Blackfish

After watching Blackfish I was not sure what to think. When I was a little kid I loved Sea World. Recently, my nieces and nephew went to Florida and all of them came back saying how much they loved Sea World. It made my stomach ache to see how these beautiful creatures were/are being treated and how the place that was said to be ‘caring’ for them was such a large part of my childhood. Although I found this film educational and it kept me interested, it was still upsetting in many ways. The worst part of the film for me was hearing the man say that they fill the unwanted whales with rocks and sink them to the bottom with an anchor. It was shocking for me to see how animals that should be free are being kept in an area smaller than a classroom and how no one ever knew about this or did anything about it.

In the class discussion we talked about the similarities between the way they treat the whales at Sea World and how we believe the animals are treated at a zoo. To me I have never seen behind the scene at a zoo but that does make me question if there is harm to the animals, if they are treated properly, if the space they are given as a habitat is truly big enough for them. The only part of a zoo that has made me question it is the parts where you can ride on an elephant or on a camel. You never hear of any accidents but that doesn’t mean there hasn’t been any. That is just like those that have to take care of the lions or gorillas, there has to have been a few accidents that are not spoken about but have happened. But as I continued to think about this I began to compare the movie and the zoo to a circus. I feel as though there are just as many comparisons to the animals in a circus. They are forced to preform just for the entertainment of people and are then sent to a small cage just like the whales at Sea World.

-Hayley

Boy in the Striped Pajamas

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, although a feature film, has many documentary elements and shows the effects of what a limited view to the world can bring you.  This film highlights how people's views of the world are so reliant on the experiences they live through and that no two people have the same perspective.  This idea is highlighted in this movie through two young boys, who grew up in the same time period, in similar geographic locations, but lived drastically different lives.  One boy was the son of a Nazi officer, and was told his whole life that his father was a good soldier that only helped people and did no harm.  But upon moving to a house on the same land as a concentration camp, the boy soon saw what soldiers like his father were really doing.  The other point of view is of a young boy, who was a jew inside the concentration camp near the house of the other young boy.  These two interact with each other from opposite sides of the fence and come to learn that they are not all that different from each other, despite what all the adults are telling them.  The young boys the innocence and naivety that was taken away from so many young people during this time by society and shows that the differences between us are really all in our heads.  

Blackfish

Since I have seen this film before, I attempted to look at everything that was being presented with a more critical eye and tried to look past what the directors of the documentary were telling us.  Overall the film was very well done, the directors presented the facts in a way that made it hard to not believe what was being said, mostly because of the people they interviewed.  The majority of the people that they interviewed were former employees of Sea World, who had been trainers of the various marine animals that they had, as well as the orca whales.  One could argue that the trainers were biased, or that they are disgruntled ex-employees, but the evidence of the cruelty that these animals are put through is obvious and cannot be questioned.  Whether or not Tilikum was brought up to kill because of the treatment that he had experienced remains to be debated, but no matter what, someone cannot deny that these poor animals are being mistreated and should either be released or be put into much better facilities where they can be properly cared for.

The directors presented the facts about Tilikum and how he was brought to Sea World, the way that they capture the orca whales, as well as the interactions and culture of the whales in a way that showed the audience that they are inteligent and sensitive creatures that need to be with their families.  The fact that many of the whales in captivity are depressed, violent and at times dangerous goes to show that they shouldn't be in captivity at all, or at the very least treated under much better conditions.  Overall the documentary shed light on the goings on at Sea World, as well as the mistreatment of the animals at their facilities.