Documentary Analysis: One Of Us

One of Us Documentary Analysis The documentary One of Us, directed by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, is a film that details three main characters and their journey away from the Hasidic community in Brooklyn, New York. The film was released on Netflix this year in an effort to reach a large audience of American viewers. The film sets out to illustrate the dark side of the Hasidic community in order to encourage the audience to take action in protecting and understanding ex-Hasidic Jews in America. Ewing and Grady use pathos a great deal throughout this film to make the audience feel an emotional attachment to Etty, Luzer, and Ari. Then in turn, they use the emotional attachments to make the audience frustrated with the Hasidic community.

Etty, Luzer, and Ari all utilize ethos through their screen time because all the stories they tell come from personal experience in the Hasidic community. Chani also brings professional ethos because her organization Footsteps deals with ex-Hasidics and their experiences on a regular basis. By establishing these trustworthy sources on information, it is easier for the audience to believe that the negative aspects of Hasidism are prevalent. Furthermore, many of the same personal stories that instigate emotional responses throughout the film also bring in an element of logo. For example; there is a recurring theme of “lawlessness” in the Hasidic community. Etty speaks about how abuse is covered up because “the law doesn’t come in here;” Ari tells the heartbreaking story of his childhood rapist that was never convicted despite multiple witnesses; and Chani details how the community finds loophole after loophole in the law in order to maintain control and power over the individuals under their domain. Logically, the audience understands these actions to be morally and lawfully wrong. It effectively sets in place the audience’s negative opinions about the Hasidic