The documentary under analysis “Capitalism: A Love Story” (2009) by Michael Moore became a real event in the political and social life not only in the USA but in the whole world. We should admit that this fact is not at all surprising since almost all documentaries created by M. Moore caused hot discussions both among the experts and general public due to their unusual approach toward propagated truths advocated by the American political elite. We state that the secret of popularity of the director is his power of persuasion. Really, it is rather hard to find any other author of documentaries or feature films whose ideas raise more support and interest in the society.
In “Capitalism: A Love Story” the author highlights the idea that the concept of the so-called American dream embodied in the limitless devotion to capitalism is responsible for the economic decline, considerable deterioration of life conditions of average Americans and global crisis. Michael Moore asserts that capitalism presented by deceitful politicians as the ideal social order that allows everyone to realize one’s desires and potential turned out to be an powerful weapon that made possible a situation when less of 1% of the American population accommodates its financial resources and in this way they rob others and earn money on their grieves. The director emphasizes his personal position that the leading principles of capitalism are highly anti-democratic. In his opinion capitalism is the evil that ruins democracy and the country in general making life in it unbearable.
Despite the fact that ideas and data mentioned in the film are highly disputable, the reaction of critics and general public to the film was highly positive and this reaction can prove its persuasive power. As one of the critics mentioned in her review “Watching the film, I felt like Michael had climbed inside my head, made a list of all the things that have been obsessing me for the last 12 months, and brought them horrifyingly to life. It’s one thing to know these things are happening; it’s another to see them happening in front of your eyes” (Huffington 2009). Being a skillful director Michael Moore applies several strategies of persuasion in his film. It is generally known that there are two persuasion models. The first one is known as the now-classic Yale model. This model focuses on the interplay among the message, the channel of communication, the source, and the target of the message. Richard Perloff in his work “The Dynamics of Persuasion” (2010) states that the main characteristics of the source of communication are authority, credibility, and social attractiveness. It is necessary to admit that all these three features are represented in the film. Authority is represented by the numerous interviews with the officials. Michael Moore cites such outstanding figures of the American history as President Jimmy Carter and President Barack Obama, Members of Congress - William Black and Marcy Kaptur, Sheriff Warren Evans and bailout watchdog Elizabeth Warren. He also …