Blackfish: Documentary Analysis

Recently, environmental controversies are major issues. Since the environmental movement in the 1960’s, the mass media has brought this matter forth (Mass). In many countries, efforts of the media help the citizens become well aware of what is wrong and what actions can be performed. As a policy to inform the people, this leads to the communication via internet (Ahmad). Within the United States, about 5,500 animals are killed, and those alive have improper habitats (World). Through the media and internet, being at its height, foundations, companies, and the average citizen are able to voice their opinion and create changes for the better. This sense of messaging allowed animal foundations to ask for help and let many speak up about controversies,

The documentary was released in the United States on July nineteenth of 2013, and it “centers on the 2010 death of SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau by Tilikum". Within months before and after the release in theaters and CNN, tensions intensified because of controversies concerning the captivity of killer whales (Gibson; Kirby). Since the move was already shown at the Sundance Film Festival that January, some were already exposed to its content. The viewers reacted by posting their thoughts online. They even began to question SeaWorld by posting those on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media sites that they have. The activists campaigned against SeaWorld through online petitions such as Change.org (Gibson). As stated in the Constitution, the people hold the freedom of speech, exercising this right. With all of these questions and demands for explanations, SeaWorld finally “stepped up its online game” within a few months. Despite they denied most of the accusations, labeling Blackfish a propaganda, the activists were still fighting for the end to killer whale captivity. As the target, SeaWorld drove to prove the movie wrong, and they attempted so by opening a page that states the truth about the parks (Green). This situation shows that social media gives the people a chance to speak up within a controversy. Although there

These people supported this as SeaWorld made posts through different social media websites and commercials. On their YouTube page, they uploaded an advertisement for their website stating they do not “collect killer whales from the wild”, and they have the “highest standard of care” on the globe. It ended with what became a popular hashtag on Twitter, #AskSeaWorld (SeaWorld). SeaWorld's website openly answers the people’s questions. With such a slogan, “You ask. We answer.”, majority of those questions were about Tilikum. SeaWorld explained Tilikum’s actions did not originate from aggression and how he did not express any after the incident (You). Those who agree with their statements may also believe in the idea that most of the information online is false. This is ironic as they do not know what SeaWorld is stating is the truth. No one other than the author knows whether their words are one or the other, and this will be a continual problem. Even though this is true in many cases, this does not go against the campaigns many have made. With their voices, they were actually able to make changes. Last month, SeaWorld stated they have “plans to revamp its long-running killer whale show” and hope to focus on the natural behaviors of the killer whales. The replacement with the new program in 2017 was a shock to Gabriela Cowperthwaite, the creator of Blackfish (Smith).