The Netflix Documentary That Took Down A Major Theme Park
Netflix has long been a top destination for documentaries, and if you’re looking to have your belief in humanity teeter between there and fully gone, we implore you to check out the award-winning title, Blackfish, now streaming on the platform. Arriving on screens around the world in 2013, the Gabriela Cowperthwaite-helmed feature centers around an orca whale named Tilikum, who was held captive by SeaWorld. On a larger scale, the movie follows the business of trapping these incredible, smart, and gigantic creatures and pulling them from their natural habitat.
The Dark Side Of Animal Performers
We won’t lie to you – Blackfish is a difficult watch for anyone especially those who tend to like animals more than humans. Cowperthwaite set out to explore the truth about what happens at businesses like SeaWorld, where animals are plucked from their surroundings and held captive in much smaller confines. As for the story of Tilikum, the movie’s primary subject was known for his violent outbursts on trainers and other orcas, some of those attacks even resulting in death.
The Life Of Tilikum
The documentary follows Tilikum’s early days of captivity, from when he was first snatched out of the water off the coast of Iceland in 1983 and follows where some of his aggressive tendencies may have come from. Throughout Blackfish, Cowperthwaite puts SeaWorld on blast multiple times, questioning many of the facts that the company has presented to its patrons over the years. Audiences also hear from those who worked closely with Tilikum and saw the orca’s power and anger firsthand.
Made A Huge Splash
Upon celebrating its grand premiere at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, Blackfish was one of the hottest titles for distributors to fight over. It would eventually find a home at Magnolia Pictures and CNN Films, with an opening set for later that summer. When the documentary swam into cinemas, it impressively earned $2.3 million against its $1.5 million production budget, which is certainly not too shabby, especially when it comes to a documentary film.
An Award-Winning Documentary
For the most part, critics were blown away by the unbelievably gripping and sad story told in Blackfish. The movie would go on to be a favorite at the award circuit, nabbing a BAFTA nomination as well as wins at the Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards and the St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Awards. It seemed like Blackfish was riding high with everyone praising the work done by Cowperthwaite and the rest of the team – or at least almost everyone.
Judge Blackfish For Yourself On Netflix
When you come for a big corporation like SeaWorld, you’ve got to know that you’re going to face some backlash and that’s precisely what happened when Blackfish arrived in cinemas. It was easy to see that trouble was already brewing between the project and the amusement destination when SeaWorld refused to have any part in the movie’s production. They would later slam several claims made by Cowperthwaite, calling them inaccurate and trying to poke holes in the story that was told.
The rivalry went so far that SeaWorld made its own website called “Truth About Blackfish” where they posted their side of the story and attempted to discredit the entire documentary. To this day, SeaWorld continues to view Blackfish as propaganda that was only created to tarnish their reputation.
You can watch the story of Tilikum and decide the truth for yourself as Blackfish is now streaming on Netflix.
