Argumentative Essay On Blackfish
Blackfish SeaWorld is considered one of the most magical places on earth. With majestic animals that aren’t seen in everyday life, come alive to please thousands of people a day. While we believe these animals are happy and enjoy the attention, Blackfish has given us reasons not to believe the false advertisement. While comparing these animals to the wild, we see that they are not as free as they should be and deserve to live in their natural habitat. One of the animals that the film focuses on are killer whales, also known as orcas, which are massive animals that like to swim for miles a day not just in circles which is what they do at SeaWorld. After watching Blackfish, I hope viewers are as sickened as I was and vow to never go.
The documentary, Blackfish, produced in 2013 and directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite argues that killer whales should not be kept in restricted areas. Keeping killer whales in confined spaces causes psychological problems due to being apart from families resulting in aggression that could be dangerous or lethal. The director also argues that keeping orcas in captivity is …show more content…
inhumane. In Blackfish, SeaWorld is shown hiding information for the purpose of image, to make more money, and keep their doors open. This is an argument of fact because it is making the general public aware of the dangers of these practices, and of the misinformation provided by SeaWorld. Another example of fact is cause and effect. The cause is taking these whales from their natural habitat and their families, and the effect is the aggression that occurs in the killer whales. This is also an argument of value because the director suggests it is unethical to keep these killer whales in confined spaces and tear them away from their families. An argument of proposal is used because it is calling for a change to take the killer whales out of SeaWorld and release them back into the wild. During the documentary logical appeal is used the most. For example, the film shows SeaWorld tour guides who give out facts to the visitors to help them understand SeaWorld animals better. In one clip, SeaWorld claims that orcas live longer in their parks because the animals are fed every day and given proper care from onsite veterinarians. The park says the orcas will live from 25-30 years in captivity unlike the wild. However, Howard Garrett, an orca researcher, proves them wrong. Garrett states that in 1980, with half a dozen years of research, he found out these orcas live up to human years if not longer. This appeals to logic because of the hard evidence given within the film. This example also establishes credibility because Howard Garrett studies orcas, which leads us to believe he knows what he is talking about. Another example of logical appeal is when the tour guides are seen talking about dorsal fins. SeaWorld claims that collapsed dorsal fins happen as the whales grow older stating that this happens to 25% of them in the wild. Jeff Ventre, former trainer, says that is a lie and research has shown that to be false. Collapsed dorsal fin happens to 1% or less to killer whales in the wild. Collapsed dorsal fin happens to 100% of males in captivity. The documentary is using logical appeals to show that SeaWorld is giving out false information about the killer whales. Emotional appeal is another part of the documentary. One instance is seen in the case of John Crowe who captured killer whales. While doing his job he realized what he was doing and at the time didn’t know it was illegal. He claims the families of the orcas didn’t leave, but stayed 25 yards away communicating with the babies. “It was just like kidnapping a little kid from their mother,” John claims. He cried, but still went and did his job anyways. He continues, “I’ve seen some things that are hard to believe but this is the worst thing I’ve ever done.” Having video footage of John Crowe talking about what it was like to capture killer whales shows being vulnerable. John Crowe has a “rough” image, with a big beard, biker style clothing, and tattoos, but in the video footage he is crying while talking about taking these killer whales away from their families. Having this footage makes the readers feel despair and saddened over what is happening to these killer whales. Another example of pathos is the video footage of the mother orca crying at SeaWorld. Katina gave birth to Kalina in 1990 at the SeaWorld Park in Orlando, Florida which made baby Shamu the newest attraction and given the most attention. Kalina didn’t listen much and the directors of SeaWorld decided to move Kalina at the age of 4 to another park. The trainers believed that Katina and Kalina were being moved together but later found out Kalina was leaving her mother’s side. Moving Kalina from her mother caused Katina great grief which caused some abnormal behavior. Generally she was a quiet orca and wasn’t vocal much, but once her baby was taken away from her, she shook and cried in the corner of the pool. Having the footage of an orca crying since her baby was taken away makes the viewers feel angry because they took her child away and leaves us thinking that Katina will not ever see Kalina again. Credibility is used throughout the documentary to show the viewers why they should believe the facts given to them. When SeaLand was open, a trainer, Kelty Burn, was killed by Tilikum. Corinne Cowell and Nadine Kallen witnessed her death. Corinne and Nadine watched Burn trip and her foot dropped into the pool. While Burn was pushing herself back up the whale swam over and grabbed her foot, and they didn’t believe it was a big deal since the trainers are in the pool with the whales until they saw more swimming and more activity. They heard Burn screaming, saw her looking around and realized she really was in trouble. The whale would pull her back up, she would scream” help me, help me!” The killer whale would pull her back under for maybe a minute each time and