Must Watch: Blackfish

Hello Lovelies,

Ok, so I literally just finished one of the best documentaries I have ever seen in my life, Blackfish.  Blackfish, is directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, and it chronicles what a horrible life killer whales lead in captivity.  From wrangling orcas away from their families in the wild, to keeping them in pens, Blackfish shows just how inhuman these whales are treated for entertainment purposes.

Now, I like many of you have visited Sea World.  I was always amazed by how amazing these creatures really were.  I even envisioned myself one day wanting to be one of the trainers.  However, after watching this documentary I realized how misguided and how remorseful many of these trainer felt after leaving their jobs.  They talked about the many accidents that happened that often the fault landed on the trainer, not the whale.  After visiting Sea World numerous times, I never thought of the fact that these whales were forcibly removed from the wild and forced to swim in a "bathtub" for the rest of their lives.  I even thought that these animals loved what they were doing, that they seemed to enjoy the relationship they formed with their trainers.  What Blackfish succeeds in doing is showing the behind the scenes videos of some of these attacks or "accidents" as Sea World has claimed they are.  They show that these creatures are often fed up with being treated like show pony's who respond to verbal commands and are forced to perform day after day.  

Video from youtube

The scene that devastated me was when they showed baby orcas, being forcibly removed from their moms.  Right before that scene was shown, orca experts explain how baby whales, calfs, tend to stay with their moms for most of their lives.  After the whales are removed from the moms, to go to other parks, the video shows the moms crying and screaming while searching for their baby.  It's heart breaking because they whales are unable to protect their young.

Overall, I will give the movie Blackfish 5 out 5 stars.  It is a must see, eye-opening experience about the mistreatment of these whales.  While myself and many of the trainers in this movie believe Sea World doesn't need to shut down completely, they do need to reevaluate how they treat, train, and obtain these beautiful creatures.  As one of the trainers put it, Sea World has single handily open many people's lives to the world of marine biology and created a sense of intrigue into the mysterious world of the ocean.  The next time I see an orca, I hope it's on a whale watching tour on the West coast where I can admire these creatures in their natural habitat, where they should be!

What I've Been Up To

Hello Lovelies...

Long time no talk. In my defense I've been away for the past week because I've been away for work since Monday.  This was the first trip that I didn't bring my laptop with me so that made blogging virtually impossible.  What also didn't help was the fact that I was working 4am-1pm (if not later) every single day.  Now, you maybe asking "Tori why did you have to work at 4am?" What a great question... I was working that early because I was helping the company I work for concept store with their Spring rollout.  A concept store for those who don't know if often the flagship store where everything is tried out before it goes national.  So in this store our job was to get all of the new product and set it on the floor.  It was a great experience because I got to work one on one with people from the corporate offices.  Although, I did not enjoy being at work at 4am everyday I did enjoy the time there and hope to do it again in the future.

Now, today I went to go see Silver Linings Playbook starring Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro.  I wasn't sure what to expect with this movie but I enjoyed every second of the movie.  It had a dark sense of humor to it but I actually enjoyed that.  The plot of the movie follows Pat (Bradley Cooper) who just recently spent the last couple of months in a mental institution after nearly beating a man to death.  Pat is struggling to come to terms with the fact that his marriage is crumbling and also struggling to come to grips that he is bipolar.  Honestly, I was hesitant because I wasn't sure if Bradley Cooper could pull off the seriousness that this role needed.  I will adamantly admit that he was      fantastic in this role, in fact at times I felt like he had a bipolar disorder.  I found myself rooting for him and would wince when he relapsed or would get in trouble because of his outburst.  One thing that was great about the movie was his optimism.  Throughout the whole movie he maintained the fact that everyone had a silver lining that they were destined to achieve but they needed to think positively to achieve it.  Robert De Niro was amazing in this movie even though he wasn't in it as much as other characters were.  Jennifer Lawrence played her role well and she does deserve some kind of recognition for this role as does Bradley Cooper.

I'm still considering doing the 30x30 challenge I just haven't had the time to really sit down and figure out what pieces I'd want to include.

Until next time!!!