Film: Blackfish

Director: Gabriela Cowperthwaite
Genre: Documentary
Source: USA (2013)
Rating: PG-13
Location/Format: Netflix Instant Watch
Grade: A

Maybe the best documentary I've seen this year, Blackfish will make you never want to set foot in a Sea World again. 

There are a lot of Sea World apologists out there defending the company's practices for the millions of dollars it brings to marine research and spurring children's imaginations, and those are undeniable goods. But Blackfish makes an equally compelling argument that these animals are mistreated--even by those with the best of intentions--due to the inferior quality of life Sea World provides them with. From not having the space they deserve to breaking up killer whale families to causing whales to die young, the film does a really great job illustrating how this is at its heart an unethical business practice with moral implications if you care at all for how animals are treated. It wasn't flag waving, but in the story of Tilikum--a killer whale responsible for the deaths of multiple people who is still on display at Sea World (mostly, the film argues, because he provides sperm)--Blackfish exposes the gap between Sea World's public face and what seems to be happening behind the scenes (or even at times in front of the scenes, though such occurrences don't always get a lot of publicity). 

Some of the footage is heart-breaking. The sailor who describes capturing baby whales as the most immoral thing he's ever done. The mother whales keening for their calves when they are separated and shipped to separate facilities. The whales with scarring up and down their bodies. 

Some of the footage is terrifying. The footage of attacks--the woman whose arm is broken, the man who is repeatedly pulled under--is seriously horrifying. Fortunately director Gabriela Cowperthwaite doesn't force us to watch the recordings of the actual killings, but make no mistake, she shows us the terrifying power of these whales.

What I found most of all was that this is film making that is empathetic. Interviewing former trainers--who really do love the whales, and now see the Sea World business as one with a lot of problems--interviewing witnesses, interviewing scientific experts, what comes out most of all is that all of these people care about whales. The goal here does not seem to be to close down Sea World. The goal is to get people to see that we really can't provide these creatures with a suitable substitute for freedom, like we can with smaller animals. They need space, they need families, they need to be treated as more than just giant trained puppies. 

I can imagine there'll be a lot of pushback from those who see the film as sensationalist or have no sympathy for the cause of animal rights. I'm living in the South after all; for some animal rights is a silly concept. But I found the film hugely compelling and thought-provoking.