Logos, Ethos and Pathos in The Documentary Supersize Me

Supersize me is a 2004 American documentary film directed and starred by Morgan Spurlock. Spurlock’s film follows a 30 day period from February 1 to March 2 where he only ate McDonald’s food 3 times a day. Spurlock ate every item listed on the McDonald’s menu at least once. Spurlock uses a strategy presented through the use of ethos, pathos, and logos appeals by presenting a concise statement that fast-food really does damage to your body. Spurlock being the filmmaker, producer, and screenwriter was his attempt to show America his physical and psychological well-being with the influence of the fast food industry.

Spurlock uses his own credibility with his ethos approach by convincing mainly adult viewers how much damage was caused to him by consuming all this fast-food. Ethos is the community sense of meeting and group identity. Ethos shows the importance of what you are talking about and gives the author credibility. In this documentary, it was stated that 1 in every 4 Americans visit a fast food restaurant and in 1972, America spent 3 billion dollars a year on fast food. In today’s society studies show that we spend more than 110 billion dollars a year. These stats were provided from Spurlock and show that the producers of the documentary know what they are talking about. Supersize Me provides viewers with a sense of meeting and group identity letting them know they aren’t alone. Almost all of the facts given relate to a large percentage of Americans. Spurlock allows over weight, fast-food consumer to feel connected with one another giving them a “group” identity. Without the facts and statistics given that validity the argument behind fast-food it would be hard for people to believe that any of Spurlock’s findings were valid.

Another approach used by Spurlock was his Pathos appeal to the audience’s emotions. Spurlock did an exceptional job by vomiting right after he ate McDonald’s, calling his mom informing her that his liver is currently being destroyed from the food he was consuming. These two examples really helped to convince the audience of the argument he was portraying. Another example of a Pathos approach made by Spurlock was when he ordered the McDonald’s fruit parfait and there was a hair in it which made it really disgusting to the viewers. Besides adults, this documentary was somewhat directed towards children by installing fear. Spurlock in addition informed relatives and loved one’s of what he was accomplishing and had them all in fear. By the use of all these negative tactics Spurlock made it every last effort that by the time a viewer watched his documentary that they were more than discouraged but genuinely scared to consume fast-food.

In addition, Spurlock really does push his body to the limit by having doctors warn him to stop the diet immediately. Spurlock went to see three different physicians and left each of their offices with the same input that his diet was extremely unhealthy which really helped to increase the validity of his argument. Each doctor advised him to stop before he cuts away at his long term health. Spurlock knows very little about health awareness and has no prior knowledge about health before this film which prevents his argument from being successful. Spurlock’s logos approach allows for the documentary to persuade the audience by scientific details. Numbers are able to be put down in the form of statistics. According to Spurlock 60% of Americans are overweight or obese, using this documentary to help benefit any fast-food consumer but more importantly the general public who is facing obesity. Spurlock frequently went to the doctor over the course of the month to test his weight, blood sugar, fat, cholesterol, and liver function. By the end of the film Spurlock gained close to 25 pounds, and put on a 13% body mass increase, with a skyrocket in cholesterol and noticeable mood changes due to the food he was intaking. Through this 30 day process Spurlock showed how you really are the product of your own health. Research shows that obesity has become the second most preventable death in the United States, as many as 400,000 individuals die from related obesity illness every year. These facts further persuade the audience of the dangers that the fast food industry has on all our health.

Overall, the experiment that allowed Spurlock to consume 3 McDonald’s meals per day, breakfast, lunch and dinner. He must consume every item on the McDonald’s menu at least once, including only bottled water as a beverage. Spurlock walk’s from his home to a McDonald’s in Manhattan that was 5,000 steps away. Walking this distance is the standardized distance of steps per day of a typical United States Citizen. After 5 days it wasn’t long before you saw a complete mood swing and minor depression symptoms from Spurlock. This documentary portrayed all aspects of logos, ethos and pathos showing a sign of action that needs to be taken so less people look and feel like Spurlock once did as he allowed fast food to abuse his body and lifestyle.

Works Cited

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