The documentary "Blackfish" directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, is about killer whales in captivity. The film focuses on one whale in particular, Tilikum, who is still an active whale at SeaWorld in Orlando. Cowperthwaite describes where Tilikum came from and how he ended up at SeaWorld. She uses former SeaWorld trainers, real footage, and eyewitnesses to uncover Tilikum's story.
As an animal lover but also someone who has always loved going to the zoo and aquariums to visit wild animals...I was appalled by the accusations the film made. I'm usually not one to get involved in such an argument, but seeing what these whales go through on a daily basis made me sick. These marine parks keep whales and other animals in concrete pens with very little room for them to swim and live. These animals are used to the wide open ocean, where they can freely roam. At SeaWorld and other parks, they are forced to live in a confined space.
One of the things I was most appalled by in this film was the separation of the killer whales from their families. The film starts out talking about how SeaWorld and other parks started in about the 1970s going out into the wild and capturing young killer whales. These whales were corralled and taken from their parents and the rest of their families. Anyone who has ever ready anything or seen any documentary about killer whales or even dolphins know that the swim in pods with members of their family. They have their own language and appear to have a very close knit family. I'm not a scientist by any means, but it is obvious that pulling a whale away from their family would be equivalent to kidnapping a human child from their parents and never returning the child. Not only did SeaWorld separate the families in the wild, they also did it while in captivity as well. Tilikum and some of the other male whales were used to breed with the females. Once the females had babies and the babies got a bit older, and more disruptive (just like a human toddler would be at that age), SeaWorld would separate the two. All of the trainers shown in the documentary collectively described the screeching and screaming and obvious grief the mothers showed when they were separated from their calves.
SeaWorld has denied that they have separated their mother whales from their calves. However, they have contradicted themselves several times as they have said that they "sometimes" have to remove calves from their mothers. I don't have children yet, but if I did, I couldn't imagine the sadness and depression I would feel if someone took my child away from me. It breaks my heart thinking that anyone could ever do that. That anyone could ever kidnap a human or animal child from their mother is disgusting to me.
As I previously stated, the main focus of the film was Tilikum and how he became what the filmmaker and several of the trainers and eyewitnesses called an aggressive whale. He was beaten up by other whales, shoved in a tiny pen, constantly used for his sperm, and forced to do behaviors that were probably unnatural to him. He was more than likely upset, frustrated, depressed, and maybe even a bit angry. There was speculation at the beginning of the film about whether or not Tilikum was responsible for the death of a girl at a different park called "Sealand" where he was located before he was moved to SeaWorld. Whether or not he was the one who killed the girl, he did kill a trainer in 2010, Dawn Brancheau. She was doing a show with Tilikum when things went wrong and he pulled her under the water. Now there is all this arguing from Sea World and other officials about whether or not Dawn was pulled down by her arm or her pony tail. Sea World claims it was Dawn's fault that she was killed by the whale because her pony tail was too long. However, if you look at footage with a lot of other female trainers, a lot of them have long hair in a long pony tail, and never had an issue.
Dawn's body was completely destroyed. She had been scalped, part of her ear and cheek bitten, among many other damages to her small body. The autopsy revealed she had died from drowning and traumatic injuries. If you have never read through her autopsy report, I would highly suggest doing so if you are a bit skeptical about what happened to Dawn. Anyone who says it was not a vicious attack, I think is dreaming. Again, I'm not an expert or a scientist, but it is hard not to believe it was an attack on her. The autopsy can be found at: http://www.autopsyfiles.org/reports/Other/brancheau,%20dawn_report.pdf
Tilikum wasn't the only whale in the documentary that has shown aggression towards humans. There have been many others who have done very similar things to their trainers. Some of them have been pulled under water several times for several seconds, been crushed, pushed up against the pool, grabbed from the side of the pool, and even killed by them. There were 3 deaths described in the documentary that were a result of the killer whales at the various marine parks. If you just youtube "seaworld trainer attacked" an entire page of videos pops up. Some of them are of the same attack, but how many attacks do there need to be before parks like Sea World realize they are doing something wrong. They are doing more harm to these animals then they are good, and they are endangering humans in the process.
