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  • Essay / Analysis of persuasion techniques in the film Supersize Me

    In the documentary film Supersize Me, Morgan Spurlock focuses on the effects that fast food can have on your body and the problems it can cause. While watching the documentary film, many elements stood out and related to Burke's views on rhetoric. Morgan seemed to identify with the audience, in the sense of wanting them to be one, seeing the harm that all fast food can have on our bodies and showing that we can all deal with it together. Supersize Me used identification, symbolism, terminist displays and more to show viewers all the problems with fast food. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay In the documentary, Morgan Spurlock was the narrator and his goal was to prove to others all the harmful effects of fast food on our body, but also the problem of obesity in America. In the 100-minute documentary, Spurlock commits to only eating at McDonalds for 30 days straight and promises to eat everything on the menu at least once. He also sets some rules for himself that will help him in his project. The rules included: having to buy everything he consumed at Mcdonalds, having to oversize his meal every time he was asked to do so, and not participating in any type of exercise. Watching the documentary, I realized that Spurlock wasn't just trying to entertain. the audience, but also leaves an impressive effect on the viewers about how fast food harms our body. I believe he did this by showing how his body transformed throughout the process of his project. At first, Morgan was a healthy man. But by the end of the project, he had gained about 25 pounds, was depressed, his cholesterol levels had increased significantly, etc. I felt that being able to document this experience from start to finish played a huge role in how the rhetoric worked because it supported what Mark was trying to show the viewers and gave them actual evidence. For example, showing how in 30 days his body had changed drastically and providing all the necessary evidence, from what he ate to what he did day to day, proved to viewers that what was happening was actually real. and showed many fast food customers that they were actually being persuaded to have poor diets by the fast food industry. Spurlock's tone throughout the documentary is somewhat sarcastic but very easy to capture the audience's attention. You could tell that the effect of fast food on our bodies was very important to him, and he had to make sure to raise enough awareness about it that the viewer realized that we needed to do something about it. His choice of words also helped hold the viewer's attention because it entertained them and made them feel connected to the topic. Much of what is shown throughout the documentary plays a rhetorical role as it leaves an impact on the audience. I feel like the part that had the most impact on the audience happened towards the end of 30 days, when Morgan decided to film and show real-life examples of how much fat he had gained or sugar he had consumed, and when the quantity is so immense, of course it's really going to have an impact on the viewers and make them understand how horrible fast food is for us and how something needs to be done in our society about fast food..