By Vanessa Ciccotosto, Stéphanie Théberge and Chloe Demers
THE ART OF PERSUASION
In this blog, we will
explore how documentary filmmaker, Michael Moore, use rhetoric, the art of
convincing people through films and speech, to convey his thoughts about the
United States. We will be examining Bowling
for Columbine (2002), as viewed in class which informs the viewers about
the pros and cons of gun control, and Where
to Invade Next (2015) which speaks about
ways to improve the United States social problems. By watching these two
movies, we will explore how Moore employs logos, pathos and ethos in his films
to convey his arguments.
PROS AND CONS OF GUN CONTROL
Bowling for Columbine (2002):
During the week that we watched Bowling for Columbine, a 119 minute movie released October 11, 2002 in the United States, we compared differences between Canada and the USA concerning gun laws. Canada is a nation of hunters and has tones of guns but somehow, they aren't as violent as the Americans, since the American death toll is at the rise of 11,127 and keeps rising. However, Canada's death toll is only 165, a much lower number compared to the US. Also, after watching the movie, we learned how certain celebrities are being blamed for brainwashing Eric and Dylan, into committing the massacre. Here is a link that compares USA death tolls to other nations:
Like we saw in class, Bowling for Columbine brings up many issues concerning gun control such as the causes of the Columbine High School massacre, on April 20th, 1999. Michael Moore chose this particular title for the movie, because, before the massacre, it was assumed that the only class Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold showed up to was their morning bowling class. Throughout the movie, Michael Moore interviews many people concerning the United States violent crime rate and the Columbine massacre such as Matt Stone, Marilyn Manson, Charlton Heston, etc. There were many issues Moore showcased in the movie such as getting free gun by opening a bank account in Michigan, the weapons of mass destruction that are made at Lockheed Martin in Littleton, the comparison between Canadas and the USA crime rates, the cartoon “A Brief History of the United States of America, the case involving the refund of bullets from Kmart etc. However, the main key issues that were shown in the film were one of the most controversial, when Moore touched base on the social welfare case, when the little boy accidentally brought a hand gun to school to show his friends and by mistake he pulled the trigger and shot his six year old little girl classmate. A lot of people were saying that it is because he is from a lower class that his mom wasn't really home all the time to actually be in his life, it was just a lot of speculation on what really triggered the little boy to kill his classmate. Comparing Canada to the United States; but the main question that Moore as questioned is to why Canada is not a violent country with the amount of guns they actually have, America have a the right to bear arms and certain states have a law that is called the "Open gun law" with enables people to walk around with their guns around in public.
Another main key issue is when Moore meets with Charlton Heston former NRA and Moore asks him the same question "why is Canada not as violent as to United states". Mr Heston couldn't really answer his question as to why Canada isn't violent like America, in many cases Moore will ask Mr Heston questions as to why certain things are the way they are, Mr. Heston wouldn't really give any answer to anything; towards the very end. When Moore brought up the death of the little six year old girl, we can see that he was becoming overwhelmed with the questions he was being asked and he just gets up and walks away, later throughout the scene we see Moore placing the picture of the little girl on the wall for Mr Heston to see. We have provided a link that encloses information timeline based on school shootings that happened in the USA and across the globe:
There
are three key concepts that are displayed through this film, Logos, Ethos and
Pathos.
Ethos: Ethos is term used
for believing something because of one's credibility, and Moore uses Ethos in
his film where he is seen speaking to people who really seem to know a lot
about guns, and to why American homes are armed. Moore has shown footages of
people shooting on shooting rages and one scene where he features people on a
military camp shooting some rounds. Moore interviews these people (the ones who
are shown on ranges and on camp)who support the argument on guns, that the
Government needs to do something about the gun control issues before it gets
out of hands and gets worse.
Pathos:
Pathos is generally used for appealing to emotions that alter the viewers
judgment. Moore tends to play with the viewers emotion throughout the film,
Moore knows how to play with emotions very well. By viewing funny scenes and
showing factual stuff to make the viewers smile for a little bit, then he
shifts mood and shows something very emotional like viewing actual security
camera footage of the Columbine shooting. Also by viewing interviews by victims
of the massacre, the one teacher that witnessed a little boy who shot and killed
a six year old girl in class, and by showing recordings of dispatching calls to
police on the day of the shooting at Columbine. That tends to play with the
viewers judgment on certain situation in the film.
