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Isaiah Cano
Writing 37
Professor Haas
March 13, 2015

Blackfishs Appeal to Pathos Through the Use of Emotionally Charged Scenes

In their natural habitat, orcas swim on average 100 miles a day; in captivity at
SeaWorld, and orca would have to swim the circumference of the main pool 1,900
times in one day (Seaworld of Hurt) in order to meet this standard. Blackfish is a
documentary that shows how nature can get revenge when nature is pushed to its
limits. The film was released in June of 2013, and upon its release was very successful,
and the audience says that the film is nail-biting, upsetting, maddening and at times
even uplifting. (Brown) It includes eyewitness accounts and comments from trainers on
the care, treatment, and psychological states of the whales that are held captive at
parks such as SeaWorld and Sea Land. Blackfish effectively appeals to pathos by
using emotionally charged words and scenes of the orcas in captivity in order to
persuade viewers to stop visiting marine zoos because it supports the wrongful captivity
of orcas and use of them for mere entertainment. Scenes that explain the deaths of
SeaWorld trainers, and the aggression and behavior of whales in captivity are used to
evoke the emotions of the viewer.
During the film, there is a part where John Crowe, who is a former whale hunter,
talks about having to capture the Orcas. In this scene, the appeal to pathos is effectively
focused on the emotional response of John Crowe.

He said that once he started

capturing the whales, he understood what he was doing, and then he began to cry.

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(Blackfish) This is followed by a scene of John Crowe being shown as emotional in

response to describing the events that took place, and he said that the worst thing Ive
ever done, is hunt that whale. In the background there is also sad music being played
as he talks about the event that took place when he captured the whales.

This scene

effectively appeals to pathos because what he said made the viewers feel sympathetic
towards him, and shows that the act of capturing the whales is an emotional one. This
scene makes the viewers think about the emotions that overcame him during the
capture, making them further sympathize with Crowe. Also, the outward emotional
response helps get the idea across that he is emotionally affected from the past events.
The music being played in the background sets the mood for a sad setting to further
appeal to pathos by focusing on the emotions of the viewer.
Another way that Blackfish appeals to the emotions of the viewer is through the
explanation of the deaths of the trainers of the captive Orcas. One death discussed in
the film was the death of Kelty Burns. Burns was a trainer at SeaLand who was killed
by a whale during a public show.

A whale grabbed her and began to drag her

underwater preventing her from breathing. Witnesses recall Burn yelling, I dont want
to die . This eyewitness account shows the distress that the trainer was in while being
attacked to evoke an emotional response from the viewer because it was evident that
she did not want to die, and that the whale was being hostile. It also makes the viewer
think about the chance of seeing something like this if they were to visit park, and if
they would want to see it, or if they would want their kids to see it. This makes people
not want to visit parks where whales are held captive, effectively persuading viewers
with the use of pathos. The witnesses, Corrine Cowelll and Nadine Kallen also show

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outward emotional reactions while telling the story. This appeals to pathos because it
becomes evident that the witnesses were emotionally affected by the event, and
viewers soon begin to feel the same emotions.
Another death that was covered in the film is the death of Alexis Martinez, which
is one of the last scenes in Blackfish that is aimed at appealing to the emotions of the
viewers. Alexis Martinez was a whale trainer at Loro Parque who was killed because of
the aggression of a whale. First, clips of Martinez happily interacting with the whales
are shown, then Alexis mother and Fianc begin to cry when talking about seeing his
body for the last time. This is a direct appeal to the emotions of the viewers because
the crying of the mother and Fianc is aimed at showing the viewers their pain and what
they went through. While they cry, sad music is played in the background that fits the
sad tone of the film at that point. The sad music helps get the emotions of the audience
to more effectively appeal to the pathos of the viewer. Their outward and genuine
display of emotions shows the true emotional effect that the event had on them.
Viewers can also connect because many know what it is like to lose a loved one, and as
the Fianc and mother recall what happened, viewers begin to sympathize with the
women.
In Blackfish, there are multiple scenes of injured the whales that are used to
appeal to the emotions of the viewers. In one scene, there is an explanation of the
training methods used to train the whales, and a short series of clips are shown where
whales have injuries from being raked. These whales were raked because if Tilikum
didnt perform a desired task, then both animals would be punished. (Blackfish) These
clips appeal to the emotions of the people because in the clips it is evident that the

