Rhetorical Leadership and Transferable Lessons for Successful Social Advocacy in Al Gore's an Inconvenient Truth

Abstract

Despite its apparent limitations, the film An Inconvenient Truth was not only an unlikely hit but also a successful instance of social advocacy that galvanized ordinary people. Al Gore's rhetorical choices in the film presented a compelling, concrete vision of the stakes to be lost or gained, nurtured hope that change was possible and personal, made mortification an appealing path for coping with guilt over one's contribution to a shared problem, demonstrated dignitas of public character that added weight to his argument, and relationally generated ethos that overcame his history as an unengaging, unmotivating rhetor. Gore's argumentative approach is transferable and so offers valuable lessons fir potential rhetorical leaders. The essay also yields a theoretical contribution on mortification.