This blog post focuses on the documentary film Where to Invade Next which features Michael Moore traveling to different countries. Below, I have provided a summary and a rhetorical analysis of the film. I will explain what Michael Moore learned from the various countries he visited and how ethos, logos, pathos, telos, and kairos are established. In the documentary Where to Invade Next, Michael Moore interviews people of all different countries in order to gain insight on how their societies work and compare them to America’s government system. First, Michael traveled to Italy to learn about the working benefits their citizens receive. He learned that Italians usually get eight weeks of paid vacation every year and women get five months of paid maternity leave. Similarly, Germany has only a thirty-six-hour work week and once their shift is over, they are not allowed to do anything work related. Their goal is to create less stress, which actually allows them to be more productive. In France, Michael learned that all schools, no matter how poor, get gourmet lunches everyday and get an hour to eat. Michael visited Finland where he discovered their secret to being the best country in regards to education. There, the children go to school for only four hours a day and have little-to-no homework. In addition, the teachers’ priority is the children’s happiness. In Slovenia, college tuition is free and some Americans even go there for education because tuition here is astronomically high. Crime is also handled much differently in other countries. In Portugal, there are no laws against drugs and no one is arrested for using them. When Michael went to Norway, he visited some of the prisons where he saw that the conditions were much different than the ones in our country. The prisoners were free to roam around the building and they each had access to a tv, books, a library, a pantry, and many other luxuries. In Tunisia and Iceland, women are equal to men and have more opportunities to advance in society. At the end of the film, Michael shared what he learned while he was at the Berlin Wall. He said that he was optimistic that America can overcome impossible obstacles in a short amount of time, just like how the Berlin Wall eventually fell. Many of the ideas the other countries had were all inspired by America’s ideas. We may have strayed away from some of them, but Michael suggests that we search our “lost and found” to further develop the way our society functions and how we treat people. How does Michael Moore establish ethos? In the film, Michael Moore does not establish ethos well when he is interviewing people from around the world about their lifestyle. The majority of the film is him asking questions to other people and then they give their answer. However, it is clear that Michael Moore has Democratic beliefs that Republicans would not agree with. For example, in Italy welfare is a “good word.” Michael replies that welfare is a “bad word” in America which implies that Republicans do not like increased taxes to provide welfare for the government. His questions to the people he is interviewing were focused largely on Democratic views that would support their political arguments, rather than asking questions that would support both parties. He established some ethos by letting other people talk throughout the film, however, Michael Moore himself is very biased. How does Michael Moore use logos? Logos is used in the film when Michael presents factual information to the audience. He uses the statistics of other countries and compares them to America. For example, he compares the tax rates of France and America. Michael is showing that even though France’s taxes are slightly higher, they include a lot more benefits unlike America. Another example is when Michael addressed the rate of crime after someone is released from prison. In America, 80% criminals usually end up back in prison within five years. However, in Norway, only 20% of criminals go back to prison. Michael’s use of logos thoroughly informs the audience of factual information. How does Michael Moore appeal to pathos? Michael appeals to pathos many times throughout the film by using video recordings taken during difficult times American history. For example, when the film shows the Norway prisons, American clips of police brutality and mistreatment of prisoners were shown. When the audience sees this, they most likely develop an emotional response to these videos. This emotion helps the viewers formulate an opinion about how governments should operate in addition to ethos and logos. What is Michael Moore's telos? Michael Moore’s telos is to discover the resources and successful ideas that other countries have and bring them back to America. His goal is to show the audience that we do not need an army to take away resources from other countries, but rather, we need to look for ways we can improve as a society in a peaceful manner. What is the kairos of this film? The kairos of this film is in modern time where a lot of changes are happening in America. The documentary was released in 2016 which is the year when the presidential election was approaching. The year before that, gay marriage became legal and now more and more states are legalizing marijuana. The timing of this film is very significant to its impact. Because so many changes are occurring, Michael Moore wants people to realize that it is possible to make more changes to fix the many problems we have in our country. He knew that now is the time to take action on new ideas before the issues in America become worse.
2 Comments
candace stoltzfus
3/31/2018 11:44:47 am
I thought you did an excellent job with summarizing the film. And I agree with your rhetorical analysis, and enjoyed your perspective on the film.
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rosita carbajal
3/31/2018 06:38:48 pm
I also thought you did a great job summarizing the film.
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Molly ZahnerI will use this blog to post my informal writing assignments for my English Composition I class. Archives
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