Michael Moore's Use Of Ethos

Americans aren't benefiting from United States Health Care? Michael Moore is the director of the film “SICKO”, where he talks about how the United States should adopt universal health care. Moore chooses to gets his point across by using pathos to get people to pay attention to what he's saying . He lastly uses ethos by providing examples of how people didn't like working for the U.S health care system because it was unethical. He uses logos to gives us facts about the U.S. health care system so we know its legit . He also compares and contrast Americas health care system to other more socialized health care systems that are dog much better than us.
Pathos was Moore’s most used way of getting peoples attention about the U.S health care system. Within the first couple scenes of the film Moore had shown a man sewing his own knee, a man who had to decide which finger he wanted to pay for to get fixed, and a 79 year old man still working to pay for his prescriptions all because the insurance wouldn't cover it or they didn't have it all all. This gives the viewer am insight to those who are affected by the Healy care system. We start to

feel sympathy for the people effected by health insurance companies. Throughout the movie we see other tragic family stories are told to make the viewer feel the pain brought on by health insurance companies but also some connection because it could happen to us. For example a women who worked for a hospital had her husband gets denied bone marrow transplant because the insurance deemed in as not a mandatory surgery. A few weeks later he dies. This is a great use of pathos because the viewer connects with the wife in the interview and becomes attached and very sympathetic for her. Another great example in the movie would be when the mother is being interviewed on the playground. This is a very emotional scene because she has lost her daughter all because the insurance she had was for only specific hospitals so the hospital refused to treat her because they wouldn't take the insurance. This was chosen to make the viewers grow full of hatred towards the insurance companies after this death.
During the film many interviews take place. Some of the people in the interviews are people who worked for these treacherous health insurance companies. These people have great background on their companies and can be used as the ethos of the argument. The people being interviewed describe and explain how the health insurance company they work for works. The information given by these people is very reliable because of their positions and rank in their jobs. These people talk about how bad the companies they work for are, but most of them still work for those companies. One good example Moore used was when he interviewed the man who’s job is to find some kind of history that will get them denied from receiving help. The man quit because of the horrible things the man has done. This example was much better because it shows that the man is against the company and not just complaining. The film consists of Moore interviewing others going around the world to look at other healthcare systems and how it helps there people out for free but America’s does not just to prove a point. Without the interviews Michael Moore would lack tremendously in pathos. There would be nothing but some facts and footage in the movie, which would not help him win his argument. With the interviews, Moore want to get to the viewer by showing the effects health care has on certain individuals and certain countries. When Moore is interviewing an American about health care, the person is extremely sad and went through some horrible things because of health care. When Moore interviews someone from Canada or Britain about health care, the person is very happy and satisfied and has no health problems. Obviously all Americans are not suffering, but Moore needed to include suffering individuals to get to his point. In the film Moore also interviews a wealthy family to show that they to show that they are living very well under Britain’s health care.
Moore uses a few statistics to reveal how how unhelpful our American health care is.

“Fifty million Americans do not have health insurance”(SICKO). This is one of the first things stated in the movie. Right from the start Moore gives us this statistic that shows that there must be something wrong with America’s health care. The use of statistics by Michael Moore is very good because the movie is not just a bunch of stats, but just a few stats that prove the point. Another statistic that I thought was very good was “health care programs spent over 100 million dollars to beat Hilary and her view of socialized health care”(SICKO). This is a very good quote because it shows that health companies will do anything to keep their ways (taking money from the people). Moore’s use of statistics provides the logos of the

argument.
Throughout the movie America is compared to other countries. You would wonder why would anyone want to be compared to America? America is the land of the free. Moore uses some great examples to compare to the United States. Most of the film was of Moore comparing different countries to the United States. A great example used was when the 9-11 volunteers traveled to Guantanamo Bay. The volunteers can not get health care in America because it is so expensive, but in Cuba; the evil country; all of their health care is free of charge sand prescriptions are cheeper. A prescription in America cost $120, but in Cuba cost 5 cents.
Is America a morally bad country? Moore believes that the United States is immoral. Moore gives a few examples to make the United States seem immoral. One question that was throughout the film: why is America so rich, but treat the people so poor? Why do Americans have to suffer? The Americans suffer because the government and the health companies are greedy. He gives examples throughout the movie that show the health companies will do anything to keep their money. Moore interviews a women whose job is to determine if a certain individual can receive health care. She said the people who decline the most people end up getting promoted. This is a great example because it shows that health companies give their workers motives to decline people.
In conclusion, Moore gets his point across by using pathos to get people to pay attention to, he provided examples of how people didn't like working for the U.S health care system he also used logos to gives us the facts about the U.S. health care system, lastly he compared and contrasted the Americas health care system to other socialized health care systems.Moore’s techniques made his argument credible, believable, and connectable.