Not only does Sea World still use Tilikum knowing that he could be dangerous, they also bread him and according to the documentary over 50% of Sea World whales bread in captivity have Tilikum's genes....that's crazy to me! How could anyone be some dumb as to breed an animal that shows aggression?! To my knowledge, there hasn't been an attack on a human from one of Tilikum's offspring, but the chance is still most likely there.
I was reading an article about Dawn Brancheau's family. After the film came out, they made a statement saying how they weren't affiliated with the film in any way and that they appreciate that "Blackfish" is focused a lot on the treatment of animals. I agree with this...their next statement, I'm not so sure I am okay with. They said they believed Dawn loved her job, which I would say is pretty obvious from watching any video of her. You can tell she loved the animals and that she had a great relationship with them. Her family continued on saying that she would have never continued working there if she felt the animals were not being cared for properly and that they still support Sea World and all her friends who are still trainers at the parks (http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2014-01-21/business/os-dawn-brancheau-blackfish-statement-20140121_1_killer-whales-blackfish-orca-tilikum)
I can't believe they would say this, that they still support the Sea World training program and all the trainers after they blamed Dawn for her own death?! Also, in the film, one of the trainers talks about knowing that something wasn't right, but that he stayed because he felt sorry for Tilikum and the other whales. Is it possible that Dawn knew there was something wrong going on, but she had such a love for the animals that she thought she could make their lives better by staying and caring for them? I would never want to put words in Dawn's mouth, but we don't know the full story, and neither does her family. Animals don't just lash out at humans because they want to, they aren't vicious creatures. Something has to set them off. As the beginning of the documentary states, there is no real record of these animals harming humans in the wild. So why are they doing it in captivity if they are being cared for just as they would be in the wild? If their lives are better in captivity than in the wild as Sea World states, then why are they hurting people? If their families are who they are forced to live with in their pens at Sea World, then why are they beating each other up and killing each other when they don't usually do so in the wild?
I'm not a scientist, but I believe what this film is saying. People have argued that it is one sided, and in some cases, I would agree. They asked Sea World to participate in the film, and Sea World had the opportunity to come in a be a part of the movie and recant what the former trainers were saying, but they chose not to. Why is that? In my own, non-expert opinion, it was because they were scared, and they knew that at least some of what the film was saying was right on. There is a former trainer featured in the film that still supports and loves Sea World and didn't say a single thing bad about it. He supports the training program throughout and says that he doesn't believe Sea World mistreats the animals or that the animals get upset about where they are living. So it isn't totally one sided. Even if it was totally one-sided, I would believe what the film is saying. It is cruel to lock up animals in pens..especially marine animals who are used to the vast open ocean where they can live with their families and have plenty of space to roam and be free. It makes me ashamed of myself that I enjoy going to these parks to see these animals. I haven't been to one since I watched the film.
I'm not trying to persuade anyone to think one way or the other, I'd encourage you to watch the film and decide for yourself. If you have Netflix, you can watch it online. Otherwise, I'd say it's definitely worth a few dollars to rent.
Here are a couple other articles to help you pick your side.
Sea World's response to "Blackfish": http://seaworld.com/en/truth/truth-about-blackfish/
An article against Sea World: https://www.thedodo.com/the-5-dumbest-things-seaworld--521507954.html
Now you can decide for yourselves.
Thursday, May 7, 2015
Monday, March 2, 2015
My Favorite 2015 Oscars Moment
I, like many, watched the Oscars on Sunday February 22. It was, as always, a star struck evening with many ups and downs. The jokes were flowing (some were funny, some were not). Julianne Moore won the Best Actress Oscar, Eddie Redmayne for Best Actor, and Birdman for Best Picture.
