Gabriella Cowperthwaite Blackfish Essay

In 2013, the documentary called Blackfish was released, a story about a killer whale that over the years at SeaWorld killed several people. It highlighted some of the major problems with animals in captivity. SeaWorld, known for having several different animal attractions; Dolphin Cove, Dolphin Nursery, Orca Underwater Viewing, Shark Encounter, Wild Arctic (Habitat) and many more. The organization first started with the intention of learning more about animals in order to educate the public about different behaviors of each animal. Trainers at Seaworld are offered the opportunity to get hands-on training with animals and are eventually are allowed to entertain the public with the skills they have acquired. Over the years there has been controversies with the way SeaWorld treat the animals and the type of behaviors animals portray as a result of its enclosures. SeaWorld's defense of capturing

Did you know that Seaworld’s parking lots are bigger than the areas where they keep their whales? This and other examples are why animals should not be held in captivity. Animals should not be held in captivity because of the inhumane treatment, lack of education for kids, and loss of freedom.

The movie Blackfish is a documentary about Orca whales and their abhorrent treatment throughout SeaWorld’s history, detailing how the whales should be freed from their enclosures and sent back into the oceans where they belong to protect not only themselves, but to the trainers and visitors of SeaWorld as well. Blackfish revolves around one Orca named Tilikum, at 12,000 pounds he was the dominant one at SeaWorld. However, Tilikum’s public murder of three trainers changed the way people looked at SeaWorld. Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite released a documentary in 2013 titled Blackfish detailing SeaWorld’s horrific treatment of its marine animals, especially the Orcas, in captivity. Ms. Cowperthwaite’s vision of Blackfish entailed “reaching

“We can tame and love wild animals so we should capture them, to educate and entertain humans.”

One fish, two fish, red fish, Blackfish. Blackfish is a documentary created by Gabriela Cowperthwaite to expose Seaworld and to show people what really happened with attacks on trainers such as the one Dawn Brancheau and the mistreatment of animals through many series of interviews of ex-trainers, experts on orcas, orca hunters, and eye witnesses of gruesome experiences. She accompanied her interviews with an array of video clips to back up her interviewer 's testimonies for her film. Cowperthwaite built her argument against Seaworld by using various examples of ethos, logos, and pathos. She used them with skill to make a strong and convincing argument with solid logic and without using any logical fallacies.

There are a few breeds of whales that have been kept in captivity for too long. Many of their lives started in captivity and they are unable to make the transition back to their natural habitat. Some of them are kept in captivity because of injuries, for research, and even for entertainment. Whatever the reason for their captivity, they aren’t meant to be captive. Whales in captivity have become too much for humans to handle. Many of the pools that they are kept in are far to small to accommodate their need for exercise. The small pools can also cause a large amount of stress for these animals as well. Sometimes these animals, like dolphins, are kept in captivity for research. After being in captivity for too long

It 's clear that the living conditions that these animals are forced to live in are just plain unethical, but something even worse is the relationship between animals in captivity and a spike in their stress levels. “It 's irrefutable that many zoos drive animals insane -- and if that isn 't cruel, I don 't know what is” (Masci) For starters, SeaWorld is one of the most notorious places in the world accused of stressing out their animals. Since the tanks are so small the whales tend to get very stressed out, and some former workers even say that the whales seem to go psychotic. “ If you were on a bathtub for 25 years, don 't you think you get a little irritated, aggravated, maybe a little psychotic ” (“Blackfish”)? A clear example is when one of the

The documentary film Blackfish, by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, is a daring venture, which claims that orcas in captivity become dangerous to human beings, as well as to other orcas. Cowperthwaite points to SeaWorld, in particular, since this world-renowned tourist attraction has had many examples that support her claim. In producing this film, Cowperthwaite hopes to bring about an end to SeaWorld’s practice of using killer whales as performance animals since the limited environment is ultimately doing more harm than good for both the whales and their trainers. The purpose of this rhetorical analysis will be to determine whether Blackfish offers a compelling argument.

