Paper #1 [Rhetorical Analysis Assignment (1)] (4 full pp. double-spaced)
Sicko
Americans die because of United States Health Care? Michael Moore is the director of the movie “SICKO”, in which he claims that the United States should adopt universal health care. Michael Moore gets his point across by using ethos, logos, and pathos. Michael Moore compares and contrast, questions American’s morals, and gives interviews to get the viewer to agree with the argument. Michael Moore does a great job getting peoples attention, but also could of used other techniques to make his point stronger.
Pathos is Michael Moore’s main way of getting peoples attention. Within the first couple scenes of the movie Michael 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. This makes the viewer express sympathy for the people effected by health insurance companies. After watching five minutes of the film, Michael Moore had my attention and I was ready to take his side of the argument. Pathos is Michael Moore’s main technique to get his argument across. Throughout the movie tragic family stories are told to make the viewer feel the pain brought on by health insurance companies. A women who works for a hospital husband gets denied bone marrow transplant because its 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. Michael Moore is very “sick” to have such a scene, but it really gets the point across that health care in the United States is irrational. The viewers grow with hatred towards the insurance companies after his 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 Michael 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.
Michael Moore uses a few statistics to reveal how bad America’s health care is. “Fifty million Americans do not have health insurance”(SICKO). This is one of the first things stated in the movie. Right of the bat, Michael Moore gives a 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). Michael 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. Michael Moore uses some great examples to compare to the United States. Most of the film was of Michael 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? Michael Moore believes that the United States is immoral. Michael 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? According to Aneki the United States is the 8th richest country in the world based on Gross Domestic Product(Aneki.com). Why do Americans have to suffer? The Americans suffer because the government and the health companies are greedy. In the movie the Michael Moore gives examples throughout the movie that show the health companies will do anything to keep their money. Michael 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.
The whole film consists of Michael Moore interviewing others to prove a point. This is a great way to get his point across because they give him the logos, ethos, and pathos of the argument. 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, Michael Moore does a great job in getting to the viewer by showing the effects health care has on certain individuals and certain countries. When Michael Moore is interviewing an American about health care, the person is extremely sad and went through some horrible things because of health care. When Michael 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 Michael needed to include suffering individuals to prove his point.
Michael Moore uses some great techniques throughout the movie, but he could have used some other techniques. In the film, Michael Moore interviews a wealthy family to show that they to show that they are living very well under Britain’s health care. Obviously a wealthy family is going to be living a very good life, but what about people in more of the middle class. People in the middle class live comfortably, but can they handle the effects of higher taxes? MIchael Moore needed to show that people who are not rich can also live very well lives with socialized health care.
In conclusion, I believe Michael Moore does a very good job connecting to the viewers. His use of pathos was very effective in his argument. After watching michael Moore’s film, he made me realize that America is pretty screwed up. I believe Michael Moore wins the argument by comparing and contrasting countries, questioning America’s morals, and conducting interviews. Michael Moore’s techniques made it an easy decision to take his side of the argument. I believe the United States should have socialized health care.
Works Cited
SiCKO. Michael Moore.Lionsgate,The Weinstein Company,TF1 International,RAI Cinema,Svensk Filmindustri (SF),The Weinstein Company,Optimum Releasing,The Weinstein Company,Senator Filmverleih,Roadshow Films Pty Ltd,Filmcompagniet,Discovery Distribution (Eastern Europe),Sponge,Alfa Films. June 22, 2007.Film.
World Rankings and Records. Web. 01 Nov. 2009. <