Jenna Layton Rough Draft 2 The Documentary Genre and Blackfish A genre is defined as a particular type of music, film, or writing that has a specific theme or goal in mind. Today, genre is everywhere; we hear it when we listen to music, we see it when we watch television or when we use social networking sites, and are likely to feel it when we hear our favorite song on the radio. Music genres are recognized by different categories of music such as, Jazz, Rock, Country, and Soft Listening. Genre can be defined as a platform that most commonly identifies style. In Film, genre can be Westerns, Horror, Comedy or Drama. In literature, the types of genre may be considered Fiction, Non-Fiction, Drama, History, etc. The genre I want to focus on is a documentary film that tells a story based on persuasive and informative appeals. I chose this genre because I recently watched the movie Blackfish and I thought it would be the perfect topic to examine the conventions of genre and how they provide persuasive arguments. The documentary, Blackfish, is a movie about orca whales, where several elements of genre can be identified. As I examine these components of the documentary genre, I will also share with you the storyline of Blackfish and highlight some of the common themes represented in documentaries and demonstrate how they are relevant or presented in the movie. In a documentary film, it is expected to have a narrator or voiceover that plays a major role in telling the story throughout the feature. For example, if you were to watch a documentary about rap and hip-hop, the audience would expect someone like Drake or Waka Flaka to have a significant speaking role throughout the film. In the documentary Blackfish, the voiceovers are several different individuals who were former trainers of SeaWorld. This credibility allows the audience to believe that the story of the film is in interest to the speaker’s expertise. Therefore, the audience is able to assume that they know what they’re talking about and we can accept that what they are saying is true. A documentary film is also known to show real evidence or footage of the topic they are speaking about. An example of this can be found in the documentary Blackfish in the first ten minutes of the film. At this time in the film, the workers trap a family of orcas using aircrafts, bombs, giant nets and boats in order to capture the baby orcas; sadly, they were successful. A documentary is one of nonfiction, which means the images, words, and videos are supposed to be real. With that, the audience expects in a documentary to rely upon what they are seeing as credible and real. Another common theme in most documentaries is there will always be an interviewee placed in the common interviewee position either to the left, center, or right of the screen. Along with the interviewee it is also expected to see a text box at the bottom/top left/right corners of the screen revealing some personal information about that person such as a name, age, or occupation. These types of conventions are seen throughout many different documentaries because they provide different types of persuasion and information to the audience. Could you imagine being trapped in a small enclosure for the rest of your life if your natural instinct was to travel across entire oceans? Similar to other documentaries, the information given in Blackfish is intended to create sympathy or empathy and to convince the audience of something by using different sounds, visuals and ideas. Blackfish is a type of documentary film based on persuasion and information that inveigles its’ audience to become passionate about SeaWorld’s orcas
Jenna Layton Rough Draft 2 by pulling at the audience’s heart strings. Throughout the film, the orca trainers of SeaWorld attempt to justify why the orca, Tilikum, killed several of his trainers. However, instead of blaming Tilikum they blame the conditions in which these animals live as the primary reason for their violent behavior. The message I received from the trainers in this movie is that they want to make their audience aware and want to convince them that the only way to make things ethical is to release all the whales and agree to no longer keep them trapped in, as the film described, “a giant bathtub.” (9:40 minutes) Throughout the documentary there are videos, images, and individuals that influence the audience to think this certain way about what the orcas of SeaWorld need. In captivity, the whales have nowhere to travel, no new places to explore and are often isolated from the other whales of SeaWorld. This creates a problem for this type of animal because they are known to being emotional and loving animals. Orcas tend to mourn, as humans do, for long periods of time if they have lost a loved one. An example of this fact is shown as John Crowe, a diver who captured the young whales, explains, “It’s just like kidnapping a kid from their mother.” (12:30 minutes) At this time in the movie, they show a live clip of a pod of the adult whales yelping for their calves as the workers capture them. These are appeals of emotion and have a big impact on the audience. Another example of this can be found at the time of 45:50 minutes into the