Rational Spectacle: Debating Global Warming in the Public Sphere on the Public Screen of An Inconvenient Truth

• In Event: Spectacles Of The People/ For The People: Constructing Legitimate Authoritative Arguments

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between spectacle, rational argument, and public controversy through an analysis of An Inconvenient Truth. While public screen theorists acknowledge a relationship between the public screen and rational argument, this paper presents a more nuanced understanding of how these different types of argument come together in public controversy by tracing how spectacle functions in the movie to advance rational arguments and generate a heightened sense of public engagement.

Author

• Lisa Slawter Volkening, University of Georgia