From the first time I saw the trailer for Blackfish, I was extremely interested in watching the film for myself. The first time I saw the film was when it was recently aired on CNN and I was excited to watch it for a second time in class, without the 40 minutes of commercial interruption. After watching the film I can say with confidence that I will never return to SeaWorld or think of it as the happy place for families to vacation. I can remember hearing about the death of Dawn Brancheau when it first happened, an event which leads up to the climax of the film when more of her story is revealed.
The film was extremely persuasive, especially the suspense created by releasing more details of the harsh captivity the killer whales go through at SeaWorld and revealing details of numerous attacks. One of the more emotional stories, featured towards the end of the film, was of Alexis and his death at Loro Parque. It was pretty disturbing to hear his wife and mother tell their stories of how his death was handled and how the initial call his wife received said that he was “fine.” At this point in the film, I cried and I had not expected to at all before watching. The real story of Dawn’s death, which was told shortly after this story, was scary to watch. It is just sad that Dawn was blamed for a mistake that caused her death, much like the past “trainer error” excuses that had been used by SeaWorld in prior trainer/whale incidents. One main issue that gives even more of a reason to be suspicious is that the film said SeaWorld had continuously refused their efforts to hold an interview. The lack of an interview by SeaWorld reinforces that if there is suspicious activity and the people in charge do not provide the truth to the public or even an explanation, than there is reason to believe something is up.
After experiencing what Blackfish has shown and uncovered, it feels like there could easily be another incident at the SeaWorld parks, even with the decision enforced to have barriers between the trainers and whales. Blackfish makes me hope that each person who sees the film is another person who will, at the very least, never give SeaWorld any of their money as a patron in the future. Just because SeaWorld parks have become such staples as American tourist attractions, I do not think that the continuation of such inhumane acts towards animals, disrespect to the trainers who put their lives on the line, and misinforming the public of facts, is any way a business should be run.
barrabrooklyn 