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My wife and I last week went to see "Blue Planet Live" featuring composer and conductor George Fenton and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra at the Meyerson Symphony Center.
The combination of music and images reached breathtaking levels during some scenes and nauseating upheavals at others.
To be fair, the nauseating part didn't happen because of the music or the cinematography, but because of some of the film's subjects. Yes, yes, it's nature and some ugly things happen in nature, but this one really disturbed me.
In one sequence, killer whales rushed a shoreline teeming with sea lion pups. Hey, an orca's gotta eat, no begrudging that.
But filmmakers captured the killers dragging their dinners out far off shore, letting the sea lion babies loose for a second, only to catch them again, then placing the prey on their tails and flipping them tens of feet in the air or tossing the pending dinners around with their teeth.
They were playing with, torturing, their food. Orc-holes.
Animals, of course, have to hunt and eat to survive. But here I thought only humans had the capacity to torture.
If I ever take another trip to Sea World, I'm gonna see Shamu in a way different light.
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Lynn said at 8:15 a.m. on July 8, 2008, 8:15 a.m.
Planet, not Plant...but it took me to the site anyway. And are you sure the pups were still alive? Does seem mean, but there may be some reason for the behavior...or we can hope anyway!
bfelps said at 9:12 a.m. on July 8, 2008, 9:12 a.m.
thanks for the typo catch. and yes, the sea lion pups were alive, albeit barely after a couple of tosses.
Lynn said at 10:41 a.m. on July 8, 2008, 10:41 a.m.
Yuck! We saw the sea lions along PCH a few years ago and they are fascinating! The males were fighting over their harems! Then in San Francisco, there is a dock that they have taken over after an earthquake at sea. Too funny! And makes me sad to think of Shamu being so MEAN!
katiemac said at 11:18 a.m. on July 8, 2008, 11:18 a.m.
Please don't humanize animals. It is only humans that have the capability to torture, because only we have the capability to understand that it is torture. Haven't you ever seen a cat with a mouse? A dog with a squirrel? They aren't intending to cause pain or distress, they are indulging hunting or play instincts. They certainly aren't thinking, "This will cause severe distress, and I want to cause pain." That is torture. Only humans are capable of that.
An orca is neither a playful friend nor a heartless killer. It's an animal acting on instinct, not conscience.
steve crozier said at 11:45 a.m. on July 8, 2008, 11:45 a.m.
My sweet little doggie does the same thing with bugs, and once did pretty much the same with a baby opossum. Certainly the tossing around with her teeth bit. Cruel killer? Nah. Nature's way.
bfelps said at 11:52 a.m. on July 8, 2008, 11:52 a.m.
orca lovers
Lynn said at 13:20 p.m. on July 8, 2008, 13:20 p.m.
"orca lovers"-That is FUNNY!!!
katiemac said at 14:31 p.m. on July 9, 2008, 14:31 p.m.
Hey, I got attacked by a seal once. They ain't so cute close-up and all with those sharp teeth.
bfelps said at 14:48 p.m. on July 9, 2008, 14:48 p.m.
uh, yeah, right.