3 - The Power of Fear

by Jacob, Merna and Juliana

Fight or Flight?

Fear is a strong, uncontrollable, unpleasant emotion caused by actual or perceived danger or threat. Lately, fear has become a value in our daily life. Our life, that should be full of joy and peace, is actually full of threat, terror, and fear. We tend to fear anything and everything these days. We fear death, losing a job, or even losing a beloved one but, what we fear the most is fear itself. When we were young, our parents used to scare us so we would listen to what they have to say. They would tell you “hey don’t do this. Don’t get yourself into trouble, respect the rules” and if we didn’t listen we were punished. They were thinking that they were protecting us, but actually they were feeding us with fear so we would learn how to deal with real life. In reality, fear is part of your circulatory system.  So your heart feels it, your brain understands it, your lungs breathe it and your body can’t live without it. Thus, fear is controlling your thoughts and blinding your vision, it becomes easy to deceive and manipulate you. In Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11 we see good examples of how fear is used to dominate and impose authority over innocent people just for the benefit of the elite.

Michael Moore has been accused of inciting fear in Americans with his documentaries. His outspoken dislike for American politics and culture have made him notorious filmmaker and his bias is also apparent on his website.

Michael Moore's Website

 

 

Bowling for Columbine

 (Michael Moore, 2002, USA, 120 min)

The film “Bowling for Columbine” is an American documentary written, directed and narrated by Michael Moore. He investigates the Columbine High School Massacre on April 20^th 1999 and relates the cause of it to the history of violence in the United States and the maltreatment of firearms. He shows that obtaining a gun and ammunition is relatively easy. For example, a bank gives free guns to customers who open a bank account with their branch. He also shows how easy it is to walk into K-Mart and buy all the ammunition one could possibly imagine. He uses statistics and interviews many people such as Charlton Heston, former president of the National Rifle Association, a few Canadian teenagers in a Taco Bell parking lot and two students from the Columbine shooting to get public opinions on firearms and their relevance in society. He even interviews singer-songwriter Marilyn Manson, suspected “cause of the Columbine shooting” to get his point of view. Furthermore, he uses his signature sense of angry humor to persuade the audience and present his stand on the matter. 

  

Upon viewing of the documentary film “Bowling for Columbine”, the main issue raised by Michael Moore is that the level of gun control in the United States is out of hand, and that you cannot place firearms in the hands of civilians that are scared because they will use them recklessly. For example, Michael Moore interviewed a blind man and he said he felt most comfortable with a rifle in his hands. Another example is throughout the entire animated clip of the U.S.’s history, the character narrating the animation spoke about how the “white man” was scared, which is why they had wars and enslaved African Americans.  

However, Michael Moore’s way of presenting the documentary was somewhat biased. He only showed the audience what they wanted to see, that owning guns are dangerous and it creates problems rather then solutions for the population of America. A good example of this is when he interviewed Charlton Heston. Moore went through many questions with Heston, and one of his answers was completely outrageous. The question asked was “Why has the U.S. ended up as the country with the highest number of gun-related killings on earth?” and Heston’s response went something along the lines that the United States is very multicultural and it has to do with the mixed ethnicity (black people). This answer is completely ridiculous because Canada is just as multicultural as the U.S. but is much more peaceful. 

The weekly topic this week was Rhetoric. Rhetoric is the art of organizing a discourse in order to express oneself, to convince or to persuade people. In our class discussion, we spoke about the three forms or rhetoric, Logos, Ethos and Pathos. Logos is the reasoning to construct an argument. Michael Moore presented a few numbers and facts in his documentary but could have added a little more to prove his point. Ethos is believing someone because of their credibility, or of their social position. The director had some really justifiable arguments but at the same time, they were biased. For example, to prove to the audience that many people possessed a firearm in the United States, he interviewed the owner of a shooting range. Finally, Pathos is appealing to our emotions to alter the viewer’s judgment. Michael Moore did a splendid job of this, especially with one of the scenes close to the end. Right after he interviews the former president of the NRA, he places a picture of the six year old girl shot by another six year old, at the end of Charlton Heston’s driveway to signify that having a gun rally in the same town, several days after her death was not okay. These concepts apply directly to the film because that is all the director was doing. He was trying to persuade his audience into believing guns cause problems rather than create solutions.

Fahrenheit 9/11

(Michael Moore, 2004, USA, 122 min)

The film "Fahrenheit 9/11" by Michael Moore criticizes the Bush administration and its reasons for invading Iraq. Throughout the film Michael Moore emphasizes the fear that Bush used to fuel the ill will of American citizens toward Iraq.  Moore uses the film to expose what he sees as the fear propaganda that the Bush administration spread with lies and exaggerations about the role Iraq played in the September 11, 2001 tragedy at the World Trade Center in New York City. Micheal Moore uses a voice over narrative to give the audience his perspective on the events that lead up to and followed after 9/11. The film unfolds with Moore stringing together interviews with both high-ranking individuals in government and everyday citizens, as well, he adds a variety of facts relating to significant dates and events. All of these elements come together to tell his opinion of how and why 9/11 happened. Moore also shows footage that is meant to shock and outrage the viewer, such as that of soldiers who are seriously wounded being carried into a hospital in Iraq.