film. Narrated by Carol Ray, a former SeaWorld trainer, they film a mother orca in the SeaWorld pool that had just recently been separated from her fouryear-old calf. Missing her child, the mother whale desperately called for her kid for hours, but unfortunately she will never see her baby again as it had been transferred to another park. With this information, I can observe the uses of pathos, ethos, and logos that essentially allow the audience to begin to justify why these animals should not be kept in captivity. The conventions of creating this genre can be further defined using examples of ethos. In the movie Blackfish there are several moments where the writers are attempting to create a moral and ethical opposition to keeping these whales enclosed. Around the world, animal rights advocates, environmentalists and government regulators have an interest to hear what the general public thinks about certain topics and events. This documentary uses ethos with the intentions of getting the public involved. The ethical or immoral question in this film is based on the mistreatment of the orcas at SeaWorld. We can also trust that these facts of mistreatment are true because the producers provide credibility in their cast. This credibility is represented in the film as they had hired and interviewed former orca trainers of SeaWorld who informed the audience about what they did with the orcas. They also were able to further explain the reasons as to why Tilikum behaved in such a violent manner and why all of the whales deserve better than what they are getting. It is made clear to the audience that the majority of the speakers were former SeaWorld trainers because as they speak about the whales, there is a note that pops up at the bottom corner of the screen that states their full name as well as their former occupation. As an audience, we consider these individuals credible because they have worked with the animals on a daily bases as well as trained and fed them. This idea also aligns with the convention that there is always the interviewee who seems to know what they are talking about. With these types of characters, the audience is automatically convinced that they are a reliable source that aids in the persuasion of the watcher’s beliefs. Credibility is also
Jenna Layton Rough Draft 2 given to the individuals who are orca and/or whale experts as we believe they really know what they are talking about; hence the word expert. These individuals are confident as they speak about the conditions in which these whales need to live a happy and fulfilled life. Emotional appeal grabs at our heartstrings. It suggests that, if the documentary can’t convince you to believe the situation is unethical or immoral through credibility and logic, then there might be one more way to change the audience’s mind. Through pathos the audience’s beliefs can be altered. People are easily persuaded when they feel something and this most commonly causes the audience to finally align to the film’s thinking. No one is better at manipulating an individual’s emotions than a salesman. How often do they pull at your emotions to make the sale? Think about the time you bought something because the salesclerk said how great it looked on you and how that compliment made you want to buy the shirt that much more. Think about the commercials that show us starving children or abused animals and how that makes you feel. Each of these scenarios calls on the recipient to respond to a request by engaging in an emotion. It is also important to note that emotion does not always have to be sensitive. It can be engaging, it can be comforting and it can be enraging. In Blackfish, the writers use many emotional senses to get you aligned to their beliefs. They show the sadness of the whales to gain your empathy. They try to enrage you with information about their abuse and they try to appeal to your protective emotions that call on your conscience to protect these innocent gentle giants. There is a reason that we so often root for the underdog just as there is a reason that we feel an emotional connection to Tilikum and other orcas of SeaWorld as we watch the documentary. When the dust settles and the emotion subsides, most individuals need to have facts, figures and information to carry forward. The reason may be because for every argument of persuasion, most likely, there will be an opposing side with just as much emotion. Logos or Logic must then sustain the discussion. Logos recognizes logic that supports Pathos in order to fully gain credibility for an argument. Throughout the movie Blackfish, the trainers and experts provide tidbits of facts and quotes that help to substantiate the emotion and ethical issues they raise. This convention is seen often in documentaries. Overall, genre sets the tone for what the listener, reader or watcher should expect to see. Genre gives us a sense of familiarity or knowing but can then surprises us with what lies within the composition. In the genre of Documentary, persuasive argument and non-fictional conventions keep us fascinated and allows us to challenge our thinking.
Jenna Layton Rough Draft 2 Work Cited Blackfish. Dir. Gabriela Cowperthwaite. Magnolia Pictures, 2013. Film.