Blackfish follows the story of Tilikum, the largest orca (killer whale) in captivity, who currently resides at Sea World, Orlando. Tilikum is a “notoriously vicious” orca who has been associated with the deaths of three people.
The film paints Sea World as a greedy corporate concerned with profit rather than people, with complete disregard for the mental or physical wellbeing of their animals. But for me the argument lost some of its punch through the repetitive use of commentary from ex-Sea World trainers who – by their own admission – had no knowledge or expertise on the subject of orca, working with animals or the impact captivity has on them.
The film attempts to point out that Tilikim’s situation is Sea World’s fault and any injuries could have been avoided if the trainers had known more.
Using images of the trainers today talking about their naivety, over top of footage of “selling the party line” versions of themselves, was a nice way to convey this message and provided some light-hearted moments in an otherwise sombre film. However, knowing that these trainers still don’t know anything more today than they did back then weakens the impact of their comments significantly.
The real story here is the psychosis that is so common among orca in captivity as a result of their poor conditions; their supposed violent tendencies towards people is simply an awful by-product of this. The brief interviews with experts speaking about orca behaviour in the wild and their neurological function were absolutely fascinating and balanced out some of the conjecture. More of this would have made for a much stronger message.
The film has some truly engaging moments. The footage of Tilikum’s capture as a 2-year-old was eye opening. Watching the footage of trainers who are in the grip of an orca’s jaws is chilling. Seeing the small tanks alongside audio explaining about how intelligent these animals are makes you feel guilty simply for knowing this happens and not doing anything about it. But there were parts where my attention wandered and the sensationalism got in the way of what are some truly brutal facts.
If you are only going to see one film this festival season, Blackfish probably shouldn’t be it. But if you’re looking for a mildly thought provoking documentary, with some beautiful, often heartbreaking, footage of a truly majestic animal thrown in, you won’t be disappointed.
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