Amir 1 Malaeka Amir Professor Allkins ENG 101 07/10/2023 Blackfish The documentary Blackfish, directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, explores the lives of killer whales as they are pulled out of the ocean and forced into captivity by large corporations like SeaWorld for leisure purposes. It examines the behavior of these whales, delving into the psychological trauma led by their imprisonment that causes them to exhibit violent ‘killer’ traits. Through its use of rhetorical strategies such as interviews with former SeaWorld employees and other experts, heart wrenching visuals, and scientific research to refute arguments made by SeaWorld, the documentary aims to motivate the audience to question the ethics of the treatment of these animals in captivity. In order to strengthen its arguments, Blackfish presents testimonials of marine biologists, former SeaWorld trainers and even the seamen who participated in capturing the whales. This manages to build credibility as an approach to ethos since we receive first-hand commentary on the incidents involving the mistreatment of whales. Mark Simmons, a former SeaWorld trainer, mentions, “You are a team and you build a relationship together and you both understand the goal and you help each other.” (Blackfish) This, and many other declarations of having formed personal connections with the whales establishes the documentary’s credibility on knowing the circumstances in which the whales were treated. This also takes an approach to pathos since it feels as though the audience had known the Orcas personally, through the trainers who share several anecdotes from their experience. Seamen who participated in capturing the Orcas also make an appearance, recalling the day with tears in their eyes, invoking feelings of sympathy and pity. “It’s like kidnapping a little Amir 2 kid away from their mother.” (Blackfish) This humanizes the Orcas and what they have to go to, adding to feelings of empathy from the audience by making them imagine a realistic scenario. Through its use of heartfelt visuals and contrasting imagery, Blackfish aims to evoke emotional responses from its audience. The documentary shares several clips of Orcas swimming in their natural habitat, putting the audience in awe of their beauty, then compares this to scenes of abuse and the result of harsh treatment the Orcas would face while in captivity. Christopher Porter, another former SeaLand trainer, says, “We started having difficulty in getting them all into this one small steel box, to be honest, that’s what it was. It was a floating steel box.” (Blackfish) The documentary goes on to show pictures of the steel box, and then clips of the whales bleeding, or with scratch marks. It is later explained that this resulted due to the whales not being able to cooperate with each other in such close proximity. It was clear to see the psychological damage the whales were suffering through. The juxtaposition of these images meant to highlight their agony and psychological pain, generating empathy and contributing to the emotional impact made by the documentary. Lastly, Blackfish employs statistics and scientific research to address claims made by corporations like SeaWorld and others. For example, the documentary shares clips of a SeaWorld employee claiming that Orcas live up to 25 to 35 years. This is disputed by Howard Garrett, an Orca researcher, “We know after half a dozen years of research that they live equivalent to human life spans.” This is only one example out of several proven to be incorrect by specialists who featured in the documentary. This appeals to the audience’s sense of reason by logically providing statistics of the whales’ life spans. Either the SeaWorld employees did not know enough (which is concerning, considering it is their job to research about these things), or were blatantly lying in order to refute claims that whales don’t thrive well in captivity. Lori Marino, a neuroscientist, took apart the Orca brain, explaining that they Amir 3 actually might have a higher intelligence than humans, “They’ve got a part of the brain that humans don’t have.” (Blackfish) The implementation of factual information about the Orcas’ intelligence provides a rational perspective, allowing the viewers to ethically consider how keeping these creatures prisoned was an absolute waste of their lives as well as potential. Blackfish’s application of several rhetorical strategies including testimonials of former trainers, poignant visuals and logical reasoning, makes a compelling argument against big corporations and their unethical confinement of killer whales. The documentary gains the audience’s compassion while simultaneously building its credibility and providing scientific data, calling for them to reconsider their support in keeping these majestic creatures captive, and to advocate for their freedom. Amir 4 Works Cited Cowperthwaite, Gabriela. Blackfish. Magnolia Pictures, 2013.
