Pathos in "The Sacrament"

For cult leaders, preying upon pathos is a unique and powerful method of controlling and attracting followers. Appealing to the sense of emotion is an especially important tool, as the way we feel truly does have the power to influence the way we act, behave and view the world. In The Sacrament (watch the trailer here), this is seen through the control of the commune’s leader, who goes by the hauntingly simple name, “Father”. Father has brainwashed his followers into committing heinous and exploitive acts because he has full power over their emotions. These followers feel that Father has given them a sense of hope and happiness, choosing to ignore the wrongful pain that he is inflicting on them and their loved ones. Another modern day cult in which an appeal to pathos is particularly present in is The Brethren (to learn more about this group, click here). This group has such a grip on the emotions of their followers that they are willing to give up all worldly comforts in exchange for membership. They have become so emotionally attached to the goals and teachings of the Brethren that they cut all outside ties, completely giving themselves to the group. Emotional appeal is one of the most powerful tactics because it allows for the formation of bonds, making followers incredibly vulnerable to the grip of their leaders.

Pathos in "Elmer Gantry"

Pathos is arguably the most potent of all rhetorical appeals. It is also the most versatile, as it can appeal to emotions, imagination, morality (often confused with ethos). Elmer Gantry employs this device primarily through imagination.

A common goal and wish for skeptics is to be able to prove that their opposers are false. Many skeptics claim that religion and similar factions are simply schemes and cons. This film clearly feature a con couple. It allows opposers to the religious movements of the 20th Century to bask in a movie that portrays such sentiments. An issue with doing this is that it may create a confirmation bias with users, as they may erroneously claim, "all of these religions are false, this movie clearly shows that!" The extreme nature of the characters in the film as utilize fear and other emotions to help sell the idea that cults are a dangerous element of society.

Ethos in Elmer Gantry

"Elmer Gantry" shows a small peek into what cult life entails and the dark nuances that come along with it. Within the 1960s film's trailer, it highlights a man who uses his position of power to excuse sexual indiscretions. The way he acts towards women aids the rhetorical appeal of ethos by creating an heir of male dominance. The men of the time period did still see and treat women as property, making this rhetorical appeal extremely effective. Within the trailer, it shows blips of Gantry with multiple women. Within cult settings, polygamy is socially acceptable. This appeal towards the general male population's set of values attracts potential new members to join the movements. To women, however, this film most likely created feelings of disgust and anger. For rights women were fighting so hard and viciously for, this type of movie feels like a slap in the face.

In a more recent film about cults called "Follow the Prophet", it calls to women's ethos more so than men's. This trailer follows a woman who breaks away from her religious sect in the hopes of finding her identity and freedom. Women audience members may feel an emotional connection to this breakaway and in some ways can relate to it. For people who feel trapped in a bad relationship, unhappy with their current lifestyle, or are just simply stuck in some way, this movie can resonate with their latent feelings. Liberation is a human craving that all people yearn for in some way or another. "Follow the Prophet" leaves  a feeling of longing while "Elmer Gantry" elicits a forbidden desire.

Ethos in The Sacrament (2013)

The Sacrament, while technically not based on true events, is filled with credible information eluding to The Jonestown Massacre. The website "Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple" gives insight into both the ethos of our text and the ethos of Jim Jones.

As seen in the beginning of the trailer for The Sacrament, Eden Parish (Peoples Temple in actuality) is portrayed as a happy, loving place to live. However, as the text continues, it is illustrated that these people can't leave even if they wanted to. In an interview, a Jonestown survivor shed light on the fact that to outsiders, "there was more cheerfulness...a lot of singing and entertainment," however, they "were locked in." This account matches what is portrayed in the trailer, causing it to be a credible source.

Not only was The Sacrament credible, but the real Jim Jones was seen as a credible leader as well. In an interview with more of Jim Jones' followers who were portrayed in The Sacrament, they claimed that "he was a role model – adopted children of all colors, hardworker, [and] lived in modest circumstances." As is seen in our text, Father (Jim Jones) accepts all races, accepts all ages, and preaches the Bible. Jim Jones became credible through building trust, becoming theses peoples' role model, and then abusing that power through manipulation.

