This movie was propaganda at its worst.
Based on my experience noted in the Introduction, i questioned the entire aspect of this movie. I was seriously intrigued by what this movie was going to tell me. I wanted to know what was really going on behind scenes. What are the conditions, are the animals abused, how does Sea World capture their animals?
The movie created more questions then answered any. While i do respect what the movie was attempting to portray, the clear lack of evidence, vague stats, and limited number of interviews left me wondering some of the following questions:
The more i dived into the situation, the more i realized there are two completely different stories, and there is much more here then a simple BLACKFISH LIED! The methods used by the producer to acquire the interviews were controversial. You can read the article HERE.
She goes on to question the insight of the other interviewees. Remember how i asked what the training levels of the staff int he video were.....i should also ask, "what was the cause of them leaving....did they quit? Were they fired? what were the issues behind the employees departure?". Bridgette answers that as well:
"One of the most disappointing things included in the film was Jeff and Sam’s critiquing of Dawn’s last session. There are quite a few double standards that are entwined within and around the film that became apparent to me as I began to ask the right questions and ultimately trust in my own beliefs and my own experiences. This one sat wrong with me from the first viewing. Seeing a veteran of 16 years be criticized by individuals unaware of Tilikum’s history, people unaware of Dawn’s relationship with Tilikum, and people who hadn’t a clue of the context of the current state of killer whale training – much less the context of that session – was disgusting and disrespectful.
Jeff Ventre was fired for multiple safety violations in the water with killer whales. Sam wasn’t given the opportunity to gain enough experience to begin to critique Dawn’s actions. John Jett felt Tilly was ‘frustrated’ based on poor observations from a poor behaviorist. These trainers were poor with their relationships – if they believed in them at all – and they were poor behaviorally.
Dawn would not have made the decision to continue on with a session if Tilly was behaviorally poor, as these three imply. In the words of Jeff, it is in my ‘humble opinion’ that their disrespectful insight is from inexperienced trainers suffering from ‘trainer-itis’ who did not have the privilege or opportunity to make a connection with the animals they briefly worked with long ago.”
The unfortunate part about this movie, was that i was really looking forward to seeing how the animals were indeed treated in the modern day environment. Instead, i got fed 35+ year old footage, with "dangerous" themed music.
My personal favorite example of media influence, is the part in the movie, where they are speaking of the dangers of working with a Orca, and they show the gentlemen bleeding from his face, leading you to believe he was attacked. Truth was, the trainer hit his head on the projection screen.
Here is another link to a former trainer coming forward HERE.
Unfortunately, when you take this argument online, people immediately determine that he is paid by Sea World. In fact, when i discuss and make points, i too am attacked as a paid Sea World rep online. I am not paid by Sea World. I just challenge the vaguely answered, and the leading questions, along with misleading visuals and music. I also get very curious when i know a story has specifically discarded interviewees that stated positives about a company, and the "documentary" discards the because it doesn't meet the view of the movie.
is it not interesting when of the more than three hours of interview footage Simmons provided for the documentary, less than three minutes were used, even though he was the only trainer in the film who regularly worked with Tilikum.
As i take on discussions online, i will post on here and with responses. I will sort out the "i hope your kid falls in the pool", and "i hope you don't breed", "i hope your family dies" comments i get....or maybe i will save that for a special post. ha ha.
-Peter-
Based on my experience noted in the Introduction, i questioned the entire aspect of this movie. I was seriously intrigued by what this movie was going to tell me. I wanted to know what was really going on behind scenes. What are the conditions, are the animals abused, how does Sea World capture their animals?
The movie created more questions then answered any. While i do respect what the movie was attempting to portray, the clear lack of evidence, vague stats, and limited number of interviews left me wondering some of the following questions:
- how many whales are captive?
- how many of those whales are being aggressive?
- What is the context of "aggressive"?
- What is the minimal action that would get reported?
- How many interviewees were there total for the research?
- What was the training levels of those staff members?
- Are there supporting documents out there that support this?
The more i dived into the situation, the more i realized there are two completely different stories, and there is much more here then a simple BLACKFISH LIED! The methods used by the producer to acquire the interviews were controversial. You can read the article HERE.
She goes on to question the insight of the other interviewees. Remember how i asked what the training levels of the staff int he video were.....i should also ask, "what was the cause of them leaving....did they quit? Were they fired? what were the issues behind the employees departure?". Bridgette answers that as well:
"One of the most disappointing things included in the film was Jeff and Sam’s critiquing of Dawn’s last session. There are quite a few double standards that are entwined within and around the film that became apparent to me as I began to ask the right questions and ultimately trust in my own beliefs and my own experiences. This one sat wrong with me from the first viewing. Seeing a veteran of 16 years be criticized by individuals unaware of Tilikum’s history, people unaware of Dawn’s relationship with Tilikum, and people who hadn’t a clue of the context of the current state of killer whale training – much less the context of that session – was disgusting and disrespectful.
Jeff Ventre was fired for multiple safety violations in the water with killer whales. Sam wasn’t given the opportunity to gain enough experience to begin to critique Dawn’s actions. John Jett felt Tilly was ‘frustrated’ based on poor observations from a poor behaviorist. These trainers were poor with their relationships – if they believed in them at all – and they were poor behaviorally.
Dawn would not have made the decision to continue on with a session if Tilly was behaviorally poor, as these three imply. In the words of Jeff, it is in my ‘humble opinion’ that their disrespectful insight is from inexperienced trainers suffering from ‘trainer-itis’ who did not have the privilege or opportunity to make a connection with the animals they briefly worked with long ago.”
The unfortunate part about this movie, was that i was really looking forward to seeing how the animals were indeed treated in the modern day environment. Instead, i got fed 35+ year old footage, with "dangerous" themed music.
My personal favorite example of media influence, is the part in the movie, where they are speaking of the dangers of working with a Orca, and they show the gentlemen bleeding from his face, leading you to believe he was attacked. Truth was, the trainer hit his head on the projection screen.
Here is another link to a former trainer coming forward HERE.
Unfortunately, when you take this argument online, people immediately determine that he is paid by Sea World. In fact, when i discuss and make points, i too am attacked as a paid Sea World rep online. I am not paid by Sea World. I just challenge the vaguely answered, and the leading questions, along with misleading visuals and music. I also get very curious when i know a story has specifically discarded interviewees that stated positives about a company, and the "documentary" discards the because it doesn't meet the view of the movie.
is it not interesting when of the more than three hours of interview footage Simmons provided for the documentary, less than three minutes were used, even though he was the only trainer in the film who regularly worked with Tilikum.
As i take on discussions online, i will post on here and with responses. I will sort out the "i hope your kid falls in the pool", and "i hope you don't breed", "i hope your family dies" comments i get....or maybe i will save that for a special post. ha ha.
-Peter-