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Rhetorical Analysis Of The Documentary Food, Inc, By Robert Kenner

Decent Essays

Rhetorical Analysis of The Documentary Food, Inc.
Food Inc, is a documentary made by Robert Kenner, based on the book Fast Food Nation, written by Eric Schlosser. Kenner uses a variety of strategies in order to convey the message that our food system harms our health, workers, animals, and the environment, and expresses that a great deal of information is hidden from consumers. The filmmaker uses juxtaposition and emotional imagery, personal interviews, as well as particular cinematic techniques to achieve his purpose of informing the public about the shocking hidden realities of the food industry. The use of these strategies makes viewers question where the food they eat truly comes from, and makes them question if they can truly trust …show more content…

The filmmaker uses strong imagery to juxtapose what consumers think about the food industry versus its reality.
Interviews were used in the documentary to appeal to the credibility of the speaker, as well as to the logic of the viewer. One of the main interviews shown in the documentary was from a mother whose son, Kevin, died after eating a hamburger contaminated with E.coli. The mother tells of how hard it has been to live without her son, and how little the food industry has changed after the incident. During the interview, several news headlines are shown with similar titles of people dying after eating contaminated food. This makes the situation more urgent, as it shows that many people have been affected. The use of this particular interview supports the filmmakers’ message that our current food system is harming our health and does not work to protect us consumers to the level which we should be protected. By including a real testimony from a victim, viewers are greatly impacted because they realize that the same event could happen to them or to their family. Throughout the documentary, real farmers were interviewed. For example, Carole Morison, a chicken farmer for the major meat packing company Perdue tells her perspective on the food industry. Morison shows viewers the unsanitary and cramped conditions inside the chicken houses. She says that farmers have no other choice because the huge food industries control and exploit farmers

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