Dolphins Should Be Free

In the film The Cove, directed by Louie Psihoyos in 2009, a group of activists sneak into a cove near Taijii, Japan to reveal the shocking case of animal abuse towards dolphins. Throughout the movie dolphins are presented in both their natural habitats and in captivity, which unfortunately affects their health. In the wild they are shown as carefree, energetic, and most of all happy. Once in captivity however, the dolphins lose their personalities and begin to show signs of depression. Psihoyos puts a contrast on these scenes throughout the film to force the audience to finally acknowledge the abuse dolphins face and to treat them not as entertainment, but as live animals.

Wild dolphins in this film are presented as beautiful, loving, and carefree animals. They do not cause harm to humans or other animals. In fact, in The Cove a surfer tells a story about how he watched his friend be saved by a dolphin from a shark. This proves the connection that dolphins naturally share with humans. The dolphins went out of their way and risked their own lives to save that of a humans. Some might even make an argument in saying that this is the way they show their love. In the film there are many scenes where wild dolphins come up to divers and allow the divers to rub them. These scenes show the mammals as carefree creatures. Just by them coming up to the divers willingly shows how comfortable and secure they are with themselves as well as with humans.

Dolphins in this film that are held in captivity do not have the same sense of energy as those who are wild. It is as if they have been drained from the life which they once knew. They are represented as only entertainment. In the film they mention that the reasons why humans like to watch dolphins so much is because naturally, it looks as if they are always smiling. Their look of happiness gives the humans a feeling of happiness also. However, just because it looks like they are smiling does not mean they are happy inside.

Dolphins are meant to wild and free not held in a wall to wall tank. They are deprived of their natural scenery and therefore change drastically into a negative and downward direction. No living creature should suffice to this kind of torture. The contrast in the sceneries leaves the audience with the idea that dolphins are meant to be free, just as Psihoyos wanted to portray.

Blog 5

In the film Koyaanisqatsi, directed by Godfrey Reggio in 1983, different scenes show structural similarities that are reinforced by the change in perspectives. Using different perspectives throughout the film allows for us, the audience, to look at the things we typically take for granted in a new and unfamiliar way. The use of juxtaposition in the film also allows us to view things in our daily lives that we do not normally notice. The accretion and juxtaposition of images in Koyaanisqatsi help to confirm Reggio’s argument that we have come to accept technology as part of our environment.

There are many scenes throughout the film that demonstrate the use of juxtapositions as well as the use of different perspectives in certain images.  One example is when there was a close up of a family relaxing on a beach, and when the camera zoomed out of the frame it showed a nuclear power plant right behind them. By only showing us the family first, it made us, as the audience, believe that everything was normal. Zooming out however, revealed the truth to us. The scene demonstrated just how much people have become accustomed to technology. The family acted as if it was normal or even safe to be swimming in a beach that is right next to a nuclear power plant.

Another choice of scenes that the director put together for a purpose was the bird and army plane scenes. At first, there was a focus on a group of birds flying throughout the desert and then it changed to an army plane painted in camouflage, also flying through the desert. I believe that the objective of putting these two scenes side by side was to show just how much our technology tries to blend in with the environment. The plane was metaphorically acting like a bird and painted to match the environment of the desert, therefore, it was in a way blending in with nature.

After watching Koyaanisqatsi, I have come to agree with Reggio in his argument that we, as people, are accepting technology as part of our environment. We rely on it so much that sometimes we no longer do things for ourselves. Like reading a book for example. Now the internet can provide summaries of an entire novel. Even though we have proven to create advancements in technology as the years pass by, it is a bad idea to ignore the other things in our lives. Our actual environment being one of the main things.