LA Zoo Observations

• The Los Angeles Zoo is home to hundreds of different species and attracts hundreds of visitors everyday. 
• While waiting in line for the ticket booth to open you can see different people waiting in line, you see families, couples, groups of friends, even elementary school kids on field trips.
• As you stand in line the excitement is rising while everyone waits anxiously to go inside the zoo.
• As soon as you purchase your ticket you can see the shift in moods, everyone is smiling and you can hear everyone saying  “i love the zoo!”, “My favorite animals are the elephants!” or “I’m so excited to spend the rest of the day here!”
• In the entrance you are greeted by some otters and a small alligator in its own cage. You can also find gift shops and small concession stands where you can buy refreshments.
• As you continue walking you encounter different paths, each leading you to different animals.
• As you continue walking deciding which path to take you are surrounded by trees, small bushes, some flower beds, and you can feel the sun radiating heat.
• When you approach one side of the zoo you encounter small insects and rodents living in small cages. The small rodents are being fed while they are released for the day.
• Some of the kids are surprised to see the insects and rodents while others cant see them because they are too short and have to have their parents lift them up onto their shoulders so they have a better view.
• Everyone in the zoo has the same energy. when you walk past someone they smile at you, young kids look up and stare at you, and when you're in a small area looking at the animals you start conversations with the people next to you.
• As you get further away from the entrance the zoo feels more like a jungle where all you see are trees and you begin to hear the sounds of the wild animals, like the elephants making noise with their trunks.
• When the younger kids hear these noises they aren’t used to hearing everyday they act surprised and quickly recover by yelling at “ How cool was that!” or “i can hear the elephants!”
• Near the giraffes, you can hear the chimpanzees making noise in their cage while the bleachers in front of the cages are filled with kids, parents, teachers ,families, friends enjoying what they're seeing and commenting on how cute the chimps are.
• as the sun starts burning your skin and you're feeling tired and thirsty you find a snow cone stand where every kid id lined up with their money in their hand ready to buy their snow cone and they also take a break from exploring to cool off.
• On the way back from your trip at the zoo all the visitors make a stop at the gift stores to look at the stuffed animals, necklaces, and other souvenirs where they buy something to make sure they are reminded about their trip to the zoo. 

Raising Awareness

Tackling the Stigma from the Stage, by Nancy Tobin, is an article that explains the impact Next to Normal had on society. At first the authors of the play didn’t know the type of reaction the musical would receive because it was introducing the topic of a mental illness. The author wanted, Diana Goodman, to be an average person because they didn’t want that audience to think you had to be an extraordinary person to have a mental illness. The actress that plays Diana, Alice Ripley, can relate to what the authors were trying to show. She explains how the role of Diana has influenced her physical and emotional life. After she finishes the role of Diana, Diana is still underneath trying to come out whenever she can. And she does come out because one day Diana was in the subway and she said something out loud. She said she didn’t mean too and she’s not diagnosed as bipolar but this incident was something that just happens in our everyday life. The reason so many people are able to relate to Next to Normal is because its talks about an average mother and Ripley says, “I need the audience to believe it.” In the end of the article, Tobin talks about an 18 year old boy who was diagnosed as bipolar and he was able to relate to the musical, and the purpose of the musical is to “expose the stigma of mental illness.”

I agree with what Tobin argues in her article. Not many people write about day to day situations, let alone mental illnesses. When people do write about mental illnesses, they make the characters crazy when in reality these people don’t act like that in real life. I also believe that when things seem realistic you are able to relate to them more because you understand what is going on. In the article, Tobin explains how a boy was diagnosed as bipolar and he was able to relate to Diana because he knew what how it felt to be in Diana’s situation.  I also agree with Tobin because in the media many people who are diagnosed with a mental illness are extremely talented people but because they can’t control their illness they become crazy and their talent goes to waste.  That’s not true because in the musical Diana is a stay at home mom who does things just like everybody else. She doesn’t go around killing people instead she leaves because she feels it’s time to let her family live normally without having to worry about her. This is why I believe people should be more aware of mental illnesses so that the media doesn’t show people with a mental disability in a negative light. Instead causing awareness can help others  with what they are going through by showing them that there are a lot of people dealing with the same situation, just like Diana and the 18 year old boy.  (word count 494)

Are the 1950s related to Next to Normal ?

