Locked In (Blackfish)

Killer whales, or orcas, are friendly animals and are not dangerous.  Orcas are magnificent animals that have emotions and feelings for others just like humans.  The documentary Blackfish directed and produced by Gabriela Cowperthwaite was created to inform everyone about how poorly orcas are treated.  The main goal was to persuade the audience that the small confined pools, that the orcas live in, affect their physical and mental health.  The first time I ever saw an Orca was when I was in 8th grade.  My family and I went to Alaska on a 40 mile backpacking trip, and while we were driving to the trailhead we stopped at a pier and saw something beautiful.  It was a huge Orca splashing out of the water putting on a show for all of the spectators.  I would have never expected to see a creature so big and majestic in the wild.  The documentary uses real life experiences along with intense imagery to help strengthen its argument.  Cowperthwaite’s argument is effective because of the different ways she incorporated graphic imagery and real experiences to help build a deeper connection with the audience. 

The documentary uses a lot of imagery and pathos, appeals to emotion, to help explain how captivity destroys Orcas lives.  They did this by using graphic images and real life experiences which allows the audience to really feel the true ways the Orcas were treated.  Near the beginning of the documentary Divers were explaining how they caught the Orcas from the wild and brought them back to Seaworld.  The Orca divers explained how they only went after the baby Orcas.  One diver named John Crowe said “I didn't stop working but I, you know, just couldn't handle it -- just like kidnapping a little kid away from his mother.” Crowe talks about kidnaping which allows for the audience to connect to the divers emotions and how terrible it actually was.  This builds the argument by using pathos to build bridges with the audience.  The words Crowe used also makes the audience feel uneasy and sorry for the baby Orcas and their mothers, that the divers were forced to kidnap.  Also, the documentary used many graphic pictures to help get their message across.  Throughout the documentary most trainers talked about a very experienced trainer named Dawn who died due to an Orca attack at Seaworld.  John Hargrove a former Seaworld trainer stated “They blamed [Dawn]. How disrespectful for you to blame her when she's not even alive to defend herself?”  Not only was there this very powerful language but they also showed the actual footage of a trainer getting injured with her arm broken and showed footage before Dawn died.  This footage allows the audience to react and see how dangerous the Orcas are when held in captivity.  Not only did they show these graphic images they also used trainers who worked with and personally knew Dawn to help show who she really was.  This built bridges with the audience because they were able to feel as if they actually knew Dawn too.  The use of imagery and pathos in the documentary helped strengthen the argument by building bridges with the audience making them able to connect with the film on a deeper level.

Another way Blackfish’s argument was effective was by the repeating different situations where Orcas acted similarly.  This repetition helps show the audience how poorly the Orcas are treated.  The documentary showed how Seaworld and other similar parks like to keep the Orcas families together, but, sometimes they are forced to separate the families.  “After Kalina [one of the whales] was removed from the scene and put on the truck and taken to the airport and Catina her mom, was left in the pool. She stayed in the corner of the pool like literally just shaking and screaming -- screeching crying like I'd never seen her do anything like that.”  Orcas are capable of feeling and loving others, but when left in captivity these emotions are never fulfilled like they are in the wild causing the Orcas to go crazy.  The documentary showed not one Orca but two different mother Orcas whose child was taken away and the Orcas acted the same way.  The repetition of how the Orcas act shows how capable Orcas are of loving and caring for others and when separated become agitated.  Another example of repetition is how the Orcas acted in the confined spaces.  The documentary continued to repeat how the Orcas became psychotic by being trapped in small pools.  Lori Marino a neuroscientist stated, “There's hyper-aggression, a lot of violence, a lot of killing in captivity that you don't ever see in the wild.”  Orcas were never viewed as an aggressive animal until SeaWorld began using them.  By continually repeating how psychotic and aggressive the Orcas become due to the captivity the audience can really understand why the Orcas began acting that way.
           
The real experiences and repetition of graphic images create an effective argument because it allows the audience to connect to the film.  Orcas are not meant in little kiddie pools.  They belong in the ocean where they can swim free and live the life they are supposed to.  The captivity leaves the orcas depressed and even psychotic which makes them more aggressive.  The dramatic interviews and real videos really help show how important it is to help get the Orcas out of captivity.  Now, after watching the documentary Blackfish and learning more about orcas and the way they are treated, I think back to the Orca I saw in Alaska.  It makes me sad to think how such magnificent creatures are just taken from their habitat to become a part of a show.  How would it feel to have your family ripped apart, locked in captivity, and treated terribly? ​