Blackfish
Director: Gabriela Cowperthwaite
Year Released: 2013
Rating: 3.0
Cowperthwaite investigates the disturbing number of dangerous (sometimes fatal) incidents that have historically taken place between animal trainers (at places like SeaWorld) and orcas (also known as killer whales) and the ethics of keeping a creature designed to roam free in the ocean waters in containment and suffering abuse at the hands of some shady individuals (the notorious whale Tilikum's life trajectory is comparable to that of an abused child). For the most part, Cowperthwaite avoids turning this into a soap box rant ("Save the whales!") by being sober-minded about the situation (having seen the SeaWorld show in Orlando, I will admit that I found it to be a lot of fun as a kid) and factual - it does include footage of the trainers being attacked but I don't feel it's exploitative, merely showing how ferocious and powerful these creatures can be. Those sagging, sad dorsal fins - not present in those free and at sea - tells the whole tragic story.
