Katarina Book

English 201
Ms. Rivera
3/2/14
Under Our Skin: Mystique and Shocking
Andy Abrahams Wilsons documentary, Under Our Skin, produced by Open Eye Pictures,
tells a haunting story about our health care system and the hidden epidemic of Lyme disease.
Wilsons story describes what Lyme disease is, where it comes from and where its heading now:
a hazy future littered with deceiving and unknowing doctors. Since its discovery in 1981 by Dr.
Willy Burgdorfer (Wilson 00:10), Lyme disease has continued to baffle doctors and researchers,
with very little new information flowing to patients and doctors even after thirty years. Wilsons
documentary suggests that the reason new information isnt showing up or isnt being spread is
because of the corrupt health care system thats far too willing to put profits before patients,
leaving thousands of infected in the dark.
Under Our Skin does an amazing job provoking emotions from viewers. With countless
stories and emotional lines such as If I hadnt had any kids, I might have killed myself (Wilson
00:06) and Youre an attractive girl. You dont feel like youre getting enough attention
(Wilson 00:04), how can someone watch this film and not be moved? Besides the multiple
people interviewed and followed throughout that have Lyme disease, Wilson incorporates so
many other aspects to his documentary to compel those watching to believe his message.
Gloomy music, rain, thunder sound effects (Wilson 00:45), and other things like these were
brilliantly added to the film. Imagery such as maps (Wilson 00:09, 00:16), newspaper articles
(Wilson 00:10, 00:51), news reports (Wilson 00:15, 00:33), and animations (Wilson 00:11,
00:42) were also littered throughout the documentary to show proof and give us enough

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information to believe the importance of the issue Wilson brings forward. And not only did the
documentary appeal to our emotions and knowledge, but half the film was spent describing how
corrupt the health care system was, appealing to our ethical sides as well. Wilson did a
tremendous job pulling people into his fringe, adding as much evidence and unforgettable
accounts as possible, but behind the compelling stories, behind all the undeniable evidence are
several flaws in his presentation that are far too easy to miss, especially if you so desperately
want to believe it.
Hidden beneath Wilsons well-crafted presentation were multiple fallacies, most of them
being intentional or fallacies of choice. Though the documentary included some opposing views,
most of which coming from a single doctor named Gary Wormser, these opinions and statements
were quickly thrown under the bus. People interviewed who disagreed with these opposing views
would always appear afterward, drawing attention away from any opposition and completely
disregarding what the professional or patient had to say. This was intentionally done to make
those in opposition seem unintelligent or malicious. For example, after Dr. Wormser says We
know about Lyme disease. Its something we have a good handle on. Thats really the bottom
line (Wilson 1:31), the director switches to an emotional scene. While hes saying this and
immediately after, the music changes slightly, lingering on one note. It sounds suspicious and
even scary, making this doctor appear as if hes the bad guy. Furthermore, the scene it switches to
right after his statements are of Elise, a woman with Lyme disease who has had four miscarriages
because of the disease, and her two-year-old son enjoying their time outdoors. We learn in these
moments that her son has tested positive for Lyme, which was transferred to him before he was
born. Elise becomes emotional because shes afraid of her son experiencing the pain and sickness
shes experienced (Wilson 01:32). The change in music and the emotional scene added after

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make you want to hate Dr. Wormser instead of take what hes saying seriously. Any time
someone disagrees, theyre quickly reprobated just as Dr. Wormser was in this particular
segment. The viewers are given no choice but to believe the films message.
Several other fallacies were also incorporated into the documentary. One is the slippery
slope. The film suggests that because doctors and those working for insurance companies are
more interested in money than saving lives (Wilson 00:43), this has led to inaccurate testing
(Wilson 1:33), no definite cure (Wilson 01:32), misdiagnoses (Wilson 00:09), doctors that are
unwilling to help because of fear or disbelief (Wilson 01:11), having this disease for the
remainder of your life (Wilson 00:16), and then the most dreadful consequence of all, death
(Wilson 01:17). Though this could be true in some cases, its not necessarily accurate. This
dramatic chain of events make the viewers feel panicked and want to get involved, and thats
exactly what the film is trying to do. This can also be considered a form of scare tactics, which
are similarly used throughout the documentary. One other fallacy I noticed while watching
Under Our Skin was the Post Hoc Ergo Proctor Hoc. This was used when Sean, the husband of a
long-term patient whose story was featured throughout the film, started feeling drained. He
didnt outright blame it on Lyme disease but said its a possibility. This opens a whole new can of
worms, suggesting that Lyme can be a sexually transmitted disease. A doctor spoke after the
husbands account, asking the viewers that if Syphilis, a distant cousin of Lyme disease, can be
sexually transmitted then why cant Lyme? (Wilson 01:30 01:31). Essentially its saying that
Sean, who has slept with his wife, Mandy, can only be feeling that way if Lyme disease is
sexually transmitted. This completely throws out any other possibilities such as him having
another illness or the simple prospect that he could be feeling fatigued from years of caring for
his wife. This definitely shouldnt have been included in the film.

