Abstract

“Captain Phillips” is a 2013 American thriller film based on the actual event of

the 2009 Maersk Alabama hijacking, an incident during which merchant mariner

Captain Richard Phillips was taken hostage by pirates. The rescue attempt

eventually involved several U.S. Navy Destroyers and the SEALs team. In this film,

the researcher has applied the three modes of persuasion which are Ethos,

Pathos, and Logos. According to Aristotle, Ethos is about the character or

credibility of the persuader. It is an appeal to ethics. Here, Ethos is the renowned

director of the film, Paul Greengrass who specializes in the dramatizations of

real-life events, and the main character portrayed by Tom Hanks, an Oscar-

winning actor, who is known for his various comedic and dramatic film roles

according to Wikipedia. Next, Pathos is an appeal to emotion. It deals with

feelings of sorrow, sympathy or fear. In this case, Pathos can be seen on the

scenes of movie where it shows emotions such as when Captain Phillips breaks

down in tears after everything he has suffered starts to sink in. The researcher

discussed how Captain Phillips felt when he was taken hostage and after he was

rescued from the lifeboat. Lastly, Logos is an appeal to logic. It involves facts,

statistics and other information that are used to reasoning. In relation to the

movie, the researcher has applied Logos by showing how Captain Phillips’

calmness makes him able to think creative strategies which, in effect, actually

saved himself and his crew.