The film in not-so-subtle ways was seeking to set a record straight, to reclaim the narrative on a trainer’s death, to show it was not her fault. And to show the lies SeaWorld perpetuated on the animal-loving public; to alert the public that not only people but the animals were being harmed. Yes, it is implicit. To get to that visceral level and push the point of animal exploitation was a valid move. Little kids go to see the animals they love, and adults want to believe in conservation, they need to believe Orcas are being kept safe from whatever predators they have. But that predator is man. Man is the monster in this tale. Man is represented by SeaWorld, LLC.
The effectiveness of layering on stories from trainers, whale experts, and whale activists and the archival footage is well done. Starting the film with the death of trainer Dawn Brancheau, using the 911 call and subsequent testimony from the sheriff’s office and the EMTs that arrived at SeaWorld places the viewer in that moment. That first horror encountered is a very real way of letting the viewer experience the panic without having to see it. The follow-up shock is done through testimony, the back and forth of learning how the trainers are trained, and then how the animals are treated over time. If the point was only the animals why bother with Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) lawsuit against SeaWorld? Blackfish is a bit like the court case from OSHA, the only way to make SeaWorld change is to show what they are and let them lose money. SeaWorld is all about money.
“On Feb. 24, [2010] a six-ton killer whale grabbed a trainer and pulled her under the water during what SeaWorld describes as a "relationship session," which was also observed by park guests. Video footage shows the killer whale repeatedly striking and thrashing the trainer and pulling her under water even as she attempted to escape. The autopsy report describes the cause of death as drowning and traumatic injuries” (OSHA News Release August 23, 2010).
Gabriela Cowperthwaite said in an interview with the Los Angeles Weekly the project started because she was “being haunted by the death of Sea World Orlando trainer Dawn Brancheau, who was killed by 6-ton bull orca Tilikum in 2010.
“I couldn't understand why an intelligent, sentient animal would bite the hand that feeds it,” she says. “This was a strange story, and I couldn't shake it.” She acknowledges her naivete. in the article and this naïve to the (Sea)world is what she captures with the trainers who initially are a “aw shucks I’m at Sea World, gosh oh golly, I’m working with whales!” As the layers are pulled back, as the danger to the people around these animals is revealed, Cowperthwaite also cleverly uses the actual way the animals are treated. The ripping apart of families, the confinement and bullying, and punishments and stresses. This is where the key is turned. People don’t want people to be hurt (but didn’t they agree to be there!?) but my god you’d better not hurt an animal that has no choice; that had no voice.
In the end, the movie drove change, it made SeaWorld change, but only because the money was disappearing. The OSHA lawsuit required them to change how people were protected, but the real change came because people wanted to see the animals not being mistreated. Playing on emotions, showing how trainers became aware of their treatment and the animals, how the people wished they had understood what they were doing was not just a sideshow stunt but had life and death consequences. That any one of them could have been Dawn Brancheau. Without this film, asking for accountability, without people seeing the film asking for the same thing more people may have died. The by-product of changes for the animals is just a plus.
No comments:
Post a Comment