shame of the polar bear

I'm doing this. I'm making it happen. And it's going to be for more than three posts.

Anyways. Watched Blackfish the other night because 1) I've heard a lot about it, and 2) it was on Netflix's main page.

So what did I take away?

That I'm extremely wishy-washy.

Watched it and pretty much nodded all the way through. Then I looked up stuff about it online and all its counter criticism, and thought the critics had good points and, yeah, the film definitely had a clear story and laser-cut POV it wanted to focus on. And then I looked up the counter counter criticism and was right back on the side of Blackfish again.

So where do my thoughts stand at the end of it all?

1. I do think Blackfish truly believes in and cares more about its message than any potential "exploit tragedy for money and attention" claims I've seen flung around, regardless of how close to reality that message actually is or not.
2. I think the ex-trainers' "analyses" of some of the events are kind of bull.
3. SeaWorld's initial response that Dawn slipped and then changing that story to "it was her ponytail's fault" is total bull.
4. I still think SeaWorld does a lot of good for conservation and research in other areas.
5. Regardless of the psychological impact it may or may not have on orcas, there is a VAST difference between a SeaWorld tank and the open ocean.
6. Ultimately, I guess I'm more in the Blackfish camp than the SeaWorld camp, though definitely still open for debate. I'm just not an expert in any sense of the world, and seeing a single, 90 minute, professionally edited documentary isn't going to change that.

Yeah. I think that's it.

This is why you never see me get involved with flame wars. I have no conviction whatsoever.