Spider Posted November 29, 2013 Report Share Posted November 29, 2013 So I watched this tonight and was wondering whether everyone else has seen it? For those that don't know, it's a documentary about Seaworld's killer whales and all the trainer incidents that have happened in recent years. It's a VERY harrowing watch (there's a scene showing a trainer who narrowly escapes a killer whale who is repeatedly pulling him to the bottom of the pool that is utterly terrifying), but I think an essential one for anyone 'into' the theme park world. I went to Seaworld's a few times, and I have to say I feel a little guilty about it, and much as I'd love to go on Manta, I'm not sure that I could go to the park anymore. Not preaching, I just think the film makes a very powerful case for a catalogue of cover ups and cruelty that is hard to ignore. Anyway, if you haven't seen it I urge you to seek it out, if you have then if love to know how it effected you! Inferno 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pluk Posted November 30, 2013 Report Share Posted November 30, 2013 I'd not even heard of this before now. Had you recorded it off the tv or is there another way to see it? This response from SeaWorld on the Wiki article "Blackfish is billed as a documentary, but instead of a fair and balanced treatment of a complex subject, the film is inaccurate and misleading and, regrettably, exploits a tragedy that remains a source of deep pain for Dawn Brancheau's family, friends and colleagues. To promote its bias that killer whales should not be maintained in a zoological setting, the film paints a distorted picture that withholds from viewers key facts about SeaWorld – among them, that SeaWorld is one of the world's most respected zoological institutions, that SeaWorld rescues, rehabilitates and returns to the wild hundreds of wild animals every year, and that SeaWorld commits millions of dollars annually to conservation and scientific research. Perhaps most important, the film fails to mention SeaWorld's commitment to the safety of its team members and guests and to the care and welfare of its animals, as demonstrated by the company's continual refinement and improvement to its killer whale facilities, equipment and procedures both before and after the death of Dawn Brancheau." Without having see it it's obviously impossible for me to tell, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if this has been made with an agenda and is not exactly impartial. Documentary film is only ever the makers truth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spider Posted November 30, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2013 I'd not even heard of this before now. Had you recorded it off the tv or is there another way to see it? This response from SeaWorld on the Wiki article Without having see it it's obviously impossible for me to tell, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if this has been made with an agenda and is not exactly impartial. Documentary film is only ever the makers truth. Definitely made with an argument to tell, and therefore selective with the evidence it shows, but it's a well told argument. Most of the film is narrated by ex-trainers, and although most of them seem pretty ashamed at what they used to do, others still clearly love the animals so much, and don't want to believe that it isn't right to keep animals like these in captivity. There's really two issues that the film explores - firstly the idea of whether it's safe for trainers to be in the water with the whales, and secondly whether the whales should be in captivity. I'm not super concerned about the former (it doesn't seem so different to something like extreme sports to me - a calculated risk), but in terms of the latter the film is very persuasive. There's footage of a mother whale screaming (which she apparently did all night) after her baby was sold to another park. Another where a whale is shown to just flow lifelessly for hours at a time. I rented it from lovefilm. I'd expect it to turn up on tv soon, but I wouldn't wait! Inferno 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted November 30, 2013 Report Share Posted November 30, 2013 There's very much an over-arching story here about animals being held in captivity in general... Nature still takes precedence over any training an animal may have received, for example when the lions of Chessie snacked on the baby binturongs last year... Orcas are so huge and reasonably dangerous it's a very tricky subject to have, because zoos are so big on the conservation of species (the baby being 'sold' was probably part of a breeding programme as you see at most zoos) so the incident there is one that could be explained through that... I think a lot of activists tend to forget about the conservation efforts and good zoos and aquatic centres do, probably why Merlin forces it down the throats of visitors these days... The trainer incidents did lead to them not being in the water since, which is for the best, as nature will always find a way... