I suppose they had to leave it open somewhat, otherwise it becomes a much broader anti-zoo film, but making it so pointedly anti-SeaWorld instead and continually playing the "if they only hadn't done this" card to sculpt that narrative left me wondering what the film could have achieved had they focused their narrative differently or if they'd allowed their scope to sweep a bit more (the movie's a pretty brisk 80-something minutes, I wouldn't have protested if they'd added more).

Even starting at the beginning, where they say they captured the babies and separated them from their mothers, starting the trauma right from the jump. So if they'd also brought the mothers into captivity, the babies wouldn't have been traumatized and thus not psychotic and this not dangerous to humans? etc. Same goes for the breeding point-- they say any animal breeder would tell you never to breed an animal with a pattern for violence against humans. Okay, so if they'd used a different male orca's sperm, then those babies wouldn't cause any accidents and humans would be in control? The scientist interview clips used even leaned more on "SeaWorld fucked up" than "this was fucked on a conceptual level."

Not that that needs to be spelled out, per se, but the focus on the execution rather than the concept left me wondering. Since most of the damning evidence is in execution, and there is no model present for an ideal orca captivity unit, they follow the footage and the evidence and sculpt the film that way, understandably... but it did leave me questioning whether the filmmakers thought the mistakes were the specific problem.

The point that intrigued me the most-- the ego of everyone, from up top to those working in the park daily, to think orcas in any circumstances can be controlled-- seemed outweighed by the point of corporate indifference leading to the mistakes that led to the accidents.

(Not that I should sit here on some "how dare they present the thesis they wish to present to the audience!" I just feel the thesis they seem to present doesn't fully hold water, which mildly undercut my enjoyment of the overall execution.)

(Also, if anyone other than Will or me is reading this thread, it's still totally a film worth seeing with a lot of merit and fascinating/shocking footage.)

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