Eli Roth may have just partially redeemed himself after escorting around dimwit much-too-young 21 year-old divorcee Peaches Geldof. The 37 year-old Inglourious Basterds star penned a thoughtful letter to the head of Seaworld’s parent company imploring them to release their marine mammals in the wake of a killer whale dragging a trainer to her death late last month. Seaworld has stated that they’ve suspended all shows with killer whales but is not going to release them into the wild. Roth’s letter should help bring the focus and pressure back on Seaworld after this tragedy has faded from the news. Here’s some of what he wrote, with the full letter available on Radar Online:
Hollywood has now jumped into the controversy surrounding the February incident in which a SeaWorld trainer was violently killed by an orca whale. RadarOnline.com has obtained the letter fired off by Inglourious Basterds star Eli Roth to the theme park’s owners.
“All the violence and suffering in my films is pretend – no one is hurt, ever. Sadly, the same is not true at SeaWorld, which targets their entertainment at families and children,” Roth wrote. “You are sending a far more dangerous message to kids, whose lives would be just as happy and fulfilled without seeing a large intelligent creature jump around to music for their entertainment, and would probably take a more active interest in protecting whales if they saw them out in the ocean where they belong.”
[From Radar Online]
For all you can say about celebrities getting involved with causes, they do bring a lot of press to important issues like this one. I know I’m against wild animals performing in circuses and at venues like Seaworld, and maulings and deaths like this one help show that we shouldn’t force wild animals into small enclosed spaces just for 10 minutes of entertainment. These poor animals have to do this several times a day for the rest of their lives. (For the record, I don’t believe in taking my son to see animals perform in circuses, but my husband disagrees. We have compromised by letting him go occasionally but explaining that it’s not fair to the animals. Personally, I would rather he didn’t go at all.) I hope more celebrities get involved with this cause and help pressure Seaworld to at least release all the killer whales.
Despite that, what a skeevatz!
ive said it before and i’ll say it again
they are called Killer whales for a reason
not hugs and kisses whales.
Is it really as simple as releasing them? Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s despicable to keep an animal under poor conditions for the sake of entertainment, but if an animal was born in captivity or has been domesticated, releasing it into the wild is probably not the best thing for it. It may be unable to properly find food, care for, or defend itself. The idea here is supposed to be ensuring the welfare of the animal, not releasing it into certain death just because it makes you feel good to say “we freed it!”
They can’t just release them – that would as cruel and stupid as keeping them. Some of those animals were born in captivity.
A sanctuary would be ideal.
I agree that a sanctuary is the only place they could go after spending so long in captivity. He’s right about there being no need for shows like that, but he’s still a douche.
I love when I see celebrities involved in causes and sending thoughtful messages, instead of just being involved in causes they don’t even know how to represent, only for the attentiton from media.
I am assuming he saw “The Cove.” AA for best documentary this year.
That was a sweet gesture.
Especially in light of the fact that a trainer was drowned recently st seaworld by a killer whale.
Stop trying to take the animal and make it a cheap trick.
I don’t like them being in captivity but when you just release them they have trouble adapting. Look what happened to Willy.
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/152384_keiko13.html
My girlfriend in Florida works for Sea World and when I just was down there I asked her how the whale was doing. It was nothing more than horrific accident. The trainer was growing her hair out for “locks of love” or something like that and was laying down in a section of the pool during training. The whale himself is so large he generally can’t even get up to the part of the pool this took place in, but the whales tooth got caught on her long pony tail. She was trying to get loose at the same time the whale was trying to shake her free. Of course a massive whale’s shaking looks like an aggresive thrashing to us. When the other people tried to come help her, the whale wouldn’t let them by her because he was trying to protect her- even though it ended up killing her. She was his trainer for 17 years. The whale is so depressed now that his mate has to nudge him to the surface to take a breath. He knows he’s in trouble, he knows she’s not coming back.
That whale is the only one at Sea World that was born in the wild and he was originally purchased for breeding- not for shows. If they released all of the whales into the wild where the majority of them have never been- they’d be facing almost certain death. I think the should “retire” this whale and build larger pools for these whales. That whale from Free Willy- Keiko or whatever- was sent to something like a lagoon before getting sent into the ocean before he eventually died. Sea World should make larger lagoons or pools for these massive whales to have more room. And I think they should indefinitely cancel “The Shamu Show” and focus on their other shows like with dolphins and whatever else they do.
Wow, Lizzard! But, how did he get his tooth in her hair? Bad whale.
i agree, they should have lagoons, and be allowed to retire, but enough already. i do not think we should be breeding animals for shows any longer. we have enough damn problems on this planet.
Lizzard, you are freakin’ adorable.
Wait, what about the other times this whale hurt people? That’s why he knows he’s in trouble. A guilt-ridden killer whale?
Call me cynical but it sounds like damage control because of the Peaches/Trophy/etc. situation.
Honesly, if you want to be taken seriously, would you really go through PETA? There are far less controversial organizations or, hey, how about speaking on your own behalf. For many people, when they see the word “PETA” it shuts down discussion because they seem far more concerned with publicity than actually doing a whole lot of good. There are plenty of other organizations he could have latched onto that truely do some good.
And no, I don’t think it is as simple as just letting the animals go. Maybe it would be a good ideaw to put your money where your mouth is and offer to have made a donation to an org that directly could have seen to the wellbeing of the whale.
