Rhetoric In Blackfish

Freeing Willy: A Rhetorical Analysis on Blackfish the Documentary 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.

Another example of imagery in the documentary is when a man died at SeaWorld, “…there was Tilikum with a dead guy, a dead naked guy on his back, kind of parading him around the back pool…Tilikum stripped him, bit off his genitals. There were bite marks all over his body.” These gruesome illustrations drive home the point that keeping animals in captivity can be harmful to them and humans. These examples use the rhetorical strategy of pathos, appealing to the emotions of sympathy and fear.

Joshua T. Brooks Professor Patty Chaffin English 111 8 February 2023 Blackfish Blackfish is a documentary filmed in 2013 directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite. This film was produced following the lawsuit against SeaWorld where people have died while training with killer whales. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) ruled that it was dangerous for humans to be in the same water as Killer Wahles in captivity because the only deaths by whales have come from them being in captivity, there have been no reported deaths by whales that live in the wild. This shows that you do not know how animals will react when you get them into the wild. Gabriela Cowperthwaite shows all of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos in the film.

Starting from the way they are captured, these animals suffer all their life in confinement. Currently, 58 orcas are held captive in different marine parks around the world. (The fate of captive orcas). At the moment of their capture this animals are hurled in and the young ones are captured, leaving the parents in despair over their offspring’s. (blackfish).

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.

Blackfish Rhetorical Analysis 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.

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.

Blackfish is a 2013 movie directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite it concerns an orca named Tilikum which is held at SeaWorld. The movie speaks of the present incarcerated killer whales living at the SeaWorld Park. The film uses many forms of rhetorical strategies, such as pathos, ethos, and logos to positively persuade the audience of their argument. Ethos, Pathos, and Logos are three persuasion tools used both in Julius Caesar and in Blackfish. Ethos is persuading through the character of the author.

In conclusion Blackfish is gives audiences a shocking, aggressive and deeply compelling look into cruel practices of marine parks for decades that will change the way you look at captive/trained killer whales and other animals. In watching this documentary has significantly opened my eyes regarding the brutal treatment and methods of capturing wild animals giving me a greater sympathy for orcas in parks such as SeaWorld. This startling documentary will surprise audiences as Cowperthwaite is unrelenting in showing the fatal consequences of keeping killer whales in captivity while also critiquing of the cruel and immoral practises of

Orcas are incredibly smart, so the mother orcas would swim away from where the herding was happening. As a result to this, SeaWorld began releasing planes that would fly over the sea and find the mothers, because the orcas had to come up for air eventually. They would throw bombs into the water, so the orcas would be forced to go into nets. One of the whales, named Tilikum, who recently died in January of 2017, was kidnapped from the ocean at the young age of two. A man named Ted Griffin, who helped capture the whales, killed a mother whale in front of her daughter, to later be named Shamu; the first performing whale at SeaWorld.

“I think that in 50 years, we’ll look back and go ‘My God, what a barbaric time. ’”-Blackfish. It is terrible that people today see nothing wrong with training these animals to entertain others. This quote from the movie is actually really accurate. Right now some people will think it’s fine because it’s been this way for a long time, but these animals are going crazy.

Blackfish 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. Firstly, Cowperthwaite uses effective language techniques to position the audience to view the trainers as undertrained and unprofessional.

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.

Incorporating personal testimonies of the former trainers pulls at the heartstrings of the audience in which they can feel sympathy for the trainers and the whales for what they have gone through and endured through their time at SeaWorld. Adding witnesses’ claims to the film also allows the audience to feel sympathy for them and what they might have seen and can connect to them since they are ordinary citizens like the majority of the viewers watching the film. Not only do trainers employ an emotional appeal, but the Orcas do too. The capturing of the recent newborn Orca from the mother details in the mother’s wrenching cries that trainers had never heard before they had to call in a specialist to decipher them. What he found was so heartbreaking, the mother whale was sending out cries in an attempt for her baby to hear, wherever he/she went.

The first reason why I think should not be in captivity is of what happens in their tank. The first piece of evidence from the PETA practical “Aquariums and Marine Parks” is that since the tanks for the orcas are usually small for them, they get insane because of the echolocation they use. This makes me think that since their fin sometimes curves, that they would get injured while swimming. In addition, this might make the whale die faster than what they are supposed to live to. Other people might say it might non’t affect it