The Killer Whale Exhibitions, Blackfish Is An Effective Documentary By Film Maker, Gabriela Cowperthwaite

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

In the documentary film Blackfish, directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, the director debates the rights for sea animals. Cowperthwaite makes the claim that sea animals should be freed from their enclosures in entertainment because they’re harming themselves and the humans that are training them. She uses all rhetorical analysis of pathos, ethos and logos, but pathos trumpets over all. Pathos is such a strong appeal in this documentary because of the animals lives and the peoples’ emotion towards the subject of the matter. Cowperthwaite is able to engage the audience with pathos because of the appreciation of the arguments significance.

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

Black Fish is a documentary film about a famous and well known corporation called SeaWorld, corporations like SeaWorld have impacts towards culture, people and business. There are few corporations like SeaWorld in the entertainment/amusement park industry that are profitable, such as Disney and Six Flags, who make millions to billions of dollars every year. People love entertainment and are willing to spend lots of money to acquire it; this is why entrepreneurs who developed these different forms of entertainment are successful. Black Fish is an evidence revealing documentary that breaks down the flaws and issues associated with SeaWorld. The work and success of the filmmakers are well acknowledged, impressive and can relate to a cultural theory stand point.

Cowperthwaite’s Blackfish looks specifically at how Tilikum the Orcinus orca or simply orca attacked trainer, Dawn Brancheau and several others at SeaWorld. By showing the process of capturing orcas and their life captivity, this documentary exposes SeaWorld and its exploitation of orcas. Blackfish focused on one main Orca, Tilikum. He is one of the only males in captivity that has impregnated most, if not all the female orcas. Several people have lost their life because of Tilikum.

Throughout the whole film, the directors reeled people into the film by conveying emotions and feelings and with how the documentary is all about the abuse of Orca whales at Sea-world, they had

Similar, but slightly different to Blackfish, Consider the Lobster, by David Foster Wallace he also creates a picture in the readers mind to get them to show emotion. At one part of the story he intricately describes the boiling of a lobster. He says, “If you're tilting it from a container into the steaming kettle, the lobster will sometimes try to cling to the container's sides or even to hook its claws over the kettle's rim like a person trying to keep from going over the edge of a roof” (Wallace 3). What Wallace is trying to do is show you how these lobsters are being tortured and killed for a human’s needs. He is creating the picture of the lobster clinging to the side of the pot trying not to die, and comparing it to a person holding onto a roof trying not to fall to their death. The way he compares the lobster with a human makes the reader feel as though the lobster has feelings like a human. This gets the reader to feel emotion for the lobster like they would for a person. Both Blackfish and Consider the Lobster the author/director creates this horrible picture in the reader/viewers minds to make them feel strong emotion for the characters.

The most relevant issues discussed in Blackfish and SeaWorld’s response are the health of the Orcas in captivity, the Orcas’ aggressive behavior and the trainer’s death. Blackfish and Sea World’s response in Blackfish, Ethos Pathos and Logos are used to present information about the health, treatment about the Orcas in captivity and the safety of the trainers. Through blackfish and SeaWorld’s views, Ethos

Even though the documentary does not have strong aesthetic appeal, the film’s raw emotion draws both critics and the audience in. According to Rotten Tomatoes, 90 percent of viewers like the film and 98% of critics like it. In an article named "My Problem with 'Blackfish' | Rope of Silicon", written by Brad Brevet, some critics’ “problem isn't with the message, it's with the delivery and while Blackfish is successful in getting its message out… it fails in giving us all the necessary information” (Brevet). Brad Brevet also thinks the film fails in making this a broader topic. Killer Whale’s being treated poorly in captivity is a very important problem that needs to be addressed, but Blackfish does not cover the more general problem: animals in captivity everywhere. Animals in captivity are not provided enough space and freedom that they would receive if they were wild and Blackfish has made viewers see what truly happens behind closed doors when the show ends. The film is told primarily through former workers voice, which weakens the credibility of the film. It is not stated how long the workers were at SeaWorld, or if they worked there at all. Even though the credibility of the film is not as strong as it could be, the graphic images and videos speak for

Blackfish is used to portray killer whales as innocent and harmless. The film uses different types of rhetoric, such as: pathos, ethos, and logos. Cowperthwaine uses logos throughout the film to prove to the audience that killer whales are not dangerous. In the film, Howard Garrett, Orca Researcher, says “There is no record of an orca doing any harm to a human in the wild.” He is exploiting the topic of whales becoming aggressive when they are help in captivity.

The filmmakers present their argument by using varied rhetorical appeals such as ethos, logos and pathos. Pathos appears to be the most dominant appeal throughout the film, because the filmmakers constantly appeal to the audience’s emotions, beliefs, and values. Pathos is reflected through heart-wrenching 911 recordings, the horrific details of Dawn Brancheau’s death and the firsthand accounts of experiencing violent behavior from the Orca’s. As human beings, we typically do not like to hear anyone being harmed or in a state of panic, so hearing the 911 recordings yanked the chain of our hearts. The frantic fear in the caller’s voice made us feel anxious too in that moment. The filmmakers caused the

events, as well as the basic nature of the issue which involves a mesmerizing animal and its

In the documentary “Blackfish”, the creators use rhetorical strategy to show the audience the cruel treatment of animals in facilities such as Sea World in order to promote release and fair care of animals in captivity. Commonly used in this documentary, pathos, is a strategy in which the author uses words and examples to invoke an emotion in the audience. Scenes of whales being taken from their family pod, or footage of a whale that had been raked by the teeth of another whale are prime examples of this emotional appeal in action. The main animal in this film is a twelve-thousand-pound whale named Tilikum. “Tilly” was taken from the wild about thirty years ago. Since then, he performs many shows, and experiences cruel treatment in almost every

To further show the hostile relationships within the tanks, the documentary shows videos of whale-on-whale aggression. There was one scene in particular where there is a close up shot of the side of a whales body. The orca is extremely raked up and there is blood gushing out into the water. In the video we are able to see how concerned the audience gets for the animal. Although humans  have the tendency to believe they are superior to animals, this scene proves that their suffering is a great concern to us.

Blackfish is a 2013 American documentary film directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite. It concerns Tilikum, an orca held by SeaWorld and the controversy over captive killer whales. The film premiered at the 2013