When the two sides come together, the argument boils down to one major point, should we “Free Willy?” Those who side with the whales, whether their reasons be emotional or defended with welfare standards, feel that the whales should be released back into the wild or into private coves3. The opposing side makes valid arguments against the release of the currently captive whales. Currently captive whales were either removed from the wild at a young age, albeit in a cruel way, or they were bred in captivity11. The point in discussing this issue is not to address the cruelty of taking an animal from the wild, or to argue whether or not breeding programs are successful or appropriate. What needs to be addressed regarding the release of captive whales is their survivability in the wild6. Many killer whales are bred in captivity now, and thus have depended on humans for the entirety of their lives7. If a captive bred whale were released into the wild, it is likely that he or she would approach humans which could be dangerous for both the human and the whale. Captive bred killer whales would also likely have difficulty hunting, as their food was always provided for them by humans.

Blackfish (2013) is an American documentary film directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite and produced by Manuel V. Oteyza. The documentary primarily concerns the controversy of captured Killer Whales at the theme park Sea World, primarily that of Tilikum, an Orca responsible for the deaths of 2010 SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau and two other individuals. The documentary begins with this incident but goes as far back to the 1970 's show the audience how young Orcas are captured in the wild and taken from their families and natural environments. Since its release at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival Blackfish has achieved both critical acclaim and caused controversy regarding SeaWorld 's treatment of its animals as well as retaliation from SeaWorld as to the legitimacy of the film 's claims.

In 2013, a documentary called Blackfish was released to the public. This film was produced, written, and directed by a lady named Gabriela Cowperthwaite, as a way to show the world how poorly whales are treated and why they do not belong in captivity. Blackfish also shows how little people really know about the beautiful and highly intelligent orca whale itself. Her film was seen by many, and touched the hearts of a lot people, taking the debate of the topic to a higher level. The movie hits on a lot of main issues about captivity, told by reliable people, along with proven statistics to go along with them. That makes this sources extremely dependable for my final paper due to all the good information it gives.

Ever since wild animals such as Killer Whales have been captured and kept in theme parks and zoos as amusement, there have been issues on whether they should or shouldn’t be kept in captivity. Killer Whales, otherwise commonly referred to as Orcas, have regularly been taken away from the sea at a very young age so they can be trained, raised and kept in theme parks for exhibition. Although theme parks no longer capture whales from the wild, they are still bred in captivity for public display at marine parks such as Sea World (Gorman). Sea World and other theme parks confine whales to tanks that, for them, are about the same size as a

In 2013, Gabriela Cowperthwaite directed the documentary Blackfish. This documentary is about Tilikum, an orca from SeaWorld that has taken the lives of many trainers. The documentary makes the claim that orcas should be freed from captivity. While in captivity they are causing harm to both themselves, humans, and the other orcas. Blackfish is a great example of an argument that can be rhetorically analyzed because it has pathos, ethos, and logos.

The documentary Blackfish, directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite released in July 2013, explores the mistreatment of killer whales and the relationship between the killer whales and trainers as well as the significant problems of the sea-park industry, with a focus upon SeaWorld. Cowperthwaite positions the audience to feel sympathy towards the killer whales by making deliberate choices in sound, visual, language, and structure through the representation of trainers as unprofessional, and whales as mistreated, also experts as reliable information source.

Territories border a specific species’ personal space, the Orinus orca is no stranger to this as any other living thing. What makes the whale’s reputation “killer” is its compliance to territories. Killer whales are innocent, but immature. Their actions prove them to be “killer” as witnesses say, but do they really think on the Orinus orca’s perception of the situations of violence they are involved in? Killer whale’s do what any other wild animal does, and when captive it is no surprise they would do the same. Orinus orcas are playful, misunderstood creatures that do not deserve their reputation as killer for an ocean of reasons.