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inferno Posted November 30, 2013 Report Share Posted November 30, 2013 I absolutely adore SeaWorld but my last visit did make me question what was actually going on to be honest... The trainers clearly love their animals and take good care of them, but I'm not sure if I totally agree with keeping them in such tiny spaces. After the Shamu show a few years back we went over to the underwater viewing area to have a look at their pool... It was basically just a holding area where the whales swam in circles, around and around, just waiting to go back out and perform the next show... tbh that broke my heart a little bit. I know they do a lot of conservation, but seeing such an enormous and powerful animal trapped in that tiny fish tank was horrible. I'd never looks at a zoo like this before and it was a bit of an eye opener. Don't get me wrong, I loved the Believe show and I generally like zoos, but it just made me think about it... I'm going to have to look out for this documentary because I think I'd find it interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spider Posted December 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2013 For those that are interested, the full movie is on youtube at the moment (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mfkd3IC411g). I'd re-iterate that for anyone interested in the theme park industry it is essential viewing. Inferno 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pluk Posted December 5, 2013 Report Share Posted December 5, 2013 Gha, I got about 30 mins in the other day, then it froze and wouldn't work. Now it's been taken down. Damn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pluk Posted January 12, 2014 Report Share Posted January 12, 2014 I still haven't got to see the film yet, but have heard a lot about it from both geeks and non-geeks since this topic, much of which has sounded quite sensationalist and one sided. Mr Alvey might spend much of his time competing for douchebag of the year award, but this seems like a decent (even if it's as equally one sided as the film) punch of points from him. You know, it's interesting, I've now had to delete probably 200 comments and ban about 75 people from this page due to their "insane" rantings about Blackfish.FACT! You can't just sit in front of your TV, stream a 90 minute movie off Netflix, and then all of a sudden become an expert on something that people spend their LIVES dedicated to, learning about, and educating others.So many of these Blackfish followers simply ignore any of the recent commentary that has been published about the film: the trainers that were misled by what the movie was going to be about, commentary that was not included because it wouldn't contribute to the one-sided "story" they were trying to tell, and how the director asked the trainers not to talk about the movie until "after the Oscar awards season."And today, many people have ignored what I think is a HUGE deal and speaks volumes... and that is that Jack Hanna got up in front of a crowded theater at SeaWorld, with Dawn's parents in the audience (the trainer that was killed by the Ocra which was the main subject of Blackfish) and talks about her death.Jack said:"Dawn who lost her life here is a friend of mine. I did her memorial service. Her family is here today in the audience. They came to visit SeaWorld because they LOVE SeaWorld. Dawn loves SeaWorld. Her life was SeaWorld. The whales were her life. And things happen in life. She dedicated her life to what she believed in. It would really mean a lot to me if we could give a round of applause for that family, and for what they have done and for what SeaWorld has done over the last 40 years. Thank you."The family was at the park celebrating her life-time dedication to marine animals, their support for the park and what they do, and it's all being discussed by a man who has also spent a lifetime dedicated to animals and is an expert in the field.Yet the Blackfish people want to ignore all of that and instead take the word of some Hollywood woman who pieced together a version of a "story" based on a subject matter she knew little about before working on the film that would make her a lot of money and possibly get her a career-changing award.It amazes me how humanity is unable to see the true agenda behind Blackfish and buy into what the filmmaker says just because she's "on television."Have we really not advanced at all as a society?It's just embarrassing. The fact the family of the trainer killed are there in support of the park remembering here speaks volumes about how things really are. Inferno 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spider Posted May 3, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2014 Heads up. Blackfish is on BBC4 tonight under the Storyville strand (I don't know why it's become part of a series when it's on BBC but oh well!). Will probably be on iPlayer all week as well. The American theme park fans are acting like absolute ****s over this whole thing - silly geeks have latched onto the fact that the documentary has some issues with bias and are using this as a way to completely divert attention from the underlying issue of whether Orcas should be held in captivity. There also seems to be loads of statements from people in the film saying they didn't know what kind of film it was going to be, which again is being used as a stick to beat the director with - again, I'm not sure how this effects the issues presented in the film. Apparently some internet warrriors were saying how they should be dumping dead turtles and manatees onto the directors doorstep because of the revenue that Seaworld has lost not being spent on their conservation. Oh Americans and their strange ways... Anyway, the key thing is, watch it if you haven't! pluk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.S217 Posted May 6, 2014 Report Share Posted May 6, 2014 I may with a large box of tissues Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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