I've been waiting months for a chance to see the documentary "The Cove". When I was finally able to watch it I couldn't help coming away vastly disappointed. The theme of the movie was right on the money, the action was great and intense, but after the movie ended I couldn't help but feel a little dirty. I'm a big fan of documentaries, and I like to think that I can spot bullshit when I see it, and over the years I've gotten better at spotting subtle BS when it's presented. When I was in high school I thought "Bowling for Columbine" was a great documentary, and while I still agree with it's overall message, and believe it's a great film, it's a terrible documentary. That's how I feel about "The Cove" as well, and here's why.
SCIENTIFIC INACCURACY
Near the beginning of the film, we see a passionate quasi-memoir from Richard O'Barry about his time on the set of Flipper, as well as his experiences with dolphins in captivity. While I agree that dolphins and whales shouldn't be in captivity, because humans just can't provide them with the necessary space for their lives to be fulfilling, something he said struck me as odd, and made me suspicious of the film as a whole. O'Barry stated that where they keep the food for dolphins they also keep a wide variety of things like Maalox or Pepto Bismol because the dolphins are stressed out in captivity, which in turn causes ulcers. I have no doubt that the dolphins are stressed out, but stress is not proven to cause ulcers. Although this was thought to be the case for years, it's been known for quite some time that peptic ulcers (which is what O'Barry was referring to) are caused by a bacteria called Helicobacter pylori. There is debate as to whether stress can impact the susceptibility to ulceration, but with no concrete definition of what stress actually is, and no conclusive proof to link stress and ulcers, I found this to be a dodgy comment to present as fact to viewers who may be uneducated on the subject, showing that the makers of the film are willing to bend facts to fit an agenda. Not a good sign in a documentary. There's also the issue of using an antacid to treat the ulcer. 5-10 years ago that would be normal, but today I'd have to imagine it's very rare considering ulcers are almost always treated with antibiotics. Antacids like Maalox could only be used as a preventative measure, to tone down stomach acid.
RELIANCE ON SHODDY "EXPERTS"
Another huge red flag flew up when I noticed the use of Paul Watson, leader of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) as a source of some kind. Paul Watson is a criminal, a borderline terrorist, and a known liar. He's been caught several times faking animal cruelty and filming it, paying people to bash baby seals with clubs for example, in order to further his agenda. His group, the SSCS, regularly attempts to disable fishing vessels in open water, leaving people stranded, and putting people in danger. His self importance and ego is on full display in the film as he wears a fake badge as he attempts to give himself some sort of credibility, when really all he's doing is reaffirming how immature he is, and destroying the integrity of a film with a good purpose.
INSINUATION OF FALSEHOODS
At one point in the film, about 3 minutes are dedicated to attempting to suggest that dolphins "might be" even smarter than humans. Clearly this depends on how you measure intelligence, and I've always loved the quote from Douglas Adams;
“Man has always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much...the wheel, New York, wars and so on... while all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man...for precisely the same reason.”But all joking aside here, in every way we can measure intelligence, humans are far smarter than dolphins. Let's not kid ourselves. If dolphins were as smart as the movie intends to imply, they wouldn't have to make this movie because 1) they'd be the dominant species on earth, 2) they wouldn't be getting herded into the same cove over and over again for years to be slaughtered without fail. Insinuating at all that there's even a fraction of a chance that dolphins maintain the same level of intelligence as humans, or even a greater intelligence, is irresponsible, and reeks of Hollywood tripe. I'm not saying that dolphins are not smart, or even that they aren't self aware, but they are not at human level intelligence, and they can not attain human level intelligence because their biology won't allow it. The encephalization quotient (a formula to measure brain size to body size ratio accurately) of bottlenose dolphins is between 4-5 whereas humans are between 6.5-7.5. Not to mention that dolphin brains are less advanced than human brains overall.
STEREOTYPES
The final major problem I had was with the tone and presentation of this film. The entire time I couldn't help but notice how the Japanese were cast, not as wrong on an issue, but as willingly evil. They then literally called all those who sided with the Japanese in the International Whaling Commission (IWC) prostitutes. It was odd to me that every single one of the people in the film participating in the expose were white, and that none of the allies of Japan shown in the film were white. There was a very clear notion of the noble white Americans crusading around the world to show all the savages how to live. This cheapened the message to me, would it be too much to ask for a Japanese person who disagreed with slaughtering dolphins to be included on the team?
WHAT REMAINS
While the film itself has been sullied to me, the overall message they're trying to get across is a good one. What's going on in Taiji, Japan is shockingly appalling to the point of being sadistic, and over-fishing is a real and important concern in the coming decades. It's too bad they couldn't do a better job editing out the Hollywoodisms and poor judgement calls, because I really wanted to like this movie more than I did.
Thank you for reading my blog!
ReplyDeleteSo true. Great Post.
ReplyDeletefirst of all the dolphin slaughter is true and then instead of understanding the fact that some people out there care you go and make fun of the way they presented this horrible film. It doesn't matter how the documentary was it matters about the fact that the dolphin slaughter is happening. Instead of judging others behind your computer why don't you make a documentary and see if the whole world likes it and I bet your documentary will be a failure.
ReplyDeleteDo you know what a documentary is? I think he is clearly stating that the film fails as a documentary but the message is good. Maybe you need to reread it.