                                                         

 He uses all three rhetoric styles to make his point. He uses logos to persuade us when he includes film footage of real events and interviews with both everyday people and experts who were associated with the events. Everything he uses, however, is all to show his bias against Bush. For example, he includes video footage of President George Bush and his father George Bush senior, shaking hands with members of Osama Bin Laden's family over oil deals to suggest that the Bush family had a relationship with the Bin Laden family when it suited them. He uses ethos to portray George Bush as incompetent. For instance, he shows Bush's reaction to the news that two airplanes have flown into the Twin Towers in New York City. As Bush sits for nine minutes, Moore refers to as "a deer in headlights". Moore questions why Bush does nothing, and narrates what he thinks could be going through Bush's mind based on his inaction and the look on his face.  His narrative rhetoric  makes Bush appear to be an inept leader. 

                                                   

While he uses the ethos and logos, Moore's rhetoric address is mainly pathos; he uses scenes that appeal to alter the viewers sense of justice and need for safety, ultimately convincing the viewer that Bush is a threat to them.   For example, the film opens with darkness and the sounds of sirens and screams of 9/11 to grab our attention and heighten our emotions. Immediately, we feel the fear and terror of that event. He uses the power of the tragedy to boost American patriotism, and then he points the finger at Bush as the cause for the tragedy of 9/11 and the war that followed. 

Genres of Documentary Rhetoric

Moore's opinion is the center of the film and many people criticized him for his bias. His rhetoric pathos style is an attempt to manipulate us. His rhetoric pushes us to consider whether or not his accusations against Bush are true. Even if some parts are clearly exaggerated, we are left thinking that there must be some truth in it because the footage he uses comes from real events and he interviews credible people. Throughout, Moore's message is anti-Bush and he twists many well-known film clips to prove his view of the Bush administration. Many of the scenes and/or dialogues are edited to help him make his point. Everything was carefully chosen to show one side of the story and he only uses the answers that agreed with his perspective. 

Manipulative media 

The aim of these two documentaries is to present the psychology of American people and American society as well. By revealing the inequality lived by most of the Americans and the kind of education they receive at school, we see how Moore is trying to show how power and politics use moral beliefs and strict political education to create fear. He uses a political fear of the unknown - such as Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism - to ensure that Americans follow the plan of the government. Corey Robin, an American journalist and political theorist, says in his book “Fear: the History of Political Ideas”: “...if we deprive of these surrounding myths, if we deprive the fear aroused by 9/11 of political ballast, perhaps we will see more clearly what our assumptions have long obscured the repressive fear of elites experienced by American men and women as they go to work, learn in school, haggle with officials, and participate in the organizations that comprise our associated life. Perhaps how fear of terrorism is being used to recognize the structure of power in American society (25)”. We are humans and we easily forget. Thus, by creating an inequality within Americans, we tend to go in a long journey where only fear remains in the heart.

Documentary films present a type of art used to portray the truth according to the vision of the filmmaker. Michael Moore used rhetoric to present the idea of how governments use fear to get public support. For example, in Bowling for Columbine, Moore based his epistemology on weak ethos just to deceive and persuade the audience to convince them with his opinion. For example, he interviewed Matt Stone, an animator and screenwriter, who had nothing to do with the crime but he was useful for Moore's purposes. The main technique in this film is pathos. He manipulates our emotions so we feel pity, sadness, happiness and even feel horrified.

On the other hand, Fahrenheit 9/11 is more credible and supported with strong ethos, pathos and logos. This is because Moore interviewed credible people like congressmen and women. In addition, his arguments were supported with documents that prove his claims. For example, he proved that George Bush didn’t finish his military recruitment in the air force guard. Like Bowling for Columbine, he used his technique of appealing on people emotions to attract their attention.

After watching these movies, you realize that you shouldn’t trust the media. It would be best to keep your eyes wide open so you avoid their manipulation. The filmmakers are trying to provide us with the “truth” of a situation, an event or even of politics but that truth will always be according to their point of view and their culture and values. In our world, truth is always relative depending on how you want it to be. In 2004, after the attack on Iraq a lot of documentaries came out talking about the war of Iraq such like Control Room which was talking about how fox news was telling Americans that they were fighting terrorism and liberating the Iraqi people of a dictator, while Aljazeera was reporting to Arabs that the liberation was a disaster and was imposing American dominance over the Iraqi nation.

Control Room 

Providing a New Way to see the World

Media is a double-edged weapon; it is used to elevate the human being or to captivate and cage each one of us. It is important to be aware of what is happening around you, but it is also important to understand and negotiate.  Movies are not made to only please, but are also made to provide us with a new understanding of the world we are living in.

 

  Fear is gripping! Anthropologists have studied the fight or flight response that our ancestors needed

in order to survive. Michael Moore is showing us how that survival instinct can be used to benefit the agenda of others in his films. Ironically, he is also advancing his own agenda through his rhetoric style.  His criticisms of government and leadership have resulted in much controversy. We must be aware of his bias and reflect on the message we are given. At the same time, we must recognize that it is important to scrutinize what we are told by world governments. Julian Assange has shown us that we have much to learn about hidden agendas. He is the founder of Wikileaks which is a website that releases private documents with the goal of exposing corruption, unethical  practices, and questionable protocols by institutions around the world.

The Pathos, Ethos, and Logos of Wikileaks

                                                                         
 Picture Credits:
 http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/fear2.htm
www.stefan-rohner.net  
sylarthemaverick.blogspot.com 
 www.dailyhiit.com
www.carrickbaptist.ie