A Filmmaker's Guide to: Pathos

In this chapter of ‘the filmmaker’s guide’ we’re actually going to be learning about literature and film together. I understand that many of you are sitting in university during difficult times and finding it increasingly hard to study and I understand that many of you who are not at university or not planning on it are possibly stuck of what to do, need a break or even need to catch up on learning film before you get to the next level. This guide will be brief but will also contain: new vocabulary, concepts and theories, films to watch and we will be exploring something taboo until now in the ‘filmmaker’s guide’ - academia (abyss opens). Each article will explore a different concept of film, philosophy, literature or bibliography/filmography etc. in order to give you something new to learn each time we see each other. You can use some of the words amongst family and friends to sound clever or you can get back to me (email in bio) and tell me how you’re doing. So, strap in and prepare for the filmmaker’s guide to film studies because it is going to be one wild ride.

Pathos

What is it?

Pathos is when a piece of language, literature, film etc. elicits a response from the audience via playing on emotions that they already have and situations they already know of. For example: if you're child/younger sibling etc. is persuading you to get them and iPhone because they don't want to be left out by their friends or because it will make their studying experience easier via accessibility then this is pathos. It is playing on your emotion of not wanting the child to feel left out (sympathy) whilst also eliciting a response from you (the child wants an iPhone).

But this is a simple example that is rhetorical (based within language and therefore only really applicable to the particular situation at hand). Let us now have a look at other examples, some that appear within literature.

Example 1:

One of the most well-known examples of pathos in literature comes to us from Jane Austen's magnum opus, "Pride and Prejudice". Mr Collins' little speech about how he wants Elizabeth to be his wife evokes great amounts of sympathy because of the emotion conveyed by his language use. Look at this:

"Believe me, my dear Miss Elizabeth, that your modesty adds to your other perfections. ... For, as almost as soon as I entered the house, I singled you out as the companion of my future life!"

Can you see how this would make the reader feel sympathy for a man who is pouring his heart out to a woman by also relating it to his situation of entering the house?

Example 2:

Another example commonly referenced by the literary world is Maya Angelou's legendary "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings". With its comparisons of freedom and imprisonment, the poem uses the language of fear and punishment to make the reader feel sorry for the bird's misery and pities the bird because of its relation to very real-world problems regarding race divides, false imprisonment etc.

Have a look at this extract:

"...a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams

his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream

his wings are clipped and his feet are tied

so he opens his throat to sing."

Can you see how not only is pathos used to make us pity this bird but it is also used through the naming of the bird?

Instead of just calling the bird 'it', we see it referred to as 'he' and 'him' so we are more likely to think about it in relation to a person.

What about in film?

In film, it is pretty difficult to pinpoint films that use pathos to play on the audience's emotions but the easiest way to explain it would be to use the Disney Animated Movies. Films such as "Finding Nemo" play on a parent's worst fear of losing their child and not getting the help they require. "Bambi" plays on the fear of being orphaned or leaving your child with nobody to care about them.

In live-action films there are a number of examples, you could take a look at this watchlist and develop your own conclusions about pathos in the films:

- We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)

- Buried (2010)

- Wall Street (1987)

- Schindler's List (1993)

- Seven (1995)

The question you need to be asking yourself is this:

Can I see a negative emotion being evoked (such as fear and/or sadness) from a real-life situation that also serves to create a bond of sympathy from the audience member to the character involved?

Now we have covered that, let's take a short look at some further reading you can do in your time in order to learn more about pathos and its uses.

Further Reading:

• Aristotle (1996). The Poetics. 2nd ed. UK: Penguin.
• Barnes, J (1995). The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle. UK: Cambridge University Press.
• Cartmell, D (2007). The Cambridge Companion to Literature on Screen . UK: Cambridge University Press.
• Melke, U (2020). Emotion in Animated Films. UK: Routledge.
• Robinson, J (2007). Deeper than Reason: Emotion and its Role in Literature, Music, and Art. 2nd ed. UK: Clarendon Press.