Shout Out for BLACKFISH: Documentary, Anyone?

 

I'm not trying to make kids anti-zoo. Yes, I do have some qualms about animals in captivity.  (Coming clean, we did have summer zoo passes when the kids were little.) But I showed an anti-SeaWorld documentary last week. Blackfish is a 2013 documentary (not quite 90 minutes)  directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite. If you haven't seen it, it centers on Tilikum, a killer whale who killed three people during his time in captivity: two fatalities at SeaWorld and one at the Canadian SeaLand park approximately twenty years earlier. I feel like the 90 minutes of class were worth it. They were pretty glued to the film---a testament to the emotional impact and intellectual stimulation that can come from watching a documentary. 

However, should I feel guilty for showing a whole movie in class? I remember someone from another discipline saying to me once, "Can't English teachers just pop in a video or tell everyone to free read?" (It was back when we had to pop in videos.)  Irregardless (kidding) regardless, according to a BBC producer and documentarian, a documentary can "bring awareness to a wider audience"; they "are some of the best resources for information, inspiration, and entertainment" (Paminder Vir). 

I think my kids would say that Blackfish checks all those boxes--some were pretty fired up: one freshman boy said, "Is SeaWorld even OPEN anymore? It shouldn't be." He was emphatic, so with at least one fifteen-year-old from Iowa, Cowperthwaite's film was a success at gaining sympathy for whales and trainers and vilifying SeaWorld. In their personal responses the freshmen all said they really enjoyed the film. (It's PG13).

The movie is framed with senior trainer Dawn Brancheau's death. Near the end, they show news footage of an executive of SeaWorld saying, "If Dawn would here with me should would agree it was her mistake." This he says although, according to the film, there had already been "70+ killer whale/trainer documented accidents" and the whale had killed two other people. 

It seems there's something wrong with Tilikum, so how do the film makers manage to create sympathy  for a whale that has killed three people? Everyone pities Tilikum when we see a picture of him floating depressed in the same spot for three hours in what they call his "jail cell."

Since English 9 is studying arguments, I introduced emotional appeals: students talked about mothers and calves being separated and footage of whales in tiny spaces, raked by another whale's teeth until they bled. There were also moments showing that trainers were in the dark about the dangers of specifically Tilikum, and how every attack was publicly called the "fault of the trainer." 

Finally, students were angered with the "obvious lies" SeaWorld told. As in several documentaries with sort of an agenda, only one side is sympathetic. In Blackfish, the "enemy" is SeaWorld. They are culpable for both putting people in danger and mistreating their killer whales.

Could this information about the treatment of animals be delivered in a more effective way to my students? Afterward I had the students  find, read, summarize and respond to two additional articles on animals in captivity. According to de Beaumont, "Documentary film, done well, can engage and instruct through storytelling." If you asked them which impacted them more, the articles or the film, Blackfish would win.

 The documentary is relatively short, and the  scenes are generally short, effectively juxtaposed for emotional conflict. It moves along. This particular movie also shows the value of primary research,  driven by personal interviews (trainers, experts, enthusiasts) all pretty much supporting the movies anti-captivity message.  Blackfish also hits some lists for great documentaries for students.

Besides moving our argumentative writing unit forward, watching this award-winning film let us catch our breath, and I think that's OK, too.

I have the DVD, but it is a Magnolia film, and on their online site there is a link that allows you to watch it on YouTube for free--check it out. I looked at a library site (see below) for the current laws on showing movies in the classroom. According to this, I did it legally (even showing the whole movie). 

Info on Showing a Full Movie in Class

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