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Though it appears the film included all sides of the story, interviewing doctors who agree
or disagree with the severity of Lyme disease and also patients who have or have had this
disease, there are multiple points of view that werent included enough or any at all. Very few
doctors or patients who disagree with certain aspects of Lyme or how to treat it were included in
the film, and when these opposing views were added, they were quickly struck down. And
though the film tries to prove how crooked the panel of doctors are who disagree that Lyme is as
serious as people claim it is, theyre never interviewed or confronted about the supposed ties they
have with insurance companies (Wilson 01:22 01:23). Theres also a whole other category of
people who have received proper treatment from the beginning, but they were never included in
the film or even spoken of. This leads viewers to believe that no one has had proper treatment.
When Jordan, a man whos seen throughout the documentary, says his Lyme disease was a
classic case, and it still took five doctors to figure it out and that he even kept the tick that had
bitten him (Wilson 00:04), this makes diagnosing and caring for a patient on the onset of the
illness seem impossible.
Transitions are important when creating any film, but theres a point where those random
scenes become too much. Wilson overstuffs the film with endless artsy shots of nature
helicopter sweeps across autumn forests, dreamy views of moonlight beaches, even a spider in a
dew-covered web (Hall). Sometimes these scenes were effective and almost necessary when the
director wanted to alter the mood, but too many of these incidents can cause problems, such as
irritating the viewers. There are also other added scenes that were most likely meant to give more
insight into the lives of those infected, but they didnt accomplish the task so well. For example,
clips of Elise giving birth to her son (Wilson 00:59) and videos of Mandy and Seans wedding
(Wilson 00:12) were included in the film. These scenes got way too personal, even making me

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feel uncomfortable and irritated. And not only did these scenes typically add nothing to the film,
but they drawn-out an already lengthy story. The humans attention span is short, so adding these
clips were unintelligent decisions on Wilsons part.

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Besides hidden fallacies, neglected views, and too many added scenes, Under Our Skin is
a well-crafted, researched documentary. Over thirty people, doctors and patients, were
interviewed and included in the film. Doctors provided professional opinions as well as
researched information on the subjects presented. Patients added emotional insights into the pain
and hardships they experienced for years because of
illness and unbelieving doctors. Others were also
interviewed who had knowledge of Lyme disease, one
being a child who explained how the disease is
transmitted from certain types of ticks to humans. The
fact that someone so young was used to explain the
process was a tactic used by Wilson to show that the concept and transmission of Lyme disease
isnt hard to understand (Wilson 00:11). Along with all the people interviewed, Wilson included
dreary music and multiple types of imagery, such as images that show how tiny a tick is, to
convey emotions and provide tangible evidence for us to see rather than just hearing what
someone has to say about the matter. Without statistics and imagery, there wouldnt be enough
proof of Lyme disease and how severe the situation has become. Wilson brilliantly added these to
his documentary, including plenty of verbal and nonverbal evidence to provoke the audience into
action. Because of the strong accounts and evidence presented in the film, its very easy to look
over everything the director had done wrong, such as those hidden fallacies Ive already
mentioned. Wilson succeeded in spreading awareness of the illness and getting people to join the
cause, but he had to manipulate people in order to do this.

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Works Cited
Hall, Phil. "Under Our Skin." Film Threat. N.p., 22 June 2009. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.
Wilson, Andy Abrahams, dir. Under Our Skin. Open Eye Pictures, 2008. Film
"5 Important Neurological Complications of Lyme Disease to Be Aware Of." Ego Development.
WordPress, 24 Apr. 2013. Web. Photograph. 16 Mar. 2014.