Prayers for that woman’s family. I hope they don’t feel as though her death is being exploited for some publicity.
What, you san’t release an animal born in captivity back into the ocean? Free Willy lied to me!
Sumodo- His tooth got caught in her long pony tail because she was lying down- I’m not exactly sure but he must have thought he was about to get a treat and had is mouth open when it got caught in her hair.
ThunderCnt- Thanks for thinking I’m adoreable- I do try most days. With the first incident, he was one of three whales involved when the trainer died and even the head of training at that facility has come out saying how surprised he was that this happened again. The other time aside from the dead man in his pool- there didn’t seem to be proof the death was actually caused by him. Someone snuck into Sea World when it was closed and apparently fell into his pool and died of hypothermia. The man had a couple of bruises and some scratches likely caused by Tilly but that could have been the whale trying to get the guy to the surface or something. The trainer that essentially died was like a best friend to him- he knows that he did something and thats why she’s not coming back. It sounds like the poor whale is extremely depressed and won’t let anyone else around him except for his longest mate who is trying to help him by nudging him to the surface to breathe. Of course, she told me all of this about a week ago and it could be a bit different now.
I just think that they should stop the killer whale shows as we know them. They can still do educational shows about killer whales- preferably in larger pools or lagoons- and have trainers be in somewhat contact with these whales- just not to the extent that it’s been in the past.
@Lizzard: Yeah, and the tiger that savaged Roy Horn was really just trying to save him from some perceived danger in the audience.
It does animals a HUGE disservice to anthropomorphize them.
Really, there’s footage of this attack? How has that not been all over the news? I know there’s footage taken a few mins BEFORE the attack, but during? Are you sure that’s not old – i.e. from another incident?
Lizzard, I don’t have a problem believing whales can be ‘depressed’ (or the whale equivalent of it) – these creatures are smart and have sophisticated emotional lives. We can’t say, however, what was going on in his head during the attack. It would be nice if he didn’t mean it but we can’t ‘know’ that. Intelligent animals kept in captivity like that certainly have the ability to freak out/lose it and attack a trainer.
Sad story allaround. I agree these whales should be given to a sanctuary. One with a large pool. They likely would not survive release into the wild.
Yeah, sorry about that, I think the site its on I referred to is pretty bad( hey Im a curious girl!) but it is out there, You just have to look for it. And I have seen it and it sure doesn’t look like it could have been and accident. Im just saying, if you watch the news you’d know that whale Tillikums also killed two other people as well. He killed his first trainer, then a few years later a man was found drowned in Tilly’s tank after hours. The man could have drowned on his own, but its widely believed Tilly killed him.
@crash2go2- So me saying that the whale seems to be depressed is somehow anthropomorphizing him? Now I’m not an expert-nor did I claim to be-and it is entirely possible that what is percieved to be depression in an animal is nothing but off behavior.
But if you have a pet that cries when you leave- don’t you say your pet is sad or depressed? If your pet is moping around and not wanting to eat anything- don’t you think something is wrong with it? What happened to Roy was an awful accident- but they are a bit different of circumstances-don’t you think? Roy doesn’t want the tiger responsible to be put down anymore than the trainer’s family want that whale to die. When you train a dangerous animal there will always be a possibility of danger around it.
I was only trying to tell everyone what my friend that works at Sea World told me and add my two sense about what I think should be done. I do believe animals can be depressed and no I don’t think that is anthropomorphizing them.
Lizzard, there is no question at all that animals can become depressed; they certainly can, just as they can also be happy, angry, neurotic, etc. That’s not anthropomorphizing them-that’s just reality. And while I agree that no one can know what the creature is thinking, it is generally easy to read the feelings/mood of an animal-especially one you have known for a while. If your friend at Sea World thinks Tilly is depressed, it is probably true.
Of course animals can become depressed. What I am referring to is the la-la version of the events surrounding the death of the trainer that the trainers (according to you) would like to believe about the whale.
I don’t know much of ethnology, but I used to read a lot about animals when I was a child and I wanted to study primates. Killer whales are social animals and have a complex social system comparable to that of primates (including us). How would they survive in the wild if they have not been properly socialized? It would be better if there was a sanctuary for them where they would have a lot of space.
I’m against using wild animals for entertainment, but I never liked PETA and their tactics and ad campaigns.
I so agree with his thoughts. Animals are meant to be free. the only ones I can accept to be not free are the ones that have been domesticated…the rest should be allowed to live free if they can.
this coming from a guy who makes films where people get ripped limb from limb?
I can’t believe I misspelled ethology, ethnology is a completely different thing. Anyway, It seems that the trainer’s death was a tragic accident and not a case where an animal attacks its trainer.
I’m not one to run out and hug a tree but he’s totally on the spot with this one.
Putting a whale in a tank is like putting a bird in a cage. It’s just wrong.
Whales can keep eating trainers for all I care. STOP PUTTING THEM IN TANKS!!! They are wild animals for God’s sake! Treat them like it!
“they are called Killer whales for a reason
not hugs and kisses whales” ahahaha I love it Ashley.
Its so true though, they need to release all the animals, it’s not right to use them for entertainment. I think they shouldn’t be in zoos either, especially when they actually take them from the wild, from their families and lives. that’s kidnapping man! its so fked up.
If they can’t release them into the wild again, they could at least provide them more space, and at most they could release a statement promising not to purchase/breed/capture any new animals.