Social Issues In Blackfish
A social issue is any kind of issue that is happening in a society. In the documentary Blackfish, directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, there were many social issues. Before watching the documentary, I did not know anything about Orcas. I did not even know it was a whale until people in class told me. At first, I had no idea that Orcas were any kind of issue but, at the end of the documentary, I had completely changed sides.
The biggest social issue in the movie was whether or not trainers should be allowed to swim with the whales at SeaWorld to put on shows for the public. Many people go to SeaWorld to watch shows where the trainers, who train the whales and teach them cool tricks, swim with the whales and perform their tricks. This can be very dangerous for the trainers because the whales could get frustrated at the trainer and that trainers life could be put at risk. For example, Dawn Brancheau was doing a show with Tilikum and Dawn was getting to the end of the fish bucket and Tilikum was not getting rewarded for doing good behaviors and he was starting to get angry. Tilikum grabbed Dawn’s arm and pulled her into the water and dragged her around the pool and eventually she was killed. Tilikum was then separated from the other whales and held in what was basically a jail cell.
Another issue in the movie was whether or not the whales should be captured and held captive. Imagine if you were in your house, living your life, and someone just took you and made you go somewhere and do what they say. You probably wouldn’t like it. Whales should not be disturbed in the ocean and forced to go learn tricks to perform in shows. When the whales do a behavior incorrectly, they are punished. An animal should not be punished for not doing a trick. When whales are punished, they get angry and sometimes will
A social issue is any kind of issue that is happening in a society. In the documentary Blackfish, directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, there were many social issues. Before watching the documentary, I did not know anything about Orcas. I did not even know it was a whale until people in class told me. At first, I had no idea that Orcas were any kind of issue but, at the end of the documentary, I had completely changed sides.
The biggest social issue in the movie was whether or not trainers should be allowed to swim with the whales at SeaWorld to put on shows for the public. Many people go to SeaWorld to watch shows where the trainers, who train the whales and teach them cool tricks, swim with the whales and perform their tricks. This can be very dangerous for the trainers because the whales could get frustrated at the trainer and that trainers life could be put at risk. For example, Dawn Brancheau was doing a show with Tilikum and Dawn was getting to the end of the fish bucket and Tilikum was not getting rewarded for doing good behaviors and he was starting to get angry. Tilikum grabbed Dawn’s arm and pulled her into the water and dragged her around the pool and eventually she was killed. Tilikum was then separated from the other whales and held in what was basically a jail cell.
Another issue in the movie was whether or not the whales should be captured and held captive. Imagine if you were in your house, living your life, and someone just took you and made you go somewhere and do what they say. You probably wouldn’t like it. Whales should not be disturbed in the ocean and forced to go learn tricks to perform in shows. When the whales do a behavior incorrectly, they are punished. An animal should not be punished for not doing a trick. When whales are punished, they get angry and sometimes will attack the trainers. Whales should not be held in a pool that they barely fit in. They should be able to swim freely in the ocean with all the space they need.
Another issue in Blackfish was sending inexperienced whales to a place with inexperienced trainers. Four baby Orcas were taken from their mothers to be trained at Loro Parque and perform there. They were sent there with inexperienced trainers to be trained. Loro Parque was an accident waiting to happen. Keto was following Alexis’ instructions normally. He did one of the instructions wrong, but Alexis waited until he was calm to continue. When he was calm they continued with the show. Keto ignored Alexis’ hand target and began driving Alexis down into the water. Alexis slapped the water and Keto responded, leaving Alexis at the bottom of the pool. He was under for about thirty seconds until Keto resurfaced without him. Keto went back down and brought Alexis back up. When he came back up he was unconscious and was never revived. Sending young whales with inexperienced trainers was a bad idea and ended in a bad way.
A film can change someone’s opinion on a social issue. You might look at something one way but someone else in a film might explain their opinion differently and you might see their side and change your opinion over the idea. I originally thought swimming with Orcas and putting on a show for the public was a good idea. After watching Blackfish, I realized that Orcas have attacked trainers more than once making it very dangerous for people to swim with.
