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Blackfish: Documentary Filmmaking that Resonates

By Carrie Stemke · November 24, 2014

Using a creative, compelling mix of archival footage, interviews, commercials and clips of killer whales in the wild, Blackfish is a film that is both terrifying and thought provoking.

Four years ago, SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau was attacked and killed by one of the theme park’s whales. The incident sparked national outrage, and SeaWorld is still feeling the reverberation from the documentary. Blackfish focuses on the whale involved, a large male orca named Tilikum, and on SeaWorld’s role in the events that led up to her death. The end result is shocking.

Blackfish deftly touches on several key issues. One of these is the always-controversial relationship between humans and animals: is it okay to keep them in captivity? Is it safe to ever be closely involved with wild animals on a regular basis: are they ever domesticated? Are our zoos and aquariums humane? Here, the film has a hard time hiding its views that keeping an animal in captivity is horribly cruel: in addition to giving several heart-wrenching examples of the things animals in captivity go through, Blackfish aggressively points the finger at Tilikum’s life as a captive whale as the reason behind his violence towards his trainer.

Another talking point that surfaces is that of the far-reaching and sobering effects of corporate greed. Blackfish demonstrates how SeaWorld’s desire for money led them to hide Tilikum’s past and his involvement in an incident in which a trainer at a different park was badly injured from both the public and from their own staff members. According to the film, SeaWorld wanted to attract visitors to the park and to make the whales’ lives sound happy so badly, they resorted to lying. Naturally, SeaWorld has denied the claims made by Blackfish. While it’s to be expected that the documentary released information SeaWorld would never wish to be made public, and Blackfish certainly seems to have gone above and beyond in its research, it must be noted that the film is at times biased and operating on an agenda. But hey, welcome to the majority of documentary filmmaking. 

https://youtube.com/watch?v=fLOeH-Oq_1Y%26nbsp%3B

Perhaps one of the most interesting and best things about Blackfish is the insight it shows with the people involved and where their minds sit on the issue at hand. The documentary interviewed a number of SeaWorld’s former trainers about their work with the company, with the whales, and with Tilikum. This portion of the movie provides a fascinating look into the minds of humans on a whole: the audience watches the trainers try to explain things that made sense at the time, but, in light of more recent events, now seem illogical. They discuss their reasons for staying at the park despite the reality of what was going on, and the emotion that bleeds through is utterly human as they name reasons that now seem flimsy. This element in particular helps Blackfish transcend the genre and shift into to a real-life psychological thriller. 

Trailer Credit

Photo: Manny O Productions