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whale is hurt and not healthy, and the abuse of animals is always sure to appeal to the
emotions of the people. This persuades the people viewing to not support Sea World
because it is obvious that the whales are not happy, and after seeing that, people are
aware of the mistreatment that the animals have experienced so they will no longer
want to visit Seaworld. There are also clips of an injured whale that was attacked by
other whales due to the increased aggression that the whales in captivity display.
These clips make the viewers feel sympathetic towards the animals, and question
whether or not they should visit the parks because the whales do not look healthy, nor
do they look happy. Another example of whale aggression is shown in the film. This
example is the clip of the whale Kandu, bleeding out because Kandu attacked another
whale. People feel sorry for the whale bleeding out, and the clip of the whale bleeding
out is aimed at evoking an emotional response because the whale ends up dying. This
is used to show that the aggression between the whales is abnormal and that the
environment that these whales are being put in is unsafe.

This appeal to pathos

persuades the viewer to not support the way that the Orcas are kept at Sea World and
want to change, or at least stop supporting the handling methods of the whales.
Another way that Blackfish appeals to pathos is through the use of stories of
whales being separated from their mothers to appeal to pathos to show that the animals
are put through emotional distress by being separated from their families. At around 36
minutes the trainers begin to talk about the whales and certain events when the mothers
had been separated from their babies. Carol Ray, who was a formal Sea World Trainer,
recalls when Katina, who was not a very vocal whale, was separated from her child,
stayed in the corner of the pool literally shaking, screaming, screeching, crying. This

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quote is followed by clips of the whale crying, with the whale looking noticeably sad and
distressed. Also, sad music is played in the background while showing the clips of the
sad, crying whale. This scene of Blackfish makes the viewers feel sorry for the whale,
and the clips show how hurt Katina was, helping the viewer connect with the whale and
understand how much pain she was in. The music helps set the mood of sadness to
better appeal to the emotions of the viewers and to set the mood of the emotional
scene. Similar clips are shown of a different whale, Kasatka. Trainer, Josh Horgrove,
said that when Kasatka was separated from her child, she continued to make vocals
that had never been heard before. This was also followed by scenes of a whale crying,
calling for her child. This appeals to the viewers emotions because it makes them feel
sorry for the whale who as separated from her child. It also appeals to the pathos
because it was said that the whale was making sounds that had never been heard
before, which ended up being long distance calls to its offspring. This appeals to the
emotions of the viewers because it shows how confused and desperate the animal is. It
shows that that type of behavior is not normal for this animal and makes people
sympathize with the whale because it was In such despair. This helps persuade the
viewer to not visit Sea World because it shows the type of emotional stress that Sea
World puts their animals through and that what they are being put through isnt right.
The appeal to pathos is very evident in the film blackfish. The director effectively
uses emotionally charged clips, scenes, and music to appeal to pathos in the film and
persuade the viewer to stop the support of Sea World and the capturing and captivity of
whales and other animals.

Although many of the scenes were very similar to each

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other, the effective appeal to pathos in the film made it a powerful and moving piece that
changed the opinion of many regarding SeaWorld and its treatment of animals.

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Works Cited
"Blackfish Official Film Site." Blackfish Official Film Site. Dogwoof, n.d. Web. 22 Feb.
2015. <http://blackfishmovie.com/>.
Brown, Ruth. "Movie Review: Blackfish." Movie Review: Blackfish. Willamette Week, 31
July 2013. Web. 06 Mar. 2015. <http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-20966blackfish.html>.
Cowperthwaite, Gabriela. "Why I Made 'Blackfish.'" CNN. Cable News Network, 28 Oct.
2013. Web. 15 May 2014. <http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/23/opinion/blackfish-filmmakerstatement/>.
"Full Cast & Crew." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2015.
<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2545118/fullcredits>.
PETA. "8 Reasons Orcas Don't Belong at SeaWorld - SeaWorld of Hurt." SeaWorld of
Hurt. PETA, n.d. Web. 18 Feb. 2015. <http://www.seaworldofhurt.com/features/8reasons-orcas-dont-belong-seaworld/>.