DeleteI think you are grossly wrong. A gave your site a chance, and read what you had to say, and it further proves to me that no matter what kind of right activism a person takes part in, there will always be uniformed, self-righteous morons that spit garbage online to try to confuse the masses. Its sad that a site like this exists and perpetuates ignorance.
ReplyDeleteSomeone's spitting garbage...
Deleteand by the way 1st comment maker, learn English if you're going to write in it.
ReplyDeleteabsolutely fantastic post.
ReplyDeleteThere is one white person who sides with Japan in the film, he's wearing a bow tie and featured several times.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry I happen to disagree with you. I would like to address the areas where you discussed why dolphins are not 'smarter' than us because they can still be herded into a small cove. I think you lack the intelligence to realize that they are herded into this cove due to the fact that the fishing company has set up a wall of intense noise that unfortunately successfully drives the dolphins away from open water and into this cove. So before you make blatant disagreements can you please research first.
ReplyDeleteBeth, I apologize if you don't understand, but if dolphins are so reliant on instinct that they can be herded into a trap continually by messing with their senses, they aren't as smart as humans. Not even close. To even make that claim is so grossly ignorant the makers of the film should be ashamed of themselves. Instead of trotting out the old and tired "do some research" line, how about you calmly read what you're responding to before sounding off so arrogantly. If I need to do some research on dolphin intelligence, you should probably do some research into human history to see how we as a species have adapted through our extreme intelligence advantages over other species to become the dominant species on this planet.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this. I've been thinking about this movie for a year now trying to figure out why it's left such a bad taste in my mouth. Of course I like dolphins! I follow most causes that promote sustainable ocean management. I wanted to see in this a cause to rally behind. What I'm finally realizing is that this film was horribly biased and manipulative, utterly failing as a documentary. I felt this was more one man's crusade in the struggle to deal with his own part in this industry much more than a realistic expose on the truth of what is happening. My opinion feels unpopular and I'm glad you helped me give voice to my own thoughts.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment Anon. The feeling I had when coming away from this film was that of wasted opportunity. Such a good cause, they didn't need to fabricate or exaggerate to make it interesting. Sadly they did.
ReplyDeleteMy boyfriend agrees with you that dolphins must not be very intelligent because they keep getting herded into the cove year after year.
ReplyDeleteHowever, you refuted Beth by saying that "if dolphins are so reliant on instinct that they can be herded into a trap continually by messing with their senses, they aren't as smart as humans."
I think that if I held a strobe light in front of your face, played a siren and poked you in the side continuously that you would go away from it, no matter what. You wouldn't be able to deal with it, just like the dolphins aren't able to deal with the sounds.
It's not their "instincts"... it's the fact that they are being tortured.
Nina, they're being tortured IN the cove, for sure. But the noise making underwater isn't torture. It puts them into a state of confusion. Would that be possible with humans? Of course we can induce fear and confusion, but odds are when things like that happen we adapt and stop going into that area. In that respect the lack of intelligence of the dolphins and their reliance on instincts is failing them in a big way.
ReplyDeleteI think you're right on the money in highlighting the problems with "The Cove". I would add another: The documentary anthropomorphizes dolphins to a human level which in the big picture threatens the well-being of animal conservation as a whole. "The Cove" maintains that dolphins should not be killed because they are intelligent, and more like us than other animal species. As humans we lean towards protecting lovable mammals while neglecting non-lovable, less intelligent ones. I doubt that people would have the same reaction if the film were about the decimation of the Atlantic cod populations off of the NE coast of N. America. In fact, fisherman of the east coast have been glorified for decades as hard-working Americans (which they are, though it doesn't change the fact that they have driven the Atlantic cod to the verge of extinction). But the populations of all animal species are important. Nobody seems to care about the dwindling tuna supply in the Pacific either (which is by the way, a primary food source for dolphins), because tuna are brainless and non-human-like. If we as human beings are to set out to protect our environment and ecosystem, we need to stop the anthropomorphication of animals because it leads to neglect of other vitally important species. I do think that the situation in Taiji should be reversed, but the undertaking should be done by people with scientific background: marine biologists, fisheries experts and the like, rather than by self-righteous, racist Hollywood yuppies who seem to be ignorant of their own folly. Anyway, good post.
ReplyDeleteAaron, thanks so much for your comment. You're saying exactly what my opinion on the matter is. Hope everyone that reads this post reads your comment as well as it adds a very important point to the situation.
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
ReplyDeleteThis film is deeply racist and misses and opportunity to explore two complex issues:
The "Sea World" industry - selling people a highly constructed experience of "nature" and
the fascinating and diminishing relationship between people who live off of wild resources, including animal resources and the animals themselves.
It;s notable that these "documentarians" never asked the question: If this town is founded on a celebration of dolphins, how does that reckon with killing and eating them? I come from a hunter gatherer culture and I know that it is possible to simultaneously respect, love and consume wild animals. In fact the respect for prey is an essential component of this process.
Also, there were no solid statistics on the sale of dolphins for Sea World type operations. If all of these people are making millions off the sale of wild dolphins, there must be an enormous demand for them.
I read elsewhere that there are no Japanese dolphins in any public aquariums in the U.S. right now. The "heroic" filmmakers are betting on people taking lies at face value. Much like Paul Watson does.
Thanks for the insight!