The Cove: NOT THE DOLPHINS!

The cove is a film that asserts a purpose of saving innocent dolphins from the terrible people who kill them. The film obviously plays on emotions a very great deal, and it depends on a very wide variety of emotions. It also chooses an enemy to focus on as the bad guy, which is the Japanese people who try very hard to protect their "tradition." I think the film was definitely one sided in it does not even attempt to do a "yes, but" refutation to legitimize their argument but they do definitely make a lasting impression.
The film makers are very intelligent in their choices. First of all, choosing an enemy and staking them out to be the determined bad guy. One thing known  about human nature is that people are much more united under hate for a particular focus, just as the distressed and disconnected German citizens became after they found someone to blame and to hate. Once they did the German country became one of the most nationalistic societies in all time. The film makers of the Cove chose the Japanese men to be their target. They only showed these Japanese men yelling, pushing, and (what sounded like) threatening. This obviously made the viewer assume they are violent and pushy. Then when the film makers decided to show that one poor dolphin trying it's hardest to escape the treacherous violence of those evil Japanese men. This is definitely effective because our inherently empathetic emotions take place without our choosing for them to, so it's almost like we have no choice in feeling for these beautiful animals. This is very strategic, but as I said before they do not even attempt a "yes, but" refutation. It makes the movie seem almost narrow minded, but sometimes if the emotion that is pulled is stronger, the average viewer may not see this.
I think a possible "yes, but" refutation could have possibly been making the fact that this slaughter is, whether or not it is brutal and cruel, a tradition that has been part of their culture for many years. In America we slaughter cows, baby cows, chickens and pigs in horrid and absolutely disgusting ways yet we don't seem to be as moved about this as the killing of dolphins. My personal opinion aside, I believe this is a little hypocritical of us as a nation. For the but aspect of the "yes, but" refutation they could assert  how even though it is a longstanding tradition, it is an unenlightened and medieval  practice much like public beheading of criminals and stoning. I think if they used this type of argument they could have been seen as a little more legitimate and open.
My personal opinion after watching the film was definitely affected by the emotional aspect. Because dolphins are so much more intelligent than I ever knew it does seem really horrible that they are being needlessly slaughtered. While the arguments they made were one sided they were very, very thorough on that side. Their argument about the mercury  was very, very convincing because it avoids the emotional attachment to tradition and culture and simply states that the sale of dolphin meat is dangerous to human health which is playing on the stronger empathy we have for other people, rather than the mild empathy we feel for a creature that is not so close to us. So while it was slightly one sided I believe that was the ONLY real downside to their argument.