 

                What We Really Miss about the 1950s, by Stephanie Coontz, is an article that talks about the great era of the 1950s. Although many people would like to go back to this time period, they don’t really understand what was happening. Coontz argues that this was the era of racism, sexism, and inequality. When you think about the 1950s you think about a perfect little family that consists of a hardworking father, a housewife, and usually two children. Well Coontz explains to us that these women didn’t have a choice. Many people believed that women were supposed to stay at home and take care of the family, and this idea was portrayed through the media.  In a famous TV series one of the characters ask the women, “Are you after a job or a man? You can’t have both.” Women had to be dependant of a man, and if they went to work they would be mistreated by the male employees and wouldn’t receive the same benefits they did. The rate of teenage pregnancy was high in the 1950s and many couples would get married before the baby was born and their life was settled. The father would go to work and the mother had to stay at home and it didn’t matter if the couple was happy or not.  People who were defined as “Other” which consisted of blacks, Jews, gays or lesbians, and Puerto Ricans were treated with hostility and riots against them emerged every day. Although the 1950s did have its downfall, this was the era where parents had hope for their children because many people didn’t have to have a college education to get a well paid job and they could afford to be economically stable.  

             Some of the concepts are present in the musical, Next to Normal.  First of all Diana seems to fit the description of a women during the 1950s. She’s a stay at home mom, who looks after her two kids, Gabe and Natalie, and was married at young age. Throughout the play we can see that she’s unhappy but she usually puts her own feelings aside to try and please her husband and kids. She continues to live with them because she would rather keep her family happy then explains to them how she really feels. After she goes through electro shock therapy it seems that she has gained a new confidence. She realizes that the reason she married Dan was because they were young and she was having a baby.  She realizes that she was a child and her decisions were rushed. I also think that second half shows women in today’s era because she gains confidence to leave her family. She tells Dan that if he’s always there to catch her, she will never learn to stand on her own. In today’s society women are independent, even if they’re married and they have the same rights men do. In the 1950s, you were always tied down to a man and women never seemed to leave the men to go find their happiness because they were aware of injustices towards women. Once Diana learns she has a voice, and she’s allowed to express her feelings she packs her bags because she’s tired of feeling vulnerable she wants to feel independent. (word count 550)

 

Next to Normal

Next to Normal, is a musical about a family who tries to live a “normal” life while having a family member diagnosed with a mental illness. Diana, the mother, lost her son at 8 months old and was never able to accept the death of her son. She continues to establish a relationship with her son, Gabe, acting as if he was still alive.  It’s been eighteen years and she’s the only family member who can see and hear him. The father, Dan, tries to help Diana by sending her to multiple doctors who prescribe her with different medications to try and cure her illness. Nothing seems to work and at one point she tries to commit suicide. Meanwhile her daughter, Natalie, is tired of being “invisible” because she feels that her mother doesn’t acknowledge her presence and she feels that her mother would rather have Gabe alive. While Dan continues looking for ways to cure Diana, he encounters a doctor that persuades him to try electro shock therapy. Diana gets tested and she forgets about Gabe until she starts remembering what happened the day he died. She’s overwhelmed with the new information she just learned and believes it’s time for a new beginning. Diana leaves Natalie and Dan behind, where all three of them hope to start over fresh.

              The part that stood out to me the most was when Diana tells Natalie “I love you as much as I can” because I feel like this is an important part of their relationship. Natalie is positive that her mother prefers Gabe over her and if Diana had the opportunity to bring Gabe back she would. I feel like Natalie is selfish in a way because she wants to have a normal life and wants her mother to be someone she can’t. Diana is pressured by Dan and Natalie to be the best wife and mother when she doesn’t really know who she is.  Dan is taking her to different doctors who are prescribing her different medications to try and make her better, but they don’t know how she really feels. So when Diana tells Natalie that she loves her, what she’s trying to say is that even though she can’t be the “ideal” mother she loves her in the way she can and knows how to. When Diana is scheduled to go through electro shock therapy Natalie says that she “cried for all we’d never be”, I feel like this is where Natalie understands that her mom is never going to be okay, not even with all the therapy and medications, and she doesn’t want to lose her trying to change her. Later she says, “I don’t need a life that’s normal, but something… next to normal.” At this point Natalie understands who her mother is and she’s willing to accept her for the way she is.  
            
           After reading, Next to Normal, I feel like Diana hadn’t dealt with the death of her son in the right way and that incident affected her for the rest of her life. I feel like sometimes we are to quick to jump to conclusions without allowing others to express what they really feel. We force them do to things they aren’t comfortable with or don’t want to do and at the end of the day we push them away. And once we have pushed people away we realize what we’ve lost. I now believe that sometimes you just need to be there for that person and accept them with their best qualities and with their flaws because you don’t know what they have been through.
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Would You Live in a Bathtub For Human Entertainment?