they even heard Burn yell she doesn’t want to die. They knew it was Tilikum who had Burn because of his collapsed dorsal fin which none of the other whales had. This shows credibility by having witnesses to the death of trainers and can accurately say what happened unlike SeaWorld who is providing false facts as the director has pointed out before. More examples of credibility are the former trainers who use to work at SeaWorld. These trainers can give information about deaths of trainers at the park. Jeff Ventre, Samantha Berg, and John Jett gives the story of the death of Dawn Brancheau. Dawn felt the pressure to do a good show after the orcas weren’t listening or doing a good job, so Dawn wanted to make Tilikum be great. She asked him to swim the perimeter and wave, and he does that so Dawn blows the whistle for him to come back and get food, but he did not do that and did the perimeter wave again. Once he returned back to Dawn he expected fish but got told he didn’t do a good job and didn’t get fed. The trainers realized Tilikum knew he was running out of food which led him to be uneasy with her. Dawn had lay down time with Tilikum, who then grabbed her by her left forearm and pulled her in. John Jett was then told TIlikum still had her and it was very unsettling to him. This shows credibility by the former trainers being able to give accurate information to the public and gives the viewers reasons to believe it is true. This again reverts back the problem of SeaWorld giving false information from which the director has clarified throughout the film. There are many strengths within the documentary. One of the strengths of this documentary is the video footage used to show the attacks and deaths of trainers. Having this footage lets the viewers see how the deaths really happened and not how SeaWorld is claiming they happened. The video footage shows that orcas can be aggressive and it’s not a trainer’s fault every time. Another strength is having the former trainers able to testify and tell their stories. These former trainers can give accurate information about the deaths of trainers, how the killer whales act, and what SeaWorld tells the trainers verses what the truth is. Having the former trainers also gives a stronger credibility of the document. These trainers have a reason to be believed because they are the ones who work with the animals first hand. There are many strengths throughout this documentary which makes it’s a strong argument and credible arguments against SeaWorld. I believe this was a great documentary and very factual.
As most of the audience, I did not know what was going on at SeaWorld including all the deaths of trainers. SeaWorld hides these deaths and blames many of the dead trainers even though they are not here to defend themselves. When it was stated that SeaWorld declined an interview for Blackfish, it seemed a little fishy. If they did nothing wrong why wouldn’t they give an interview? I believe the people that are protesting outside of SeaWorld are doing something great and defending the orcas as they would humans. We don’t want to be captured from out natural habitats, so why would we do that to animals that have feelings too? I will never go to SeaWorld unless it is to protest and will not take my kids. I am glad my family has never taken me and I am glad to be shown this documentary on how bad SeaWorld really
is.
The documentary, Blackfish, produced in 2013 and directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite argues that killer whales should not be kept in restricted areas. Keeping killer whales in confined spaces causes psychological problems due to being apart from families resulting in aggression that could be dangerous or lethal. The director also argues that keeping orcas in captivity is …show more content…
inhumane. In Blackfish, SeaWorld is shown hiding information for the purpose of image, to make more money, and keep their doors open. This is an argument of fact because it is making the general public aware of the dangers of these practices, and of the misinformation provided by SeaWorld. Another example of fact is cause and effect. The cause is taking these whales from their natural habitat and their families, and the effect is the aggression that occurs in the killer whales. This is also an argument of value because the director suggests it is unethical to keep these killer whales in confined spaces and tear them away from their families. An argument of proposal is used because it is calling for a change to take the killer whales out of SeaWorld and release them back into the wild. During the documentary logical appeal is used the most. For example, the film shows SeaWorld tour guides who give out facts to the visitors to help them understand SeaWorld animals better. In one clip, SeaWorld claims that orcas live longer in their parks because the animals are fed every day and given proper care from onsite veterinarians. The park says the orcas will live from 25-30 years in captivity unlike the wild. However, Howard Garrett, an orca researcher, proves them wrong. Garrett states that in 1980, with half a dozen years of research, he found out these orcas live up to human years if not longer. This appeals to logic because of the hard evidence given within the film. This example also establishes credibility because Howard Garrett studies orcas, which leads us to believe he knows what he is talking about. Another example of logical appeal is when the tour guides are seen talking about dorsal fins. SeaWorld claims that collapsed dorsal fins happen as the whales grow older stating that this happens to 25% of them in the wild. Jeff Ventre, former trainer, says that is a lie and research has shown that to be false. Collapsed dorsal fin happens to 1% or less to killer whales in the wild. Collapsed dorsal fin happens to 100% of males in captivity. The documentary is using logical appeals to show that SeaWorld is giving out false information about the killer whales. Emotional appeal is