Logos in "Elmer Gantry"

The 1960 film Elmer Gantry, based on Sinclair Lewis’ 1926 novel, tells the tale of an evangelist couple selling their religious beliefs throughout the Midwest. Satirizing societal beliefs surrounding religion, Elmer Gantry and wife/partner Sharon Falconer, used logical appeals, or logos, as a primary method of attracting followers. These preachers conned followers into repenting for their sins with promises of eternal salvation in return. In the trailer (watch it here here), this is seen when Falconer asks listeners “what do you think will get you into … Heaven? This ace of spades?” she asks “your bank book? Or this pledge to be a good Christian?”. As seen here, Gantry and Falconer prey upon the logos of the followers by illustrating the logical steps that they must take in order to make it into Heaven - that is, by following their religion, joining their ministry and repenting for their sins.
This same method of preying upon the logos of followers is seen in many cult and cult-like groups throughout history. The Children of God (read more about life in COG here), another popular 1960s cult, preached a similar message of salvation, laying out the logical steps towards achieving this through conversion and devotion to their teaching. Even in the modern day, logos is used by these groups to attract followers. For example, the Institute in Basic Life Principles (learn about IBLP here) gives a logical solution to family peace, harmony and salvation through devotion to their group. By providing easily persuaded followers with a solution or answer and deceptively disguising their teachings as logical, leaders of these groups are able to grow their following and spread their message.

The Differing Audiences of "The Sacrament" and Scientology Promotional Videos

The 2014 trailer of “The Sacrament” aims to mirror the events of the Jamestown massacre. With this allusion, the producers target an audience who fears cults and sees them through a unfavorable lens. It is prevalent that the producers want the audience to see the evils behind cults through their use of rhetoric. To start off, producers create the initial bias for the audience by categorizing the film in the “horror” genre, which immediately elicits an audience who find these movements haunting. However, individuals who are not opposed to cult activity might find this piece of rhetoric as offensive. It is obvious that the creators of this piece did not consider them within the population they wanted to reach. Unlike some other contemporary cult pieces, such as the Scientology  promotional video, The Sacrament aims to steer people away from this cultural deviation. 

Scientology’s website brings in a entirely different audience than “The Sacrament” with its light-hearted, utopian spin on the cult life. Within their promotional video on the front page of the site, they show glimmering faces of happy and healthy families, their lives looking as if they are near perfection. It is evident that Scientology wants to capture the attention of potential new members. However, I personally found their website to be extremely vague. This is how they lure people in. In a sense, it’s a brilliant use of rhetoric. By making people feel a lack of inclusion, they will be more inclined to join the movement to find out what they are missing. The lack of knowledge consumes people, causing the type of response Scientology wants to happen.

Logos in "The Sacrament" (2013)

The Sacrament trailer, our second text, begins with a fact flashed on the screen: "In 2013, reporters from Vice Media traveled to a secret religious community known as 'Eden Parish.'" Right off the bat, there is evidence that this description of Eden Parish is logistical because it was seen by real reporters.

Logos is a large part of how people become involved with cults in the first place and is depicted by the actors throughout the text. Eden Parish was a religious cult run by a pseudo-Christian cult leader Jim Jones. In order to draw in his victims, he would make joining seem like common sense - like Christianity was what brought them together. In order to get his followers behind him, not only did he go by the name of "Father," but he would say phrases such as "this is the last sacrament." By using the Bible, Jim Jones managed to convince his followers that what he was doing was logical and right. However, as seen in the trailer, this type of logic only worked on those who are truly susceptible to it. Upon the arrival of the reporters, many families showed signs of wanting to leave Eden Parish. While Jim Jones' use of logos appeared to work, many people were simply too afraid to try and leave. In the end, his logistical approach of using fear and conformity is what created this cult.