position the audience into understanding a negative point of view portrayed about the dolphin slaughter in Taiji. The convention of content in the documentary concerns the implementation of true events, as well as the casting of real people. The style of The Cove focuses on the manipulation of

For years the killer whale, also known as Orcinus orca, has been drawing the attention of the public through the entertainment industry. These marine mammals have been bringing in billions of dollars to amusement parks such as Sea World, but at what cost? An idea that these killer whales can live happily and content while in captivity may be going through the minds of the public, but this cannot be further away from the truth. To have such complex creatures in captivity is not morally correct and there are many points against it, such as their level of emotional competence, violence between the killer whales, violence of killer of whales towards trainers, shorter lifespans, physical harm, and their level of intelligence. After taking a look at how these creatures function and the conditions they are put in while in captivity, there is no question about whether or not these mammals should be kept in captivity; an experience such as this affects these marine mammals just about the same as it would affect a human because of their high highly developed emotions and complexity. Since these industries do not have a natural authority over these creatures no matter the cause, the best thing they could do for these killer whales is to stop capturing them and return those who are capable back to the wild.

The documentary Blackfish by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, is trying to persuade its audience that keeping orcas, or commonly known as killer whales, in captivity is a mistake. The director does this through rhetorical strategies. This film targets SeaWorld and its consumers in a logical way. “SeaWorld claims that orcas live longer in captivity than in the wild.

Documentaries and feature articles are both enjoyed and criticised by the public, because they often provide controversial opinions and shocking evidence. Both documentaries and articles are created with the same purpose; to educate the reader or viewer on a topic and convince them that their particular view is correct. This is done through the use of inclusive language, statistics, anecdotes, bias, clichés and other persuasive techniques. In this case, both The Cove and “Stop Killing Our Dolphins” are similar because they both use emotive language, such as “shameful, all-too-frequent slaughter” and “She was really depressed. I could feel it. I could see it. And she committed suicide in my arms. That's a very strong word, suicide”. Both Topfer

The article “Pro & Con: Does the Georgia Aquarium's dolphin show serve learning?” by Marilee Menard the Georgia Aquarium's priorities lie that it has spent $1.5 million to help stranded dolphins while spending $110 million to keep them in captivity and force them to perform in sophisticated and expensive shows. A neuroscientist at Emory University concluded that dolphins are so intelligent that they should be treated equal as human. However, in captivity, their ocean worlds are secluded to confined swimming pools. Marine parks are not helping the animals instead using them to make money. Also degrading the smartness of the animal to do meaningless tricks. Another article “Just how Intelligent are Orcas? That’s Central to Issue of Treatment” by Mike Thomas of The Sentinel StaffIn states a key issue in the controversy over whether killer whales should be kept in captivity. Critics of Sea World believe that killer whales are too intelligent to be kept permanently in tanks. Then they say the orcas get bored and die prematurely when they aren't allowed to range freely and mix with one another. "Their brain is superior in structure to a human brain that's what makes the mystery," said Howard Rosenfeld, director of the Whale Museum in Friday Harbor, Wash., near Seattle. Dolphins and orcas are being degraded. The animals are used to make profit and animals cognitivity is not put into consideration. Animals do not have any

Director, Gabriela Cowperthwaite, in her documentary, Blackfish, exposes SeaWorld for the cruel capture and mistreatment of Orca whales in their amusement parks located around the world. Cowperthwaite’s purpose is to persuade and compel viewers to understand how cruelly the Orcas are being treated and how being kept in captivity can negatively affect Orcas whales. Cowperthwaite efficiently persuades her audience that abducting Orca whales from the wild and keeping the animals in captivity is not morally right by including pathos in vivid imagery and in building a somber mood.

The documentary “Blackfish” shows the horrifying reality of what it’s really like keeping animals in captivity. Things that I was impressed by in this movie was the fact that when SeaWorld was first opening they needed orcas for the park, and they would go to the Puget Sound, herd the mother whales and babies, then trap them in a net and take the baby orcas. This relates to the film’s position on whether orcas should be held in captivity because, they had interviewed a guy who had the job at the time to capture the orcas. In the beginning he explained how he was so excited to be doing that job, and that he thought he was doing something amazing, but by the end of the interview he explained how it was of the worst things he has ever done in his life. He described how the mother whales would cry and that some of the baby whales didn’t make it to the trip back.

Mass dolphin murder is one of the many issues that are happening in our world today in the 21st century. The Documentary Called “The Cove” would make the viewers open their eyes of what this world is actually and the secret Taiji, Japan is trying to keep. It would show them why these activist struggle so hard to stop this social issue for the reason that fishermen’s murder dolphins behind the scenes in the cove of Taiji, SeaWorld’s organization and the captivities of the dolphins. Dolphin meat being sold to people without knowing and potential health risk. Lastly, activist being at risk from helping dolphins. These are the countless causes that dolphins goes through and how activist risk their life for a change in society.

In the book Tsukiji: The Fish Market at the Center of the World, Theodore C. Bestor explores the significance of fish market, Tsukiji, in making of Japanese society, economy, politics, and culture. In early chapters, he discusses the history of the market as well as its significance in Japanese society since its emergence and explains in details how the market is organized and how it works. In chapter four, he starts to discuss Japanese food culture that is closely associated with Tsukiji. He argues that food culture has been changing in Japan due to the advancement of technology; however, it has worked favorably to Japanese fishing industry and has enforced the food culture that put great emphasis on consumption of fish (Bestor, 150).