Let's Get Real: Blackfish

Blackfish - Sickening

SICKENING

Let me get the comedy out of the way before I get to what "Blackfish" is really about; Good God killer whales have giant wieners!  That's it folks, I'll be here all night.

However, if you take away manually masturbating killer whales in the documentary "Blackfish" you will still be shocked by the exploitation of not only the majestic orca, but also the exploitation of their trainers; humans.  Of course, human and/or animal exploitation is nothing new.  Look at slavery, mineral mining, and pornography, and you can see that humans love exploiting other human beings for their own gain, add in giant six-ton wild animals, and you really have a sickening wonder to behold.

"Blackfish" tells the story of numerous sea-focused amusement parks, namely the now closed, Sealand of the Pacific, and SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida and one whale in particular, Tikikum, who has been responsible for the death of three separate trainers.  There are several questions raised in "Blackfish."  One, should we keep animals, namely gigantic mammals like killer whales, in captivity?  This is the central debate in the film.  As long as there has been man, and as long as man has been able to capture animals and put them on display, and as long as man can make money doing this, the capture and exploitation of animals will never go away.  I go back to the whale's penis; that thing is worth a fortune!  You know why?  Because that penis will continue to make orca whales, and whales are worth millions of dollars, and tourists will continue to pay $75 to enter a park, pay $10 for a plush toy, and pay another $5 for the Popsicle that is shaped like that new orca whale that came from Tilikum's......cum.  Sorry to be graphic, but I couldn't pass up that winning wordplay.

The other question "Blackfish" ponders is whether trainers are properly trained and/or made aware of the risk of their jobs?  Being told from the perspective of the trainers, "Blackfish" is told through a rather biased perspective.  I understand that representatives from Seaworld wouldn't want to be a part of a documentary that is essentially demonizing the way that they've done business for over 40 years.  But as a trainer of killer whales, you have to be aware of the risk of working with "wild" animals.  However, if a company is withholding information from you about how dangerous one of these killer whales really is, that is another story all together.

Will "Blackfish" keep people away from the gates of Seaworld, or any other zoo/aquarium that exhibits giant animals that sell tickets and can turn on someone at any given moment?  Of course not, but you can rest assured that wild animals will continue to act out when they are threatened, scared, or angry.  Just like humans can have bad days, animals can have them as well, I'm sure Tilikum's victims would second that opinion.

Fun Fact:  SeaWorld Orlando, FL was opened on December 15th, 1973.