Convenient Persuasion

In the Al Gore documentary An Inconvenient Truth, which is directed by Davis Guggenheim, the fear of global warming is drilled into the mind of the viewers. Al Gore was in line to become the next President of the United States of America, but ended up losing it in a complicated voting controversy. This man was well liked and respected by many and he put out a film at a point in history where people all over, but Americans in particular, were uneasy about their futures. This filmed capitalized on that fear and grew into a phenomenon that is still referenced often in our culture today as a strong point on the side of people warning everyone about the impending disasters due to global warming.

Mr. Gore uses his status as a celebrity in his own right to bring attention to an issue that he believes needs to be taken very seriously. This film would not work nearly or become as successful as it has been if Al Gore was not the one presenting this information. These facts and slides could have easily been delivered by any number of scientists in the scientific community. The reason people pay attention to this issue in this movie is because the information is being delivered by someone they are familiar with and has a strong likeability factor even if you do not always agree with his position on certain policies. People do not want hear a nearly two-hour presentation on global warming and the issues that could come about from it. People want to hear a former presidential candidate as charming as this one talk about something in a passionate manner. It is very interesting to see the types of things you can get people to pay attention to just because a celebrity is involved. That is a very important lesson to take away from this film. When you are at home and you are flipping through your television channels, try stopping on something on one of the educational channels and ask yourself if you would watch that program if George Clooney was presenting it to you. You could also apply this type of thought to any business you decide to go into. If you are trying to market a product, know what your audience wants to see in order more expertly market to them. An Inconvenient Truth was just an expertly marketed film that gave the audience something to hook their interests.

This film masterfully plays on all of the fears that people have today. Everyone knows that the weather has been off for some years and whether that is due to human beings mucking up the planet with their industrialization or if it just a natural part of the Earth’s pattern of development is still hotly debated. When Al Gore is delivering his message to the audience, he uses many different effect methods to conjure up fear. Gore likes to show slides of what places looked like in the past and then a slide of how “global warming” has completely destroyed the former majesty of that same area. Gore makes light of any argument against his own argument and chooses to use a fear based plan of attack to scare people into believing his presentation. Since Gore was nearly the next President of the United States, he is trusted by most people and is well trained in the art of public speaking. He uses that training in public speaking to weave his words together in such a way the audience doesn’t even realize they are being swayed to his until they are already firmly there. He knows how to deliver a speech so he does not make the mistake of pushing his point too hard. He gives the illusion that he is just laying out the scientific facts and it is your choice whether or not you do anything about the issue. After hearing his presentation, though, you feel almost stupid if you do anything but agree with his points because they were so clearly explained in a very compelling manner. Gore knows that most people don’t have many facts about the very complicated issue of Global warming. He uses this lack of knowledge as a way to gain the upper hand on the issue. This is just like what is explained in Social Judgment Theory. When you are trying to persuade someone on a certain issue, you focus on the people who do not already have a firm stance on the opposing side of the issue. It is much easier to persuade someone to your side when they do not have a side to begin with. That is pretty much the position Al Gore is in with this movie. Most people did not really have an opinion of global warming prior to this movie so the minds of the audience were just waiting to be molded by this celebrity figure. That’s not to say that everyone who watched this movie bought into this view. It is just easy to see how people could be easily swayed when they do not have anything else to which they can really compare. If there is anything you could learn from this that could help you in life, it would be the art of persuasion. If you would like to persuade a person, it is best if you go about the persuasion in a gradual manner which allows you to win over the person a little bit at a time. Also, it is very fortunate if the person you are trying to persuade does not already have an established stance on the subject they are being approached about. Davis Guggenheim and Al Gore have a specific audience in mind that they hope to convince to believe in this issue.

An Inconvenient Truth uses many tactics to persuade the viewers to look at the issue from the side of global warming believers. Al Gore uses his expert communication skills to frighten the audience and persuade them to believe in everything he is preaching to them. You could look at the tactics in this movie and perhaps avoid being persuaded like this or even utilize them for your own needs.