LET THE INVASION BEGIN!
Where to Invade Next (2015):
On December 23rd, 2015, director Michael Moore released his documentary film titled Where to Invade Next. The film spans 2 hours and follows Moore as he travels through various countries, in order to determine how the United States can improve their country based on the living habits of other nations.
Throughout the movie, Moore “invades” these countries by “stealing” some of their ideas regarding social issues, so that he can bring them back to the US and fix their problems. When he finds that one of these ideas is worth “stealing”, he plants an American flag, claiming that he’s bringing this idea back to the United States.
The “invasion” begins in Italy, when Michael Moore decides to interview a young couple and learns that unlike Americans, Italians have 8 weeks of paid vacation each year and 5 months of paid maternity leave, whereas the US has none. To support this information, he interviews Claudio Dominicali, the CEO of Ducati, the motorcycle company, and learns that his workers need this time off to let out some stress, so that when they get back to work, they are relaxed and productive. After Italy, Moore visits a small village in Normandy, France and compares their cafeteria school lunches versus the American school lunches. There he learns that even schools in the poorest districts of France have a balanced meal composed of 4 courses, unlike cafeteria food in the United States that don’t always use the healthiest and freshest foods to feed their students.
The next stop is Finland, where Moore interviews the Finnish Minister of Education, Krista Kiuru to find out their secret to why they have the smartest students in the world. Unlike schools in the United States, Finland offers almost no homework to their student and there are no standardized tests, because they want their students to have time to be a kid and socialize and play with their friends and family. All schools in the country offer the same education so there is no need for elite private schools or standardized tests.
Moore goes on to invade, Slovenia, one of the countries who offers free tuition, Germany, a country where workers have labor rights and work life balance, and finally Portugal, where there is no death penalty and drugs are legal until he finally arrives in Norway. In Norway, he learns that their prisons are treated more humanely compared to those in the US, because inmates are offered their own room, their own bathroom, materials provided for hobbies and books. The guards have no guns, because the inmates respect them enough that they don’t need them. By interviewing the warden, Tom Eberhardt, at the Bastoy Prison, he learns that Norwegian prisons are only meant to take away their prisoners freedom and help them get back to society as a changed person.
Moore makes two more stops in Tunisia and Iceland, before ending his journey at the Berlin wall with his old friend, Rod. He goes over the things he’s learned throughout his journey and realises that most of the ideas he “stole” from the countries he visited were in fact American ideas, like the idea of no cruel or unusual punishment, the idea to eliminate death penalty and even the idea of no homework.
Just like in Bowling for Columbine, Michael Moore uses the same rhetoric concepts in Where to Invade Next to convince the audience into believing his views presented in the documentary. He even uses the three form of rhetoric address such as logos, ethos and pathos to persuade his audience. For logos, he provides statistics and facts about the countries he visits. For example, schools in Finland are ranked highest on the Global Education Rank at #1, unlike the US that is ranked 29th. Also, American prisons treat their inmates in such an inhumane way that nearly 80% of prisoners are rearrested within 5 years whereas only 20% of prisoners are rearrested in Norway. For ethos, he interviews many credible people, because of their high social position. In fact, Moore interviews the CEO of Ducati to learn why he offers 8 weeks paid vacation and paid maternity leave, as well as interviewing the warden of the Bastoy prison in Norway,Tom Eberhardt, to ask him how he treats his inmates and why he does it in such a humane way compared to the US. As for pathos, he plays with the audience's emotions to make us laugh of feel sad during some scenes of the documentary. For example, he would play comedic music during striking videos of American inmates being abused by their guards in order for them to cooperate. Also, he shows us images of American cafeteria meals compared to French cafeteria to see how unappetizing the American food look next to the French food. Using these three forms of address allows him to persuade his viewers into believing his point of view mentioned throughout the documentary, which is, making the US better by “stealing” some ideas from various countries.
In the link below, you will find additional information on the movie Where to Invade Next and learn about the “Hammer and Chisel Award”, which essentially is an award given to individuals that have made America a better place.
CAN FEAR SAVE SOCIETY?
