Documentaries


 * // Documentaries of Today: Fiction, Non-Fiction and a Whole Lot of Appeal //**

We're not talking the Documentaries of 'old'. We're talking [|Documentaries in the Age of Michael Moore]!

We are going to be watching clips from several documentaries:

Michael Moore’s Bowling for Columbine and Morgan Spurlock’s SuperSize Me

[|Fast Food Ads] [|The Impact] [|Littleton Security] [|Michigan Militia]


 * // Super Size Me //**** (Morgan Spurlock, 2004) Chapter 18, “Fast Food Advertising” 00:44:48– 00:46:52 **

// Questions to Consider: //

1. Margo G. Wootan claims that “most kids can say McDonald’s” by the time they can speak. What techniques does Spurlock use in this segment to make it seem that the children overwhelmingly recognize McDonald’s? What effect does he create by including the image of Jesus? What other famous people, whom Spurlock did not include, might have been more easily recognized by these children? 2. What effects do the cartoon illustrations and piles of money achieve? How do they emphasize the statistics Spurlock presents? Why might those suit colors have been chosen for each of the four characters, and what might the colors and the relative sizes of the figures (especially the green suited Five-a-Day figure) represent, both literally and symbolically? Why might Spurlock have chosen this method for relaying these statistics, as opposed to, for example, a black screen with white text, or a bar graph showing the relative amounts? 3. What other techniques do you see in this excerpt? Brainstorm with a partner.


 * // Super Size Me //**** (Morgan Spurlock, 2004) **** Chapter 11, “The Impact” 00:29:09– 00:30:15 **

// Questions to Consider: //

1. Why might Spurlock have used cartoon illustrations of each of the diseases or health conditions? Are these illustrations effective? What does Spurlock achieve by having these illustrations tile over the McDonald’s exterior? 2. Aside from protecting the privacy of the individuals filmed, why might the faces of the overweight people be blurred? 3. Based on this segment, who might Spurlock’s intended audience be? 4. Spurlock uses all three major rhetorical appeals—ethos, pathos, and logos—in this section. Which of these appeals is most convincing? Explain. 5. Look at the scene where the pictures cover the teen talking 6. Look at the camera angles in the Jared Fogle scene. What do you notice, especially when he is talking to the 8th grade student? 7. What other techniques do you see in this excerpt? Brainstorm with a partner.


 * Michael Moore and the Militia Men **
 * // Bowling for Columbine //**** (Michael Moore, 2002) Chapter 5, “Michigan Militia” 00:08:06–00:08:58 **

// Questions to Consider: //

1. What seems to be Moore’s attitude toward the Michigan Militia? How do you know? 2. What effect(s) does Moore create by showing the wide shot of the Militia members shooting targets while he stands behind them? 3. The first Militia member who is interviewed cites as his reason for participating in the militia, “This is an American tradition...it’s an American responsibility to be armed. If you are not armed, you’re not responsible. Who’s going to defend your kids? The cops? The federal government?” He refers indirectly to the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which states, “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a Free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” The Militia member argues based on an appeal to tradition—that because the Founding Fathers asserted the importance of a “well-regulated militia” and “the right of the people to keep and bear arms,” all Americans have a responsibility to have weapons and know how to use them. Do you accept his reasoning? Does Michael Moore seem to agree with him? Explain 4. What other techniques do you see in this excerpt? Brainstorm with a partner.


 * // Bowling for Columbine //**** Chapter 8, “Littleton” 00:23:38 00:25:57 **

// Questions to Consider: // 1. Moore suggests a correlation between the industry of Lockheed Martin and the Columbine tragedy when he asks, “What’s the difference between that mass destruction [the building of missiles at Lockheed Martin] and the mass destruction over at Columbine High School?” What are some visual or nonverbal ways that Moore suggests this connection in this segment? 2. McCollum rejects the connection between Lockheed Martin’s industry presence in Littleton and the school shooting, and he attributes the Columbine tragedy to other factors. To what extent do you agree with the connection Moore suggests? What other factors may have influenced the perpetrators of the Columbine shooting? 3. What other techniques do you see in this excerpt? Brainstorm with a partner.