The movie, which has been chosen for the discussion is Lord, Save Us from Your Followers, directed by Dan Merchant in 2008. This film is rather documentary, created in the form of dialogue between the host and the audience. The Lord, Save Us from Your Followers tells its viewers about the religious situation in the USA back in 2008 and it appeared. The documentary represents it from the various angles, depicting different religious and social movements. The plot of the Lord, Save Us from Your Followers is the following: referring to the most bothering aspects of the modern society, the film shows how they are connected with the religion and in what ways does religion deal with those issues. (Lord, Save Us from Your Followers)
The central argument, which film states, is that nowadays the Gospel and Bible are misunderstood. Each and every group of people interprets it differently, usually in the way, which is suitable for them. In the modern world of consumption, Bible is used as the way to prosperity, as it was stated in the film. Generally speaking, the main strength of the film is the involvement in discussions not only authors, radio DJs, writers and professors, but also random people, who were met on the street. The effectiveness of this method lays in the fact that it breaks the wall of the excessive formality between the documentary and the audience, and, first of all, it is effective for the film’s creators. As the purpose of any documentary is to make people aware of some sort of information, reflecting on the society’s mind is an effective way to know
what the situation inside of the society is. However, it is important to mention that such way of filming is not always suitable for everyone. On this point, the analysis of ethos, pathos and logos appears to be helpful.
First of all, it is the ethos, which refers to the so – called “character” of what is going to be represented. This term describes the beliefs and the main ideas that are going to be passed to the viewer or listener. (Gathing, 3) Ethos can be understood through the voice of the persuader or through the melody on the background, which appoints our senses to the main idea of what is being shown on screen. In other words, ethos – is what we hear: the information passed verbally or through music devices. (Halmari, Virtanen, 5) The informal style of conversation, which the host leads with the audience, attracts more people to watch it, as they do not feel overwhelmed with the scientific information or the statistics. On the other hand, it may alienate the conservative and the elderly audiences, who are not used to such informal types of documentaries.
Pathos – is another basic element, in terms of the persuading people. It refers to the one’s emotional state. It awakens the viewer’s imagination. In other words, the usage of pathos enables the persuader to play on somebody’s feelings. (Gulledge, 24) In the case with the Lord, Save Us from Your Followers, pathos is used in each and every scene. One of the examples of it is the interview with Sister Mary Timothy: Tim’s outfit rapidly differs from what we all used to see on people around us, but it does not mean that he is angry or violent. In this case pathos enhances effect of the image on the viewer’s imagination. It leads to the mind that even if we all are different – it matters nothing to God. We all are still people. Also, in order to enhance the effect from the film on the audience, the directors have come to the idea of using the images of famous personalities from the USA history: politicians, musicians, comedians and others, citing their
quotes concerning religion. In this case, it creates the atmosphere of special trust between the documentary creators and the audience.
The next key element is logos – the word that represents logic and reason in the arguments of idea. In the other words, it is the “thought in action”. (Fernandez, 170) In the case with the Lord, Save Us from Your Followers, logos is present through the whole timeline of the film. It is worth mentioning that creators of the film have used a lot sarcasm and irony, while describing some particular situation. Such method encourages thinking more critically about specific things. Another effective way of using this element is in the host’s actions, offering random people to choose a particular quote. This is a type of a psychological experiment: interviewees usually peak a quote which refers the best to their life or to some particular situation around them at some particular period of time. We all know 2008 as a year of changes, as a beginning of new era of actions. Since that time, people are more aware of who they are and what is happening around them. This year marked the beginning of the age of self – identification. On this ground, new movements appeared, such as BattleCry and others. The documentary features all these actions, depicting them as they are – without any myths, interviewing young people, who are a part of those movements. On the other hand, another side of Christianity in the USA is represented. It is a Christianity we know: unconditional love and compassion. Two sides of one medal.
As a conclusion, it is important to mention that the documentary film, named Lord, Save Us from Your Followers shows the religious situation in the USA in its full measures. There are different thoughts, concerning the documentary, but the majority of them come to the common mind that this film shows the truth. Finally, the viewer may come to the conclusion that it is not the Gospel of Love that divides the nation – it is the humanity. We are in charge of the division: social, political and first of all – religious.
Works Cited:
Fernandez, Alfonso. The Logos: The Truth According to God's Mind! N.p.: Alfonso Fernandez, 2005. Print.
Gulledge, Andrew K. The Art of Persuasion: A Practical Guide to Improving Your Convincing Power. New York: IUniverse, 2004. Print.
Gathing, D. T. Ethos: A Look inside Ourselves. Bloomington: Xlibris Corporation, 2012. Print.
Halmari, Helena, and Tuija Virtanen. Persuasion across Genres: A Linguistic Approach. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Pub., 2005. Print.
Lord, Save Us from Your Followers. Dir. Dan Merchant. Perf. David Anderson, James Barnes and Hugo Black. Lightning Strikes Entertainment, 24 Oct. 2008. Web. 30 July 2016.
