Al Gore's film An Inconvenient Truth deals with global warming and all of the problems that it can bring. Gore does a good job of presenting his views in a way that doesn't seem to be overtly political. Obviously, Gore is an excellent politician, having served as vice president for eight years, but this movie doesn't seem to be much of a political statement to me. Gore himself states that climate change is "not a political issue so much as a moral one."
Gore's main tactic in the movie is the use of logos. Gore's appeal is not emotional as much as it is logical. He offers lots of evidence for all of his claims, and scientists tend to recognize the film as highly accurate to the facts. All of the data that Gore uses to solidify his points add to the efficacy of his argument. It's difficult to argue with the mountain of evidence he presents, so his more shocking claims of the potential effects of global warming have to be taken seriously.
Of course, this brings me to Gore's use of pathos. While not as prevalent as his use of logos, Gore's appeal to the audience's emotions is important. When he talks about the potential consequences of not adjusting to deal with global warming, Gore is counting on his audience to be afraid of those consequences and to be willing to seek out an alternative, even if that means changing their lifestyles.
Gore's emotional appeal is also made powerful by his previous appeals to reason. Presumably, the audience will have already agreed with his previous claims that were based on logic, so they will be more likely to agree with his more emotional appeals. This creates a kind of situated ethos in Gore, who already has some credibility on the subject, having spoken about it at length for years. Gore essentially becomes an authority on global warming to the audience, and this allows him to make the claims that he does with the credibility he does.
Overall, I felt that this was a very well-made statement about global warming. It was interesting in that it didn't operate as a typical documentary, but really more of a filmed PowerPoint presentation. However, I feel like this was probably the best way Gore could have presented his argument, because it allowed him to simply run through facts and scenarios without having to use editorial tricks to make points. Gore's argument's strength is in its logic, so he didn't want anything to outweigh that logic. Coupled with his self-deprecating sense of humor (his joke about being the "former next president of the United States" still cracks me up), the presentation works wonderfully as a statement of both Gore's personality and his beliefs on global warming.
