An Inconvenient Truth Ethos Pathos Logos

A CONVIENIENT LIE

The award-winning documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, directed by Davis Guggenheim in 2006, sets out to make the world think differently about global warming. Al Gore is a good man with bad intentions to tell the world what they are doing wrong. Twisting and manipulating his web of lies to lead society to believe that they are causing the earths fatality. Gore manipulates the persuasive device to distort the viewers thoughts towards the effects that global warning threats have on earth. Ethos, pathos and logos are used to captivate and make the film more intriguing to ensure the viewers take on the information that Gore wants them to think about. He only ever feeds the audience what he wants them to know, all for the sake of making his “story” seem like a hard-hitting exposé.

The technique of ethos is overused by Gore in an attempt to give himself more credibility as he talks about the impending disaster of global warming. The small details like how he was dressed gave Gore authority, integrity and power making the viewers believe the concepts he is

trying to get across. Gore brought up, many times, how he was a candidate in the 2000 presidential election against George Bush, mentioning that he was affirmed as the winner before the final count, then in the later weeks George Bush won. With Gore almost winning the presidential election builds up the admiration that his audience hold to him. Being a member of congress for a number years and vice president, has left him with experience in positions of power and authority to direct the public on issues such as global warming and what is necessary to prevent the current issues from progressing.

In An Inconvenient Truth, Gore feeds off his audience’s fear with the simple yet effective technique of Pathos. Gore uses this to try and build sympathy in his audience, as he tells the story of a near-fatal car accident with his son and the death of his sister, Nancy, from lung cancer. These sensitive subjects cause the audience to feel sympathetic towards Gore and therefore listen closer to what he says. Gore emphasizes pathos when bringing up natural disasters and in particular the 2005 tragedy of hurricane Katrina. Devastated and distraught. Gore shows images of people with destroyed homes and towns as a result of hurricane Katrina. To emphasize this melancholy feeling, soft music plays in the background to play on your emotions. In his next breath, Gore directs and blames these tragic events on the audience as he rants how it was caused by global warming. The global warming which was apparently society’s fault. The emotional effects caused by these harsh and distressing images, along with the depressing music, lures the audience into the trap which Gore has set up. The audience’s ethics were being challenged by making them feel as though they need to help the people and help him. Gore uses human emotions to force his opinion upon the viewers about this so called “issue”. Other ways pathos is shown is through the oversized charts, enlarging how big people think the problem truly is.

Lastly, Gore uses logos to force his views through exaggerated graphs.

Gore uses many expert opinions, or as he would say, 'friends' to support his case. The use of large, colorful and interactive charts and slides contribute to making him appear as a learned man with a lot of knowledge on the issue. Gore 'proves' that global warming is real by showing how natural disasters worldwide have hit all-time records in terms of size and frequency. The rise in global temperatures is one of the many topics that Gore brings up, blaming his audience the planet is heating up because of them. He states that the 2003 heat wave in Europe which killed approximately 35,000 people, was the hottest day in on record in India in the same year at a scorching 50 degrees Celsius, killing 1400 people. The logos used throughout the documentary seems almost reasonable and leads the audience into believing Gore’s point of

view.

Gore forces his view upon his audience with the use of pathos, ethos and logos, to strengthen his case of global warming. The effort that was put into camera angles, colors, shots and contrast are additions that the director has added to enhance Gore’s lies and make them believable. An Inconvenient Truth was everything bar that, but instead just a convenient lie which made him millions. As Al Gore once said, ‘When you have the facts on your side, argue the facts. When you have the law on your side, argue the law. When you have neither, holler.’ So that’s he exactly what he did… He hollered.