Thank You for Smoking - Fallacies
Nica Javier CRITHIN A62 Ms. Hazel Biana August 5, 2013
“Thank You for Smoking” film viewing
Identifying fallacies paper.
The movie, “Thank You for Smoking” is a comedy with a tobacco industry lobbyist, Nick Naylor as the lead. The movie has an eerie comic theme which tackles the serious issue of the addicting substance of tobacco, or to be more specific, nicotine. The idea which the movie was trying to portray was that this lobbyist was a great speaker who is able to manipulate many a feeble-mind. A lobbyist, to begin with, is one who is employed to persuade all-concerned of the employer’s concern(s), in this case, the marketing of tobacco products.
The thing about Naylor was, he had a confident approach to almost anyone. He convinced himself and many other, including his son, that he could outsmart and outwit almost anyone with the proper argument. One of the many fallacious arguments Naylor presented included the one in the scene wherein he was speaking to his ex-wife’s boyfriend who was concerned about Naylor’s son’s health being around a man who is working for the tobacco industry. When confronted with the lines, “I hope you’re providing him [Naylor’s son] with a smoke-free environment,” Naylor defensively, wittingly responded with, “I’m his father, you’re the guy fucking his mother,” which was an obvious low blow as well as a fallacious one. He committed the Argument against the Person- Abusive fallacy and probably either failed to realize it or was too proud to care. Throughout the rest of the movie, he presented many arguments with similar tones and seemed not to care about the fallacies, rather- whether or not his arguments were “strong” and would ensure him a “win” over his opponent or the person he was presenting his argument with.
A few of the more obvious arguments include when Naylor was speaking to the investigative reporter, Heather Holloway, over dinner wherein Naylor was recommending a bottle of wine to Holloway, who
“Thank You for Smoking” film viewing
Identifying fallacies paper.
The movie, “Thank You for Smoking” is a comedy with a tobacco industry lobbyist, Nick Naylor as the lead. The movie has an eerie comic theme which tackles the serious issue of the addicting substance of tobacco, or to be more specific, nicotine. The idea which the movie was trying to portray was that this lobbyist was a great speaker who is able to manipulate many a feeble-mind. A lobbyist, to begin with, is one who is employed to persuade all-concerned of the employer’s concern(s), in this case, the marketing of tobacco products.
The thing about Naylor was, he had a confident approach to almost anyone. He convinced himself and many other, including his son, that he could outsmart and outwit almost anyone with the proper argument. One of the many fallacious arguments Naylor presented included the one in the scene wherein he was speaking to his ex-wife’s boyfriend who was concerned about Naylor’s son’s health being around a man who is working for the tobacco industry. When confronted with the lines, “I hope you’re providing him [Naylor’s son] with a smoke-free environment,” Naylor defensively, wittingly responded with, “I’m his father, you’re the guy fucking his mother,” which was an obvious low blow as well as a fallacious one. He committed the Argument against the Person- Abusive fallacy and probably either failed to realize it or was too proud to care. Throughout the rest of the movie, he presented many arguments with similar tones and seemed not to care about the fallacies, rather- whether or not his arguments were “strong” and would ensure him a “win” over his opponent or the person he was presenting his argument with.
A few of the more obvious arguments include when Naylor was speaking to the investigative reporter, Heather Holloway, over dinner wherein Naylor was recommending a bottle of wine to Holloway, who