Blackfish · 2013 — 第 11 / 11 章 · 2'56" · C1

SeaWorld Blames the Ponytail, Explained:placing the blame on

The surface question is whether a trainer slipped or was pulled into the water. The real dispute is over blame. One line says, "This is a subtle way of placing the blame on Dawn's shoulders," while another cuts through it with "That's as simple as it gets."

あらすじ

In a courtroom, someone recalls holding two case files twenty years apart and answers that nothing has been learned. News reports then shift from a fall to a ponytail grab, while a SeaWorld curator denies aggression and the narration describes an industry protecting a cuddly image.

CourtroomAccusationsConfrontingExplainingC1fastamerican
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注目の表現

to the daya damn thingnew planplacing the blame on

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このシーンの表現

placing the blame on

shift responsibility onto someone

Someone analyses the official story: the whale's grab is recast as the dead woman's ponytail problem, and the focus shifts onto her.

Stop placing the blame on the person who got hurt.

このシーンの他の表現

  • to the day

    exactly, by calendar date

  • a damn thing

    anything at all, in a negative

  • new plan

    a new plan or strategy (often ironic)

  • just a tale

    merely a made-up story

  • came up with

    invented or devised

このシーンのメモ一覧

40 行のセリフに 28 件のメモ

表現 · B2to the day

exactly, by calendar date

A witness compares two death cases almost exactly twenty years apart, and the precision sharpens the point.

And they're almost, to the day, 20 years apart.
発音not a damn

Let not a run together and land the weight on damn.

In fact, it's not a damn thing.
スラング · B2a damn thing

anything at all — Mild swearing for frustration; avoid it at work or in formal writing.

We have not learned a damn thing for something like that to happen 20 years apart.
表現 · B1on a regular basis

regularly

Could you tell if it was an accident or if this-- Did this female trainer work with this whale on a regular basis?
表現 · B2be fatally injured

killed by injuries

She apparently slipped or fell into the tank and was fatally injured by one of the whales.
表現 · B2eyewitness account

witness reports

It wasn't until eyewitness accounts disputed that that they had to go back in their huddle and say, "Wait a minute. We gotta come up with a new plan."
文法 · C1It wasn't until eyewitness accounts disputed that that

not-until cleft: The first that completes disputed; the second that introduces what they finally had to do.

It wasn't until eyewitness accounts disputed that that they had to go back in their huddle and say, "Wait a minute. We gotta come up with a new plan."
表現 · B2initially report

first officially stated

She didn't fall into the tank as the sheriff's department initially reported.
表現 · B2allow something to happen

let it occur

that it was her mistake in allowing that to happen.
表現 · C1alive to defend oneself

alive and able to speak up

How disrespectful for you to blame her when she's not even alive to defend herself.
文法 · B2How disrespectful for you to blame her

exclamatory for-structure: How plus an adjective plus for someone to do turns the accusation into an exclamation of outrage.

How disrespectful for you to blame her when she's not even alive to defend herself.
発音not even alive

Put the main beat on alive and keep even light.

How disrespectful for you to blame her when she's not even alive to defend herself.
表現 · B2as simple as it gets

as plain as possible

That's as simple as it gets.
表現 · C1lie about the fact that + clause

falsely claim that

so I knew that SeaWorld was lying about the fact that this was her fault.
表現 · B2in all likelihood

very probably

The ponytail, in all likelihood, is just a tale.
発音in all likelihood

Keep in all compact and stress likelihood.

The ponytail, in all likelihood, is just a tale.
表現 · B2come up with something

invented that explanation

The safety spotter, who apparently didn't actually see the takedown, came up with that.
文法 · B2who apparently didn't actually see the takedown

non-restrictive relative clause: The who-clause adds a damning aside: the spotter did not actually see the takedown.

The safety spotter, who apparently didn't actually see the takedown, came up with that.
スラング · C1takedown

a forcible pull-down — Jargon from wrestling and accident reports; too technical for casual small talk.

