This week in movies you missed: Scientists call it orca. Native Americans call it blackfish. SeaWorld calls it Shamu.
Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s Oscar-shortlisted documentary argues that we should treat the killer whale with more respect. The result: a raft of performers have canceled their SeaWorld appearances. (Today, for instance, Trace Adkins.)
What You Missed
In 2010, an experienced trainer named Dawn Brancheau was killed by an orca named Tilikum during a SeaWorld show. Nearly 20 years earlier, the same whale (according to some witnesses) had drowned a trainer at his original home in a British Columbia sea park. Tilikum is also considered responsible for the death of a disturbed man who decided to “swim with the whales” at SeaWorld in 1999.
Trainer carelessness? Psychotic animal? Or proof that orcas don’t belong in captivity?
Blackfish strongly takes the third position. Its stance is summed up by one interviewee’s soundbite: “If you were in a bathtub for 25 years, don’t you think you’d get a little psychotic?”
Related Stories
Got something to say?
Send a letter to the editor and we'll publish your feedback in print!
