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Reviews
Blackfish (2013)
Blackfish is Biased
Blackfish is a documentary with the sole purpose being to put SeaWorld out of business. In this documentary the filmmakers show many examples of evidence proving SeaWorld's marine life being held captive causes the animals to suffer mentally. The film focuses mainly on Tilikum, one of SeaWorld's most well known orcas. Over the course of his life, Tilikum killed three people, two of whom were killed even before he was brought to SeaWorld and the third being one of SeaWorld's very own trainers, Dawn Brancheau. Many former trainers were brought in and interviewed for the film to give their perspective on their experiences with the way SeaWorld treats their marine life. They also brought in many so called "professionals" to view the footage and give their opinions. The documentary film, Blackfish tries to prove to the viewers that SeaWorld is well overdue of boycotting, and they do a good job showing us that. This film is very biased and the viewer should be aware of that when watching and critiquing it. The whole purpose is to show SeaWorld in a bad light, so of course they would not show the good SeaWorld does for their marine life and the community. In the film they never reveal SeaWorld's side of the stories at all. They show us what a lot of people have to say about the incidents, but they never give us a witness' account. SeaWorld is like a silent killer on trial where he is consistently being put under pressure and not allowed to speak for his cause. We are never told what the actual case report is, we are just told the interviewees' take on the footage they are shown, not even being shown a statement from SeaWorld. This makes this film appear to be very biased because it seems they are afraid to show us any of the actual events in case we may decide on our own who is right. Most, if not all of the former trainers in the film haven't been employed at SeaWorld in over 10 years. This makes them unaware of current conditions at the park as they may have changed in the past decade. These individuals have little to no experience with the orca in question, or the orcas in the park at all for that matter. One of the former trainers, Samantha Berg, mentioned training with Tilikum, but after further research it is found out that she never trained with him and only very briefly worked in the killer whale section of the park. The footage that is meant to be assumed as being Ms. Berg was actually footage shot over 10 years previous to her leaving SeaWorld. Just by viewing the interviews it becomes obvious that the former employees have some sort of resentment towards the park. Animal rights activists masquerading as scientists seems to be yet another way to pull at each viewer and convince us to respect this film. Howard Garret, Lori Marino, and Ken Balcomb are just a few of the activists that were portrayed as being professionals or even scientists specializing in marine life. Each of these people have no experience with orca behavior in captivity. A few of the other "professionals" in the film were also part of a lawsuit against SeaWorld stating that they were going against the 13th amendment, and even calling what SeaWorld is doing an act of slavery. The film also uses statements from David Duffus, who is not a marine life specialist, but instead a professor of geography. An OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) judge even stated "he has no expertise in the training of captive killer whales," referring to David." This film seems to try to hide a lot of truth behind these masks they've created. Overall the documentary Blackfish proves to be very biased in their reasoning. Even just scratching the surface you can see that they use a lot of false testimonies and experiences. They do a very good job making the viewer feel attached and the heartache for the animals through the footage and the stories, but those very stories are twisted to fit their own perception of the reality of the way SeaWorld treats their marine life.
Titanic (1997)
Titanic: The Story of the Beauty at the Bottom of the Ocean
The sinking of the RMS Titanic is still known to be one of the most resounding events to take place in generations past. The film Titanic is a romanticized version of the heartbreaking story of that "Unsinkable Ship." In this film we follow Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet) as they fall in love with the ship, and each other. Their love is a Romeo and Juliet kind of story, with Jack being of the lower class and Rose being of high class from a wealthy family. Rose must make a choice to either listen to her mother and marry the man her mother chose for her, or to follow her heart and be with Jack. This movie keeps you intrigued and focused all the way till the end.
How Jack and Rose met was an odd story. Jack ended up winning tickets for both him and his friend, Fabrizio (Danny Nucci) for the Titanic in a "Lucky hand of poker." They both were of the lower class and were staying in the lowest floors. When they were out walking around on the deck, Jack looked up and saw Rose and it was love at first sight! He knew she had to be rich because she was on the higher deck. He knew he would have to find a way to talk to her.
One night Jack heard a scream and ran to see who it was, and it was Rose. She was hanging of the front of the ship. He ran to help her and the guards saw. This was the start of the love story of Titanic. Throughout the movie we see Jack and Rose grow closer and closer. Eventually Rose chooses Jack and lets her fiancé, Caledon 'Cal' Hockley (Billy Zane), know about their blooming love. They begin to get into a lot of trouble throughout the ship and out of nowhere the ship hits an iceberg. They then must decide what they are going to do to survive. We follow their decisions in the last moments of the ship and possibly their lives!
Titanic won numerous awards including an Oscar for Best Cinematography. Titanic has some of the most eye-catching and well done camera work of any movie I have seen. The scene with Jack and Fabrizio on the front of the ship looking out is such a stunning image. The sun is just beginning to set. This scene even makes us feel like we are "The king of the world!" We can really see how high up they are and that they are in the middle of the ocean. The camera then pans down to the ocean and we can see dolphins swimming next to the ship.
Titanic also won an Oscar for Best Picture, and rightfully so! The story is so original and unique, even though it is something so familiar to all of us. How the film makers mesh together all the scenes to make us feel like it is really happening right before our eyes is just spectacular! The colors are so vibrant and give you a feeling of warmth and closeness. The literary aspects of the movie have become the reason why so many of us watch and re-watch this film time and time again. The story line just keeps you wanting more. Rose and Jack's love story is something we all want to feel some time or another in our lives, but maybe not the whole sinking ship and cheating on your fiancé thing. Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio did an amazing job portraying their love for one another. You really are able to see it in their eyes. Overall Titanic is one of the most classic and fascinating films you are going to see. To this day, I still want more.