Ethos
The documentary uses several examples of both intrinsic and extrinsic ethos in order to establish the credibility of the authors, speakers, writers, and producers who put together the argument.
Intrinsic Argument
Extrinsic Argument |
The facts and examples make up the intrinsic argument. Concrete statistics and numerical data add a sense of authority and research.
The movie stated that due to the recent message in public media to exercise more, "fitness club memberships more than doubled across the U.S. between 1980 and 2000, but obesity rates also doubled in that same period." The federal government decided that pizza is a vegetable because of the tomato sauce on it. They showed CAT scans where the same parts of a brain scan of someone addicted to sugar water lit up in the same spots as another person's brain who was addiction to heroine and cocaine. In 1980, nobody had type 2 diabetes. By 2010, 57 thousand people had type 2 diabetes. For most of the documentary, I was drawn in by their facts. However one notable headturner was when Dr. Robert Lustig said that there is “really good data” that “a calorie is not a calorie." His confidence, or lack thereof, threw me off. |
Extrinsic ethos regards the credibility of the documentary, which was directed by Stephanie Soechtig. Stephanie Soechtig is the director and producer of the award-winning documentary Tapped. The documentary was supported and premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Sundance Institute encourages risk-taking storytellers to explore their stories free of commercial and political pressures. Their mission is important in establishing credibility by realizing the lack of influence from party leaders and the food industry on this documentary.
The movie showcases several speakers that were noticeably overweight. Brady Kluge, Maggie Valentine, Wesley A, and Joe Lopez were all teenagers in the movie that were called upon to speak about their experiences being overweight. The movie also had a wide variety of doctors, professors, authors, and politicians. Notable ones were Dr. David Kessler, Former FDA Commissioner; President Bill Clinton; Richard Carmona, 17th Surgeon General of the United States, and Dr. David Ludwig, Associate Professor in Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School.
The movie showcases several speakers that were noticeably overweight. Brady Kluge, Maggie Valentine, Wesley A, and Joe Lopez were all teenagers in the movie that were called upon to speak about their experiences being overweight. The movie also had a wide variety of doctors, professors, authors, and politicians. Notable ones were Dr. David Kessler, Former FDA Commissioner; President Bill Clinton; Richard Carmona, 17th Surgeon General of the United States, and Dr. David Ludwig, Associate Professor in Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School.