Reaction Paper on 180 Film Documentary

C31A November 28, 2013

Lim Denise Rosalind Ong Tuesday/Thursday 9:40-11:10

ENGLCOM-RVLC Ms. CM. Dino

Documentary Analysis

It was used to believe that the safest hiding place in Earth is inside the womb of a mother. Nowadays though, this idea no longer holds true. The documentary film 180 (Comfort & Spencer, 2011) starts off with Ray Comfort (narrator) asking an interviewee of her familiarity with Adolf Hitler. The film then progresses with the narrator expressing his deep concern of a generation of people forgetting about one of the greatest tragedies in the history of human race, the Holocaust. He concluded the introduction of the film with the statement “It has been rightly said that those who forget history are destined to repeat it” (Comfort & Spencer, 2011). The documentary’s stance against abortion became clear in the end by showing the similarities of abortion to any other kind of murder such as the Holocaust. It is further implied that the film aims to change the heart of the nation in regards to the matter of abortion and the value of human life by turning their beliefs in 180 degrees, thus the name of the film “180”. In 180 (2011), Ray Comfort convinces his audience of the immorality behind abortion through the use of the three rhetorical approaches.

The use of logos persuasion is observed extensively in the first half of the film. Comfort established a logical reasoning with the similarities of abortion to the Holocaust with statements like “It is not okay to kill people during the Holocaust but you’re advocating the murder of a baby’s life” (Comfort & Spencer, 2011). He even went as far as to call abortion the American version of the Holocaust (Comfort & Spencer, 2011). These show the parallelism between abortion and the Holocaust for they are both portrayed as forms of murder that have no moral justifications and cause behind it. He also used simultaneous questions like “Do you value...