★★★★★

Blackfish is one of the top 10 documentaries of all time. It has already put an end to Sea World breeding killer whales in captivity and will one day put an end to killer whales being held in smaller than 10 square mile ocean pen.

Prior to viewing Blackfish, a documentary about Tilikum, I had no opinion on the matter. As a child I remember actually going to a Sea World. After watching this I’m not shocked a trainer was killed. I’m shocked _all_ the trainers haven’t been killed by the whales.

The withholding of food and tiny isolation pens designed to break their spirit making a more docile creature can work. They are cruel though. When these methods fail they create monsters. We need only look at the results of our prison system to understand how badly such things fail and that is with creatures no stronger than man. Failing for a creature with the size and power of Tilikum creates something far worse.

When you have to break the spirit of an animal to make it perform that will always lead to bad outcomes. Pay particular attention to the Viet Nam veteran talking about harvesting of the young whales.

While many people may not think they “like” a documentary film, Blackfish is well done and worth watching. Keep in mind it brought about an end of the controversial Orca shows and breeding per an announcement from SeaWorld. These majestic creatures don’t exist to please man. If we want to view them we should travel to their natural habitat.

For more movie rental ideas please see list one and list two.