The safety spotter, who apparently didn't actually see the takedown, came up with that.
表現 · C1push someone to say

pressured him into saying

During the spotter's testimony, OSHA pushed him to say that he wasn't really sure that it was her ponytail that was in the whale's mouth,
表現 · C1another level of + noun

a more serious kind of aggression

OSHA contends that the whale came up and grabbed Dawn Brancheau's arm, saying that that was another level of aggressiveness.
表現 · B2an act of aggression

an aggressive action

The initial grab was not an act of aggression.
表現 · C1have a vested interest in something

have a personal stake in

The industry has a vested interest in spinning these so that the animals continue to appear like cuddly teddy bears that are completely safe.
表現 · C1spin something

presenting facts in a biased way Here spin means presenting facts in a biased way, not rotating.

The industry has a vested interest in spinning these so that the animals continue to appear like cuddly teddy bears that are completely safe.
文法 · B2so that the animals continue to appear

purpose clause: So that introduces the purpose behind the spin: keep the animals looking safe and cute.

The industry has a vested interest in spinning these so that the animals continue to appear like cuddly teddy bears that are completely safe.
発音vested interest in

Give vested and interest two beats; let in fade.

The industry has a vested interest in spinning these so that the animals continue to appear like cuddly teddy bears that are completely safe.
表現 · B2stick with something

keep using

You know, that sells a lot of Shamu dolls, it sells a lot of tickets at the gate, and that's the story line that they're going to continue to stick with for as long as they can.
表現 · B2as long as one can

for as long as possible

You know, that sells a lot of Shamu dolls, it sells a lot of tickets at the gate, and that's the story line that they're going to continue to stick with for as long as they can.

「SeaWorld Blames the Ponytail」を読み解く

What's really going on

The scene is not really about whether the trainer slipped. The telling phrase is "The new plan is that he grabbed her ponytail": the wording turns a death into a revised story with a convenient culprit. The issue is not the hair itself but what the hair lets the company do—make the trainer's own choice the cause. One line names the move as "a subtle way of placing the blame on Dawn's shoulders," and another answers with moral anger: "How disrespectful for you to blame her when she's not even alive to defend herself." The closing claim about a "vested interest in spinning these" connects the language to the business: animals that seem like "cuddly teddy bears" sell dolls and tickets, so the safe image has to hold. The scene watches blame being rewritten as fact.

Theme

DeceptionThe official story changes from a fall to a ponytail grab, and one line calls it a way of placing blame on the dead trainer.
JusticeA dead trainer cannot defend herself, yet the revised story makes her actions the cause of the attack.

発音のポイント

  • not a damn — Let not a run together and land the weight on damn.
  • not even alive — Put the main beat on alive and keep even light.
  • in all likelihood — Keep in all compact and stress likelihood.
  • vested interest in — Give vested and interest two beats; let in fade.
We have not learned a damn thing for something like that to happen 20 years apart.

After two similar incidents twenty years apart, the answer to what has been learned is: nothing at all.

How disrespectful for you to blame her when she's not even alive to defend herself.

The objection is that blaming the dead trainer is unfair because she cannot speak for herself.

That's as simple as it gets.

The speaker reduces the incident to one blunt action: the whale grabbed her ponytail and pulled her in.

The ponytail, in all likelihood, is just a tale.

The ponytail detail is probably invented rather than a reliable account of what happened.

The industry has a vested interest in spinning these so that the animals continue to appear like cuddly teddy bears that are completely safe.

The industry benefits from making incidents sound harmless, because a safe, cuddly image sells dolls and tickets.

このシーンについての質問

Why is the ponytail such a big deal in this scene?

Because the revised account says the whale grabbed her ponytail. One line calls this "a subtle way of placing the blame on Dawn's shoulders," and another says the ponytail story is probably "just a tale."

Did Dawn Brancheau fall into the tank?

The report quoted here says she "didn't fall into the tank as the sheriff's department initially reported"; it says the whale pulled her into the water.

Why does one line call "the new plan" suspicious?

It is not presented as a neutral update. The next line says it is "a subtle way of placing the blame on Dawn's shoulders," so the new wording redirects responsibility onto the trainer.

How does SeaWorld explain the whale's first grab?

A SeaWorld curator says the initial grab "was not an act of aggression" and that the whale was not "a crazed animal." The company's position is that the behavior was not an attack.

Why does the scene end with Shamu dolls and ticket sales?

It links the safe image to money: if the animals seem like "cuddly teddy bears," the company sells more dolls and gate tickets, so it keeps repeating that story.

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