Journeying On: "Voiceless" Review

Just when you thought that the anti-captivity movement could look any less credible, along came a new movie called Voiceless. Instead of being a "documentary" produced with a large budget and with big backing, this little film is produced by three teenage girls. Need I say any more? Oh but I had such fun roasting this movie on twitter...

‏@Daniel_SeaWorld

When you lowkey just spent an hour an a half roasting some teenage girls' movie  #VoicelessFilm

Voiceless is literally just Diet Blackfish: all the lies, half the length and a fraction the budget. But lets break this down a little. Where Blackfish primarily relied on twisting events and manipulating data, Voiceless relies heavily on heresy and speculation. Here's an example:

There is about a five-minute section of the movie where John Jett speculates what happens to a whale's body after it dies at SeaWorld. He claims he was once told (therefore, this is now a secondary source) that the body was chopped up in little pieces and buried in the parking lot. This claim has zero basis in fact, and is simply just a wild hypothesis.

Photo: Blue Freedom

Perhaps the most amusing part of the movie is when the creator, Katie Emmons, admits that the only time she has ever attended SeaWorld (and also Miami SeaQuarium) was to film footage for her film. This girl literally paid admission to the park, essentially supporting it (and going against what she later says, 'don't buy a ticket') just to make a movie bashing it. Because, you know, logic.

But Perhaps the worst part of the movie comes during an interview with Naomi Rose, wearing a HSUS shirt. To be fair, this was filmed before SeaWord announced their partnership with HSUS, which, perhaps makes it feel like an even bigger slap to the face of SeaWorld supporters and anyone who cares about animal welfare.

Photo: "Voiceless"

Let me also take a moment to debunk one of the wildest claims from this movie: "the average age for adult females at SeaWorld is 13" Sorry, 4th grade math says otherwise #Awkward

‏@Daniel_SeaWorld

Adult females at SeaWorld:
Corky-50
Katina-40
Kasatka-39
Kayla-28
Orkid-28
Takara-25
Shouka-23
Kalia-12
Mean Age: 30.6
#VoicelessFilm

Moving on...

Finally, let me finish by saying that the claims made about Taiji are semi-true. At least, until they get to the wild speculation regarding the destination of the dolphins selected to go into captivity, especially regarding the United States. Can anyone guess the number of cetaceans from Taiji currently in the United States? Zero. The idea that dolphins are re-labeled as "captive born" and then shipped to America is perhaps one of the most far-fetched claims in the entire movie. I do not understand where anti-caps get the notion that SeaWorld and other marine parks in the United States are exempt from the law, but nonetheless, the claims spread like wildfire.

In conclusion, Voiceless it pretty much what it sounds like: a propaganda move made by three teenage girls that simply regurgitates what Blackfish says, but is even less credible. It does make for a fun hour and a half roast session on twitter, however.