Blackfish

I'm not gonna lie to you. As soon as I saw the trailer for "Blackfish", the new documentary about killer whales in captivity at Seaworld. I was hooked (That was an insensitive pun, I realize that.) The movie looked daring, insightful, and honestly really scary. The film definitely did not disappoint any of those expectations

The movie attempts to explain why killer whales in captivity, specifically at SeaWorld Orlando, have a greater tendency to attack, maim, and sometimes kill humans. The main consensus being pretty obvious: If you take an animal from its family in the wild, then place it in a concrete pool, and make it do tricks for fish. THe animal, especially one as intelligent as the orca, will snap. The movie paints this picture pretty clearly from the first couple of minutes. Most of the the interviews are with ex-SeaWorld trainers, some of whom have been involved with the incidents shown in the film. These trainers have all universally since begun to speak out about SeaWorld's practices and policy's regarding the creatures. The rest of the interviewees are pretty much Anti-SeaWorld across the board. This makes the documentary a bit unfairly biased. Luckily, the film leans towards informative more-so than straight up editorial opinion piece. (March of the Penguins vs. Bowling for Columbine). Still, it would have made for a more interesting piece if someone currently working for SeaWorld had participated. The film states that the park refused to be involved with it. Does this admit guilt or responsibility. "Blackfish" suggests that it does, and I am inclined to agree.

What elevates the film beyond typical classroom documentary fare, is that it actually has a narrative. A deliberately paced narrative that is more akin to a horror film than an animal rights documentary. THe director, Gabriela Cowperthwaite actually lets a story unfold, rather than just show us a cavalcade of courtroom documents, talking heads, and Ken Burns-y photographs. Interviews play out over actual footage of some of the attacks. They are truly terrifying. Out of context, some of the footage doesn't seem all that suspect. But in the context of the film, when we've learned how powerful these animals really are, and having eyewitnesses explain the gravity of the situations on screen, it becomes palpable and altogether unpleasant. There is one incident in particular, in which a trainer is pulled into the water, while playing with two orcas on her lunch break. The aftermath of which inspired a very panicked yelp from several audience members in the theatre with me. Something truly horrifying and real that your run of the mill exorcism movie just is not capable of. Don't come see this movie on a full stomach.

The true horror, for me at least, comes not from the killer whales, but SeaWorld itself. The theme park, time and time again, publicly refuses to accept blame or even partial responsibility for ANY of the incidents, especially those that involve the death of a human being. It truly is both astonishing and frustratingly unnerving. Constantly blaming the attacks on "trainer errors" and "avoidable accidents" rather than accept the harsh truth that their business model is putting both humans and their whale-counterparts at risk. The film partially centers around an OSHA lawsuit against SeaWorld filed after the death of Dawn Brancheau, an experience SeaWorld trainer who was mutilated and partially eaten during a live show by an orca named Tillikum. The result of the lawsuit was that SeaWorld was no longer allowed to allow trainers to interact with the whales in the water, putting up barriers around the pool to keep both parties safe. SeaWorld is currently appealing the decision. What a bunch of assholes.

One of the better documentaries I've seen in recent years, Blackfish paints a hair-raising picture of the realities of animal captivity while also exploring how beautiful and graceful these intimidating creatures can be. Again, SeaWorld's involvement would have been nice, as the film really never provides a real counterpoint to its claims, but I am not sure if that would have necessarily made the film any better. Regardless of bias, it is a truly suspenseful, informative, and enlightening documentary, and hopefully will encourage people to actively try to promote change in policies not only at SeaWorld, but in all harmful and immoral animal captivity situations.

8/10