Rhetorical Analysis Of The Documentary Film "Blackfish"

The author of the film Blackfish published their film after the never forgotten death of Dawn Brancheau a former SeaWorld trainer. Blackfish wanted to expose Seaworld of the danger of the workers that are put in the water and of the mistreatment of their captive orca and killer whales. Blackfish wanted to affect the viewers and get support in exposing Seaworld. Blackfish wanted to change the viewers opinions of SeaWorld and they did this using appeals.

Pathos was the appeal most visible and affecting to the viewers. For example the quote 'If you were in a bathtub for 25 years, don't you think you'd get a little psychotic?' - Jane Velez-Mitchell former SeaWorld trainer, makes the viewers feel sympathy for the whales and make the viewers feel that SeaWorld should have seen the possibility of the whales going psychotic and hurting their trainers. Also another example is, ' I lost it, I started crying, I just knew I couldn't keep doing this anymore.' - John Jett former SeaWorld trainer, makes the viewers feel sympathy for the former SeaWorld trainer and it shows the viewers that even people who were getting paid to do this job didn't feel comfortable with the ways of Sea World.

Ethos was another common ethos used in Blackfish. One example was “We knew which whale it was that killed that girl..it was Tilikum..his collapsed dorsal fin made it easy to reveal the culprit.'-witness of the tragedy. This sentence helped Blackfish's credibility by bringing in actual witnesses and it improved their trustworthiness with the viewers. Blackfish also used the credibility of using video footage throughout the film. This gives the viewers the evidence that they wanted. Not only did they show the devastating films of accidents, but Blackfish also showed the happy films of the trainers that knew nothing of the risk they were taking and were hurt at Seaworld because they were mislead.

Logos was also used quite a bit in Blackfish. For example, the sentence, ' Dorsal fin collapse happens in less than 1 percent of wild killer whales. We know this!'- Dr. Jeffrey Ventre former SeaWorld trainer, shows the viewers a statistic in which makes Blackfish's credibility more reliable and it also makes the viewers agree with Blackfish's statements because it's makes makes the viewers realize SeaWorld is letting these whales deform because they are in custody. One other example is, ' At least forty-five orca whales have died under the care of sea world.' - John Jett former Seaworld trainer. This example made the viewers wonder how much SeaWorld is hiding from it's fans while also giving us the credibility of statistics.

The appeals that Blackfish used gave all the viewers the reality of the danger SeaWorld allows their trainers to be in and the mistreatment of these whales that they call their friends. Blackfish did a good job at using all the appeals to grab the audience's attention. Blackfish ends this film by using an appeal one last time and showing the viewers the formal trainers watching whales where they should be; In the wild and unbothered by humans.