Ethos Pathos Logos In Super Size Me

Super Size Me

America has always been about being the biggest nation: the biggest houses, the biggest cars, biggest cities and unfortunately the biggest bodies. There is no doubt that fast food is causing major health problems for many Americans today. In his documentary, Super Size Me, released in 2004 Morgan Spurlock decides to eat only food from McDonald’s for thirty days to see how it would affect his health. Spurlock starts out healthier than the average man for his age. Throughout the film, we can see that his health gradually degenerates and reaches a critical point, before his thirty days are over. Super Size Me is very persuasive in showing the negative effect in fast food restaurants by using logos, pathos, and ethos.

To begin with, the film does a very good job at using logos to persuade the audience. The way Super Size Me was produced made it very easy to pay attention and kept the interest of the audience. For example, when Spurlock is shown eating or ordering from McDonald’s, the scene is labeled with a day number, which gives the audience an idea on how

long Spurlock has been on the diet and the medical effect it has on him. In addition, before he starts his Mc Diet, Spurlock is examined by three doctors (a Cardiologist, gastroenterologist, and a general practitioner), as well as a nutritionist and a personal trainer. He visits all three to track his health during the month his does the McDonald’s Diet. However, before his thirty days are up Spurlock’s health is worse than what anybody had expected, and he is in critical condition. At the beginning Spurlock starts with a weigh of 185 lbs and after one week he gained 10 pounds. By the end of his Mc Diet Spurlocks’ has a weight of 210 lbs. This proved to us the effect of eating too much fast food. Spurlock is also affected emotionally as well as physically, for example he is tired and moody and a couple of times he shares with us how he is feeling at the time. In this documentary many statistics are provided to prove Spurlock’s argument throughout the film. For example, the number of McDonald’s restaurants in Manhattan, New York City, to the amount of money spend yearly on advertisements. The film also uses information to advise the audience about other alternative snacks that are supposed to be healthy. For example, it discusses sides from fast food restaurants that are supposedly healthy such, as salads or yogurts parfaits. On the other hand, Spurlock explains that these alternative options are not as healthy as they said, and that there is no way to eat at a fast food restaurant and expect to eat a healthy meal. Logos was the most effective part in this documentary by making the point that eating fast food every day can cause a huge damage in our health.
In addition, Super Size Me also uses pathos to make emotional appeals as well to make many arguments throughout the film. These emotional appeals are usually intended to be disgusting scenes. For example, the disgusting part where Spurlock shows a hair in a yogurt parfait, implying that foods are not always carefully prepared. Also, Spurlock was asked if he wanted to supersize his meal on his second day of the filming. According to his established rules, he must agree to supersize his meals and eat the entire meal, without excuses. There is a part in the film where Spurlock vomits after eating a supersize meal, and this is an emotional appeal toward disgust that proves to the audience that eating a supersize meals is just too much for an average person to eat. The film also shows sugars and fat containers equivalent to the amount of those substances Spurlocks consumed in the foods he ate during the thirty day period. However, the most emotional part of the film is when Spurlock is talking to his mom about the negative blood work results he got from the doctor and how he show concern if this if going to have a permanent damage on his health.
Last but not least, credibility was present in Super Size Me by analyzing the fast food corporations point of view on the issues addressed in the film.

Spurlock explains the corporations’ way of justifying their business and even defending against allegations that their products are causing consumers medical problems. For example, Spurlock explains that the McDonalds’ Corporation stated that fast food can actually be a part of a healthy diet. Also, Spurlock interviews a representative from a corporate lobbyist organization that defends the interest of several major food and beverage corporations. Despite what he has already proven, Spurlock then challenges the corporations’ opposition to his arguments by showing the audience information that contradicts the corporations’ claims. This further strengthens Spurlocks arguments by showing that some of the oppositions arguments are not entirely

valid.
To summarize, in his documentary film, Super Size Me, Morgan Spurlock makes the argument that fast food is not only unhealthy to eat, but is also a leading cause for many Americans health problems. Spurlock also makes appeals to all three parts of rhetorical triangle in the film to make his argument stronger and more effective. He gives the audience plenty of information and statistics to logically prove his points, and uses these statistics at the most appropriate time to make his point stronger. He also appeals to the audiences’ emotions by showing how after eating a super size meal he vomits right afterward. Spurlock also establishes credibility by interviewing several different people, from ordinary people to experts, on the several problems in the film. The purpose of Morgan Spurlocks’ documentary Super Size Me is that while over consumption of fast food is a big problem, it is also easy to avoid or solve if people just take it upon themselves to eat healthier, exercise more, and be aware of the danger of eating too much fast food.