another part of the documentary. One instance is seen in the case of John Crowe who captured killer whales. While doing his job he realized what he was doing and at the time didn’t know it was illegal. He claims the families of the orcas didn’t leave, but stayed 25 yards away communicating with the babies. “It was just like kidnapping a little kid from their mother,” John claims. He cried, but still went and did his job anyways. He continues, “I’ve seen some things that are hard to believe but this is the worst thing I’ve ever done.” Having video footage of John Crowe talking about what it was like to capture killer whales shows being vulnerable. John Crowe has a “rough” image, with a big beard, biker style clothing, and tattoos, but in the video footage he is crying while talking about taking these killer whales away from their families. Having this footage makes the readers feel despair and saddened over what is happening to these killer whales. Another example of pathos is the video footage of the mother orca crying at SeaWorld. Katina gave birth to Kalina in 1990 at the SeaWorld Park in Orlando, Florida which made baby Shamu the newest attraction and given the most attention. Kalina didn’t listen much and the directors of SeaWorld decided to move Kalina at the age of 4 to another park. The trainers believed that Katina and Kalina were being moved together but later found out Kalina was leaving her mother’s side. Moving Kalina from her mother caused Katina great grief which caused some abnormal behavior. Generally she was a quiet orca and wasn’t vocal much, but once her baby was taken away from her, she shook and cried in the corner of the pool. Having the footage of an orca crying since her baby was taken away makes the viewers feel angry because they took her child away and leaves us thinking that Katina will not ever see Kalina again. Credibility is used throughout the documentary to show the viewers why they should believe the facts given to them. When SeaLand was open, a trainer, Kelty Burn, was killed by Tilikum. Corinne Cowell and Nadine Kallen witnessed her death. Corinne and Nadine watched Burn trip and her foot dropped into the pool. While Burn was pushing herself back up the whale swam over and grabbed her foot, and they didn’t believe it was a big deal since the trainers are in the pool with the whales until they saw more swimming and more activity. They heard Burn screaming, saw her looking around and realized she really was in trouble. The whale would pull her back up, she would scream” help me, help me!” The killer whale would pull her back under for maybe a minute each time and they even heard Burn yell she doesn’t want to die. They knew it was Tilikum who had Burn because of his collapsed dorsal fin which none of the other whales had. This shows credibility by having witnesses to the death of trainers and can accurately say what happened unlike SeaWorld who is providing false facts as the director has pointed out before. More examples of credibility are the former trainers who use to work at SeaWorld. These trainers can give information about deaths of trainers at the park. Jeff Ventre, Samantha Berg, and John Jett gives the story of the death of Dawn Brancheau. Dawn felt the pressure to do a good show after the orcas weren’t listening or doing a good job, so Dawn wanted to make Tilikum be great. She asked him to swim the perimeter and wave, and he does that so Dawn blows the whistle for him to come back and get food, but he did not do that and did the perimeter wave again. Once he returned back to Dawn he expected fish but got told he didn’t do a good job and didn’t get fed. The trainers realized Tilikum knew he was running out of food which led him to be uneasy with her. Dawn had lay down time with Tilikum, who then grabbed her by her left forearm and pulled her in. John Jett was then told TIlikum still had her and it was very unsettling to him. This shows credibility by the former trainers being able to give accurate information to the public and gives the viewers reasons to believe it is true. This again reverts back the problem of SeaWorld giving false information from which the director has clarified throughout the film. There are many strengths within the documentary. One of the strengths of this documentary is the video footage used to show the attacks and deaths of trainers. Having this footage lets the viewers see how the deaths really happened and not how SeaWorld is claiming they happened. The video footage shows that orcas can be aggressive and it’s not a trainer’s fault every time. Another strength is having the former trainers able to testify and tell their stories. These former trainers can give accurate information about the deaths of trainers, how the killer whales act, and what SeaWorld tells the trainers verses what the truth is. Having the former trainers also gives a stronger credibility of the document. These trainers have a reason to be believed because they are the ones who work with the animals first hand. There are many strengths throughout this documentary which makes it’s a strong argument and credible arguments against SeaWorld. I believe this was a great documentary and very factual.
As most of the audience, I did not know what was going on at SeaWorld including all the deaths of trainers. SeaWorld hides these deaths and blames many of the dead trainers even though they are not here to defend themselves. When it was stated that SeaWorld declined an interview for Blackfish, it seemed a little fishy. If they did nothing wrong why wouldn’t they give an interview? I believe the people that are protesting outside of SeaWorld are doing something great and defending the orcas as they would humans. We don’t want to be captured from out natural habitats, so why would we do that to animals that have feelings too? I will never go to SeaWorld unless it is to protest and will not take my kids. I am glad my family has never taken me and I am glad to be shown this documentary on how bad SeaWorld really
is.