 

“If you were in a bathtub for 25 years, don’t you think you’d get a little psychotic?” Now think about this, how would you feel if you were in a bathtub for human entertainment? Well, Sea World currently owns more than half of the killer whales in captivity, where they are being exposed to physical and mental stress that is shortening the life of the whales. Do you think about how the whales feel when you’re watching the show? No, you sit down and walk away amazed by the show the killer whales have performed. There has been a lot of controversy over the whales in captivity and the reason being is a documentary, Blackfish, was released showing how the killer whales are taken from the wild and brought to Sea World. The documentary interviews ex Sea Worldtrainers that explain how the animals are treated and the environment they live in. Sea World didn’t want to be interviewed for Blackfish, and they recently argued that the movie portrays them in a negative light.

 

Sea World Claims that the killer whales are provided with an environment similar to the ones in the wild, they recognize the importance of family bonds, and keeping the killer whales in captivity extends the life of the whale. But on the other hand, Blackfish shows us how killer whales are taken from their natural environment and forced to adapt to the 50 ft tanks; they emphasize the behavior of the whales in captivity, and show the artificial bonds Sea World creates. By keeping the whales in captivity we are allowing society to believe it’s perfectly fine to treat animals how we please, we are adding to Sea World’s success by continuing to attend the parks and participate in their shows. We are overworking the killer whales for human entertainment, and because we aren’t taking action we are allowing these animals to die in captivity, we continue to support the artificial pods, and force them to adapt to their new environment. If more people took an importance in saving these animals, people would take action against Sea World. We need to take a stand and stop Sea World from exploiting innocent animals.

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Where Do Killer Whales Belong ?

 The Orcinus orca or the killer whale is one of the largest animals held in captivity. The first whales were caught in the 1960’s and by the late 1990’s killer whales cost 20 million dollars. In 2013, Sea World made a profit of 1.46 billion dollars and their business continues to grow. Currently, there are 45 killer whales in captivity and more than half of the whales are owned by Sea World. These intelligent animals are put under pressure to perform for human entertainment and are being exposed to physical and mental abuse. Sea world claims to protect the animals, and give them the best care they can provide. After the documentary, Blackfish was released, it gave us a new perspective on how the whales are actually treated and the environment they are in. Many people began to advocate the releasing of the whales, while others argue that captivity keeps the whales alive longer.  

Well in a recent article, CNN had the opportunity to sit down and interview Sea World’s vice president of communications, Fred Jacobs, who claimed that the documentary, Blackfish was showing Sea World in a negative light.  Sea World has responded to the comments made after, Blackfish, saying that the reason why we know so much about killer whales is because researchers were able to study the whales in the environment Sea World provides. In the wild these animals don’t receive the veterinary care Sea World offers and it’s harder for researchers to look after them. Sea World also claims they are involved in whale rescue programs, where they nurse whales that have been found along the beaches back to health and release them into the wild. Jacobs also declares that the whales held in captivity have always been around humans and are accustomed to the life they are given. Most of these whales Sea World owns were bred at Sea World and their main goal is to teach and share their knowledge of the whales with their visitors. In 2013, a new attendance record was made, and the number was recorded after the release of Blackfish.

             Liz Morris, a trainer at Sea World also spoke out in an article where she explains the role of an animal trainer. In order for Sea World to hire an animal trainer, they need to have a college education where the person has studied animal behavior, marine biology, psychology, and other courses that relate to animal training. You also have to be physically fit because you’re working in the animal’s environment and therefore Sea World encourages their staff to work out by providing a weight room. Morris says that Sea World also requires their staff to have a CPR certificate and to be SCUBA certified. During the interview Morris also explained that the animals are trained using positive reinforcement and no physical abuse is used to harm the animal. She also stresses the importance of being an animal trainer, which is being able to build a relationship with the animal.