One of the greatest highlights of the evening however, was Patricia Arquette's speech when she won for Best Supporting Actress. It is always shocking yet refreshing when a celebrity uses their spotlight to talk about social issues they firmly believe in. For those of you who do not know or do not remember her speech, I encourage you to watch it again via YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-EmDy3w1X8
Once you get past all of her thank yous. She gets into an issue that I am personally passionate about. She talks about equality for women. "To every woman who gave birth to every taxpayer and citizen of this nation, we have fought for everybody else's equal rights. It's our time to have wage equality once and for all, and equal rights for women in the United States of America." Equality is something that EVERYONE deserves. It has been almost 95 years since the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote. Still, 95 years later we are fighting for our equality.
Women may have the right to vote and in 2010 we made up 47% of the workforce (http://www.dol.gov/wb/factsheets/Qf-laborforce-10.htm), but we are still generally making less than men. In fact in 2013, women who worked year round, full time jobs, were paid 78% of what men were paid (http://www.aauw.org/research/the-simple-truth-about-the-gender-pay-gap/). There is no doubt in my mind that women will, if they don't already, make up at least half of the labor force in the United States in the coming years. If the labor force is split up 50 50 in the United States, wages should also be equal.
Patricia Arquette received a lot of praise from women all around the world for her Oscar speech, and even received quite the ovation from the Queen of Hollywood herself, Ms. Meryl Streep. I think it was very brave of Patricia Arquette to use such a huge night where she knew millions of people would be watching to speak on such a controversial issue. Especially since it seems every woman in Hollywood who speaks out on a "feminist" issue is criticized by men. For example, when Emma Watson made her brave speech in front of members of the United Nations, she was threatened by hackers. They called her names and threatened to expose nude photos of her.
It's disgusting to me the kinds of things that will come out of people's mouths when a woman stands up for herself, her beliefs, and for other women.
I say bravo to Patricia Arquette and many other celebrity women who have spoken about equality for women. These are the kinds of role models in Hollywood young girls need and can look up to. Strong, beautiful on the inside, women who stand up for what is right and for what they believe.
One of the greatest highlights of the evening however, was Patricia Arquette's speech when she won for Best Supporting Actress. It is always shocking yet refreshing when a celebrity uses their spotlight to talk about social issues they firmly believe in. For those of you who do not know or do not remember her speech, I encourage you to watch it again via YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-EmDy3w1X8
Once you get past all of her thank yous. She gets into an issue that I am personally passionate about. She talks about equality for women. "To every woman who gave birth to every taxpayer and citizen of this nation, we have fought for everybody else's equal rights. It's our time to have wage equality once and for all, and equal rights for women in the United States of America." Equality is something that EVERYONE deserves. It has been almost 95 years since the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote. Still, 95 years later we are fighting for our equality.
Women may have the right to vote and in 2010 we made up 47% of the workforce (http://www.dol.gov/wb/factsheets/Qf-laborforce-10.htm), but we are still generally making less than men. In fact in 2013, women who worked year round, full time jobs, were paid 78% of what men were paid (http://www.aauw.org/research/the-simple-truth-about-the-gender-pay-gap/). There is no doubt in my mind that women will, if they don't already, make up at least half of the labor force in the United States in the coming years. If the labor force is split up 50 50 in the United States, wages should also be equal.
Patricia Arquette received a lot of praise from women all around the world for her Oscar speech, and even received quite the ovation from the Queen of Hollywood herself, Ms. Meryl Streep. I think it was very brave of Patricia Arquette to use such a huge night where she knew millions of people would be watching to speak on such a controversial issue. Especially since it seems every woman in Hollywood who speaks out on a "feminist" issue is criticized by men. For example, when Emma Watson made her brave speech in front of members of the United Nations, she was threatened by hackers. They called her names and threatened to expose nude photos of her.
It's disgusting to me the kinds of things that will come out of people's mouths when a woman stands up for herself, her beliefs, and for other women.
I say bravo to Patricia Arquette and many other celebrity women who have spoken about equality for women. These are the kinds of role models in Hollywood young girls need and can look up to. Strong, beautiful on the inside, women who stand up for what is right and for what they believe.
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