Both of the Michael Moore documentaries presented teach the audience about our modern day fears. The news and media illustrate our faults but does not provide ways to improve or change in a positive way. This instills fear in citizens which only leads to more violence and distrust between each other. These documentaries display our faults and how other countries and nations have fixed them. For instance, Bowling for Columbine perfectly depicts gun violence in America and how easy it is to buy, trade and own guns and ammunition there. Due to this access to firearms, nearly the entire American population owns guns in fear that they are not properly equipped to defend themselves, despite there not being any alarming threats. In Where to Invade Next, Moore exhibits how different countries have solved most of America’s social problems. This is shown through free education in Slovenia, legalization of drugs to stop crime in Portugal and the success of the women’s rights movement in Iceland. In both documentaries real life problems, gun violence and social issues, are presented and offered solutions. This allows the audience to reflect on how simple life and society could be if we work for basic rights and freedoms. In the link below, the Elephant Journal has eloquently illustrated 25 acts that can make our world a better and more positive place.
As citizens of the world, we have the desire to improve our ways of living by promoting peace, freedom and human rights. While watching these documentaries we see both the evil, scared side of society which lives in fear and negativity, and we see the happy, contemporary side of society which lives in relative peace and comfort. Seeing these two sides juxtaposing one another, challenges our way of perceiving the world around us. Many people do not realize that they live in a scared society; this makes it difficult to witness other countries’ achievements and trends. However, some people do see that change has to be made to better ourselves, our community, our society and our world. When those people, those who want change, watch these films, particularly Where to Invade Next, they see the great achievements of these countries that knew change had to be done and followed through with their plan to improve.
The world needs to improve, that is blatantly obvious. Problems such as world hunger, war, injustice against minorities, sexism, racism, climate change and rape culture are just a few issues with our world. I am angered to see the disrespect we show not only the planet on which we live but the people we live among. Our society has set up unrealistic standards for its citizens. Women must be thin, dress well, present themselves in a non threatening way and pretend to be happy while torturing themselves. Meanwhile men must act macho, preferably tall, muscular and should not respect women or fellow men. Not only is this destructive to the people currently living in this world but also to our future generations. How will they feel when they cannot match up to the impossible standards made decades ago? We need to change by fighting these injustices that we face everyday. Recycle, inspire, protest and stand up for a better world so the next generations do not have to suffer the way we have. From the economy to GMOs and climate change, Sarah Collins, of the Huffington Post, writes about these worldly concerns in the link below.
The world needs to improve, that is blatantly obvious. Problems such as world hunger, war, injustice against minorities, sexism, racism, climate change and rape culture are just a few issues with our world. I am angered to see the disrespect we show not only the planet on which we live but the people we live among. Our society has set up unrealistic standards for its citizens. Women must be thin, dress well, present themselves in a non threatening way and pretend to be happy while torturing themselves. Meanwhile men must act macho, preferably tall, muscular and should not respect women or fellow men. Not only is this destructive to the people currently living in this world but also to our future generations. How will they feel when they cannot match up to the impossible standards made decades ago? We need to change by fighting these injustices that we face everyday. Recycle, inspire, protest and stand up for a better world so the next generations do not have to suffer the way we have. From the economy to GMOs and climate change, Sarah Collins, of the Huffington Post, writes about these worldly concerns in the link below.
Michael Moore has a particular way of making his films. His documentaries have both, very stimulating rhetoric that allows the audience to be convinced of what he says, as well as humour. He explores the realms of rhetoric and plays with logos, ethos and pathos to full enthrall his audience. Without using reasoning, credibly and emotion, his audience would not likely listen to his points and what he wants the world to learn. He also uses his quick wit to attract the audience’s attention even further. The viewers want to see how Moore can make fools out of the people he interviews. His sarcastic tone and quirky remarks grasp the spectators attention so that he can lay down facts and important information that needs to be heard and understood so that change can come to the world.
PERSUADED AND INSPIRED
Michael Moores use of rhetoric managed to
successfully convince his audience that change needs to be made in the United
States if they want to live in a peaceful, happy world. Through both, Bowling for Columbine and Where to Invade Next, Moore was able to
present his arguments in a way that allowed us to see that that these problems
don’t exist in other countries, because they have found simple solutions to
them. All in all, Moores
documentaries manages to persuade his viewers into believing that things need
to be changed for the better concerning gun control and
social problems in the US.