In every article where Sea World is interviewed they say that their biggest priority is to make sure that the killer whales are provided with the best care, and are put in an environment similar to the ones they have in the wild. If the whales are in an environment similar to the ones they have in the wild, why are these whales dealing with physical and mental abuse? First of all, the whales in the wild grow up to 32 feet long and weigh up to 22,000 pounds. The males can live up to 70 years old while the females weigh 16,500 pounds and they can live up to 90 years old. Sea World, keeps the whales in a tank that is only 50 feet wide where the whales don’t have enough space to swim and most of the time, more than one whale is in the tank. In the wild, the whales live within their pod and if they are having issues with one another they have room to swim away. If one of the whales is having issues with another whale, the whales don’t have room to move away causing them to injure each other by slamming themselves against the other whales, or biting them.  Secondly, Sea World doesn’t keep the whales together; they separate the whales sending them to any of the parks around the world where the whales are needed. According, to the New York Times, killer whales share strong family bonds where the whales create great hunting skills and are able to communicate with each other “creating their own dialect.” If the whales are separated and forced to create their new pods, they won’t understand each other because each whale has its own culture.

The killer whales also feel trapped, most of them have been captured and transferred to Sea World and are forced to adapt to their new environments, the tanks. In the tanks the whales feel trapped, which they are, and begin to bite off the rails which causes them to break their teeth. The whales are kept in the tanks all night and are opened only when the whales perform. The whales are put under pressure to learn their routine and if they don’t complete the routine the way it was asked some of them don’t get fed until the whales perform it correctly. Not only are the animals tired but, Junior Scholastic, states that the pressure and closed environment they are in causes the whales to act aggressively. The whales are mistreated and put under so much physical and emotional stress, its shortening the life span of the whale. Most of the killer whales in captivity only live until they are 30 years old.

                After researching more about killer whales in captivity, I still believe these intelligent animals should be free in the wild where they belong. I’ve also realized that change doesn’t just happen in a day, if we really want to make a change we have to start doing things for these animals. An article on Uwire made a comment that I completely agree and it states, if people continue attending Sea World to watch the killer whales perform, the audience is going to leave impressed with how the whales are trained and how they perform. But as soon as the audience leaves the show, they don’t think about how the whale was treated in order for them to perform. The audience doesn’t go behind the scenes of the film; they just sit down and enjoy the show. These animals deserve to be in their natural environment with their real families not the artificial bonds Sea World tries to create. As long as people continue enjoying the shows, Sea World isn’t going to run out of business. If we want to see change happen we need to stop Sea World from exploiting the whales, and make them realize that keeping the whales in captivity is killing them.  The whales in captivity are physically and emotionally stressed causing them to harm themselves and other whales, and even act aggressively towards their trainer, also killing them. One of the whales owned by Sea World named, Tilikum has been involved in 3 deaths and continues to perform at the Sea World in Florida If we can stop Sea World from using the whales in their show we can put a stop to using animals for human entertainment, and preventing deaths involving trainers.  

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Should Killer Whales Be Kept In Captivity ?

                         

                                                 

           Orcas or also known as killer whales are the largest member of the dolphin family. Whenever we think about killer whales, the first thing that comes to mind is Sea World. Sea World is one of the biggest amusement park that has been the home to many Killer whales all around the world. But one thing Sea World claims to do is keep the whales safe, so how does captivity keep Killer Whales alive?

            The truth is that Sea World doesn’t keep the Killer Whales alive; keeping them in captivity causes physical and emotional stress that shortens the life of the whale. Every time you go to Sea World and you watch the show you don’t think about all the stress and pressure put on the whales to make the show “Amazing!” The animals are abused and separated from their pods, they’re forced to form new bonds with the whales that Sea World already has. The Killer Whales are brought to a new environment and are forced to adjust, but after a while they suffer emotionally and physically causing them to damage their surroundings, hurt themselves and other whales, and show acts of aggression towards their trainers. When Sea World speaks about the whales, they claim that they are protecting them because they have the right team to look after them. The whales are fed, they spend time with other whales, and because of the treatment they receive the whales live longer. In reality the whales live longer in the wild and because of the small environment they’re in their dorsal fin collapses.

            The reason why this is such an important topic is because Killer Whales are becoming extinct due to the climate changes occurring, oil spills, and oceans becoming polluted decreasing their food supply. We need to keep the whales alive and keeping them captivated doesn’t help the situation either. Theses whales are mistreated causing them to harm themselves which leads to their own death or injuring other whales which usually ends with death. Since the whales aren’t with their pod, usually 2 or more females mate with the same male. Their newborn calves are taken away and they don’t live very long. It’s not fair to keep the whales away from their pods and force them to work as entertainment. They are wild animals and need to be free; they shouldn’t be receiving the abuse they do for human entertainment. The whales are being taken away from their natural habitat against their will and the only way we can help save the whales is by striking against Sea World and making them realize they’re killing the whales just by keeping them in their pools. If we all stop supporting the shows Sea World and other businesses produce we can help save the whales!

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