It looks like the documentary “Blackfish” has people rethinking buying a ticket to see whales in captivity. While SeaWorld’s ticket sales drop and the company lists other reasons for the decline, you have to wonder how much of it is due to the film’s exposure of orca Tilikum’s brutal capture and backstory, and SeaWorld’s long list of horrific incidents involving animals and trainers. The recent release of videos showing injured and terrified animals at SeaWorld certainly aren’t helping the theme parks sell tickets to “Shamu” shows.
Now, kids are joining in the response to “Blackfish” and speaking out against keeping whales in captivity. According to seattlepi, a class in Manchester, England created a video response after their teacher showed them the film’s trailer. “In my quest to find a topic that I want to ignite the children’s passion to write and share work through the school blog, I watched a very moving and interesting film over the summer called Blackfish. The documentary exposes the dreadful life of Killer Whales in captivity. Although I don’t feel the film is appropriate for children to watch and have emphasised this point with them (some scenes of the whales attacking trainers etc.) The message that it portrays, however, is one I wanted to share with the class,” writes Mr. Parkinson.
In the moving video, the students discuss some of the ways that these whales suffer in captivity and ask the simple, but powerful question “Would you let it happen to me?” Among the questions that they answer with a resounding “no” are “Would it be okay for me to be taken from my family at the age of 4?,” “for me to spend the rest of my life in a room with nowhere to go?” and “if I was only fed for performing tricks in front of crowds everyday?”
You can follow the students’ blog on the project here, and watch the video below. The class writes, “If you agree with the message in our video, please help us raise awareness by sharing our video with as many people as possible. This will hopefully provide our blog with an audience to showcase the writing we will be producing over the next few weeks. We would also love it if you can comment on our video to let us know what you think.”
Related on Ecorazzi:
- Review: ‘Blackfish’ – A film that will blow SeaWorld out of the water
- ‘Finding Dory’ Gets a Blackfish-Inspired Rewrite
About Jennifer Mishler
Jennifer Mishler is a writer, and a vegan and animal activist. When she's not writing, you can often find her volunteering or advocating for animal, environmental and human rights causes. Along with writing for Ecorazzi, she has contributed writing for nonprofits like Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, and enjoys blogging. She resides in the Washington, DC area (and loves all the vegan food it has to offer). Follow Jennifer on Twitter: @jennygonevegan.View all posts by Jennifer Mishler →
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