The Armstrong lie (2015)

This thesis researches THE ARMSTRONG LIE – a documentary concerned with Lance Armstrong, a former professional cyclist who had lied in the past to millions of fans to cover up his use of performance enhancing drugs during the Tour de France. The thesis will research into the question: which perspective does the documentary THE ARMSTRONG LIE give on the Lance Armstrong scandal and how is this perspective constructed? The analysis ultimately shows that THE ARMSTRONG LIE creates the perspective that even though Lance Armstrong had cheated in the past, the scandal should be viewed in context without rushing to conclusions. The filmmaker Alex Gibney applies several rhetorical strategies to do so and to convince the audience of the perspective that the Armstrong scandal wasn’t as bad as it seemed. This was shown through the perspective that in context, cyclists need to dope to be able to keep up with others, which is known as being common within the cycling world. Rhetorical strategies did not only seem to play an important role in the construction of this perspective, but the emphasis on positive aspects of Lance’s career seemed to have a big influence in how a more positive perspective towards Lance was created.