I cannot believe, as an avid documentary fan, it’s taken me this long to watch Blackfish (2013). It is truly harrowing. The film focuses on the controversy of killer whales kept in captivity, not only revealing the truly horrendous conditions these creatures face, but also the consequences (they and their trainers ) endured from doing so. The omission of graphic footage makes for easier viewing, however the atrocious facts and implied cruelty is still heart-wrenching. Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite decided to make it after taking her kids to Sea World, thus leading to the films rhetorical function in its attempt to persuade its audience to boycott the theme park.

The tie with Sea World particularly effected me. I grew up with a love of the ocean and even visited the Gold Coast park with family. Ever since I remember I’ve been obsessed with the sea and the creatures within it. I always dreamed of being a dolphin trainer, especially at sea world, thinking I’d be helping the animals, completely naive to the cruelty and inhumanity involved. That can be the issue with animal industries, they are skilled with masking barbarism but further more frightful in the strength of their appeal to youth through “cute” and “happy” creatures. As I have matured, I have tried to become aware of the world (still in that process) and less ignorant of what is going on within these industries. I don’t support any form of animal entertainment and the film’s tagline, “Never capture what you can’t control” sort of illustrates this notion.

Slightly off topic; but in line with this, recently, I’ve noticed that I am possibly on the slow path to veganism. I’ve seen more and more documentaries relating to how humans unnecessarily treat animals and the earth thus it seems only a natural journey given the things I’ve seen. Among these, I highly recommend “Food Inc.” and “Cowspiracy” if you’re interested in broadening your mind as to where the food we eat actually comes from. Often we’re deceived by products labelled “farm fresh” and “organic” as it can be hard to regulate what constitutes these terms. I would love to ramble-for-hours but I believe there is truth to the saying “We are what we eat” and personally like educating myself further on the matter. I understand a lot of people want to remain blissfully ignorant, taking the view that there are so any horrors and injustices in the world that individually cannot be stopped (so why expose myself to more horror and feel even more guilt)… But every choice, however “small”, does count.

If you have not seen Blackfish, I’d love if you would even begin watching it and let me know what you think.