FILM REVIEW: BLACKFISH By: Faiz No comments

A scene from Blackfish.

A whale of a documentary

By Don Simpson

 

It has been over 30 years since my last visit to SeaWorld. Even as a young kid, I sensed that something was not right about holding killer whales captive in swimming pools; but beyond the pools seeming too small and unnatural for the enormous mammals, I had no idea what else was going on behind the curtain.

 

Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s Blackfish does not approach the inhumane captivity of orcas, however, from the perspective of an animal rights activist. She is not necessarily looking to “Free Willy!” – or, rather, “Free Tilikum!” Instead, Cowperthwaite seeks to prove that SeaWorld has been grossly negligent as an employer and therefore should be held responsible for the many injuries of their trainers by killer whales.

 

By documenting the whales’ stressful living environments and their recorded histories of abuse, Blackfish provides undeniable evidence that SeaWorld knowingly (and repeatedly) risked the health and safety of their trainers and then had the audacity to blame the trainers if they were injured or killed by the whales. Yes, that’s right. Sea World has repeatedly blamed the victims in order to save their own multi-billion dollar blubber.

 

Seeing how it is highly unlikely SeaWorld could not survive without trainers working in close proximity to these large and impressive sea mammals; without all of the jumping, waving and splashing, SeaWorld would be just another boring zoo. The frightening thing is that SeaWorld continues to place their trainers in harm’s way in order for the show to go on. Let’s hope that Blackfish builds up enough momentum to change that.

FILM REVIEW: ONE LUCKY ELEPHANT By: Faiz No comments

Flora in One Lucky Elephant.

Tusk tusk

By Don Simpson

After 16 years as the namesake and centerpiece of David Balding’s Circus Flora, it is time for Flora, an African elephant living in St. Louis, to retire. Lisa Leeman’s documentary, One Lucky Elephant, begins in 2000, as Balding searches for a suitable new home for Flora. At first, Balding is convinced that it would be best for Flora to return to Africa, but when a chance to ship Flora to Botswana falls through, Balding places Flora in the Miami Metro Zoo.

Once settled in her new home, Flora begins to exhibit antisocial and aggressive behavior at the Miami Metro Zoo. David then fights to have Flora accepted into the Elephant Sanctuary, a nonprofit property in Tennessee that attempts to mimic the natural habitat of its Asian elephants. It is not long before psychologists begin to suggest that Flora's erratic personality is due to post traumatic stress disorder stemming back to her youth. As part of Flora’s treatment, Balding must agree not to visit his “daughter” any longer.

Balding purchased Flora when she was two years old. Flora was born in the wild and then brought into captivity after her mother and other members of her herd were slaughtered right in front of her. Upon taking ownership of Flora (if one can ever “own” an elephant), Balding regretfully admits to abiding by cruel -- yet traditional -- practices to “break” Flora into a trainable circus elephant.

Once she was broken, he spoiled her with fatherly love and affection. Balding is riddled with guilt, especially for never socializing Flora with other elephants and for making Flora perform in his circus far past her prime. Balding seems to recognize that his mistakes and misjudgements have harmed Flora and now he finds himself stuck in the middle of a fiery animal rights debate over the ethical treatment of elephants.

Similar in subject to James Marsh’s far superior Project Nim, Leeman's documentary aptly discusses interspecies relationships and the dangers of becoming too friendly with wildlife. One Lucky Elephant alternates between being a love story between a man and his elephant, a wildlife documentary, a character portrait of Balding, and a public service announcement about animal rights. Unfortunately, One Lucky Elephant shies away from truly criticizing the captivity of elephants -- and other wildlife -- in circuses.

LAFF 2011: PROJECT NIM By: Faiz No comments

Nim Chimpsky in Project Nim.

Chimp off the old blocks

By Don Chimpson

Project Nim commenced in 1973 when Columbia University psychology professor Herbert Terrace launched a study to determine if chimpanzees raised by human beings could learn to communicate with sign language. Nim Chimpsky was taken from his mother, Carolyn (an 18-year-old female), when he was two weeks old to be raised by human surrogate parents in an attempt to refute Noam Chomsky’s thesis that language is inherent only in humans because animals lack the “language acquisition device."

Terrace chooses a former lover, Stephanie LaFarge, with little to no experience with chimps or sign language to raise Nim Chimpsky (get it?) in her family’s Manhattan brownstone. LaFarge nurtures Nim Chimpsky as she would her very own offspring (she even breastfeeds him), raising him like a human baby/pet hybrid…and Nim Chimpsky matures into a possible romantic interest for LaFarge. Yeah, you read that correctly. 

Once Terrace becomes skeptical of LaFarge’s hippie-dippie parenting techniques, he whisks Nim Chimpsky away to a prim and proper 21-room mansion -- the Delafield estate in Riverdale -- where Nim Chimpsky is cared for by a series of teachers with various (and sometimes unrelated) skill sets. Several of the caretakers form deep and possibly dangerous bonds with Nim Chimpsky, who grows bigger, stronger, faster and sneakier by the day. Terrace’s next sexual conquest, Laura-Ann Petitto, becomes Nim Chimpsy's second surrogate mother. When Petitto leaves Project Nim, Joyce Butler steps in as Nim Chimpsky’s third mother-figure.

It is not much longer after that when Terrace finds himself in a position where he must pull the plug on Project Nim, fearing that Nim Chimpsky has grown too powerful and dangerous to control. So Nim Chimpsky ends up stuck in a cramped cage as a hepatitis test subject at New York University’s Laboratory of Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates. That is until Henry Herrmann, a Boston attorney, steps in and represents Nim Chimpsky in a court of law -- arguing that the usual standards for laboratory animals do not apply to Nim because of his unusual upbringing. Terrace probably never realized it, but by raising Nim Chimpsky as a surrogate human (and arguably teaching him to communicate with humans), he may have opened people’s minds to the possibility that animals should have rights, including the right to legal protection from research.

Project Nim addresses the ethics of raising animals as humans and/or using them as research subjects, but director James Marsh, in this follow-up to his Oscar-winning Man on Wire, purposefully stops short of giving any hard-fast answers. Marsh's documentary is not here to talk science or ethics; he merely wants to provide the audience with an intriguing and beguiling story. Which he does in spades! Nonetheless, Project Nim is a life-changing experience that will certainly alter many viewers’ perspectives on animal rights as well as what qualifies as scientific research.


Project Nim screens for free at the Los Angeles Film Festival June 25, 3:45 p.m., Regal Cinemas L.A. Live. For more information: Project Nim.