Fifth Assignment- Post #2

The audience plays a huge, and arguably most important, role in the ethics of a rhetorical situation. By engaging in public discourse, politicians, newspeople, or other public figures are inviting discourse from the public as well; a back-and-forth between the professionals and the non-professionals is a part of the bargain. Unfortunately, in its current state, audiences tend to be more destructive than constructive. Most of the (attempted) ethical rhetoric is done online in articles or videos posted to YouTube or Yahoo, and in the comments section the users have full anonymity and free reign to speak on whatever they'd wish with no consequence. A part of this means that attacks are common and people use their faceless avatar to say exactly what they think without working towards a common goal, rendering the institution of ethical rhetoric non-existent. This was described as well in my previous post.

Fifth Assignment- Post #1

Our current model of public discourse is unfavorable, as it does reward bad faith argumentation. Instead of listening, assessing, and most of all working toward a solution, the media strives to make its case and give credence to nobody else's. Even if they were to say that they valued all opinions, an audience wouldn't know it; there is screaming, wrong information, and sentences cut off before they are finished which can only mean the person arguing it didn't hear the whole thing and thus isn't quite sure what it is they are arguing.

Another place where these things occur, albeit in a slightly different way, is on online forums. Even if someone gives a reasonable and well-thought out argument in the 'comments' section of a political news video, the only thing that people can do in response is 'like' the post, 'dislike' the post, comment agreeing with the post, or comment shredding that original poster to shreds (and that, unfortunately, makes up a majority of the content). This is not actually accomplishing anything; instead, it acts as a facade for the anonymous and nameless to voice their opinions without any real chance at legitimate discourse or or at working towards any kind of remedy for the issue at hand. For a wonderfully irritating example of this roundabout gibberish, take a look at the following link:

http://news.yahoo.com/affordable-care-act-only-chips-away-core-goal-175534209.html

^Be warned when you click, as there are over 1,500 comments at the moment.

This kind of unethical discourse is encouraged, unfortunately, because nobody wants to put a stop to it. Arguments make good promo spots, which increase ratings. In terms of 'comments' strands: why show restraint when you are protected by a screen and remain anonymous? Say what you want to say and don't hold back, right? The damage that these things do is real, as people are actually hurt and spend hours upon hours rebutting in an argument that can only lead one place: nowhere. I believe that perhaps our greatest privilege in this country is free speech, but I can't help wishing that we used it to a more satisfying end.

Fourth Assignment: Blog #2

A film that dabbles in Noir conventions as well as uproots them is Devil in a Blue Dress. Femme fatale, political corruption, murder, betrayal, big reveals...this film has them all including the cliched voiceover from out protagonist. The difference in this film is that the protagonist is black, a minority that is itself or similarly exploited or made to embody villainy in previous Noir films. By placing Denzel at the forefront, it makes a huge statement about Noir films: they can be multiethnic, and the stories can apply to others. The issues or race and class brought about in AMST 274 are certainly brought up here; Denzel's character makes a big sea out of his home being his home, and his car being his car. The pride of his class standing is a major part of his character, as is his inability to secure a job which leads him down the rabbit hole of the plot. In closing, the film is certainly a Noir film in its conventions but uses race to differentiate itself.

Fourth Assignment: Blog #1

Paul Schrader, a noted filmmaker, has penned a far-reaching and time-spanning article titled simply, "Notes on Film Noir." More like an expansive exhaustion of the genre than a simple listing of "notes" as the title suggests, Schrader tackles several of the elements film noir has come to represent including 'War and Post-War Disillusionments,' 'Post-War Realism,' 'The German Influence,' The Hard-Boiled Tradition,' 'Stylistics,' and 'Themes.' Each of these dives deep into the influence it had on the genre as a whole, which he notes as one of "the best known and least known" periods in Hollywood film. This dichotomy, along with that list of topics that Schrader tackles, makes this an indispensable resource. One thing I learned that I didn't know comes from 'The German Influence' section, where Schrader notes famed cinematographer of Hungarian descent named John Alton who helped "adapt old expressionist techniques to the new desire for realism..." That kind of adaptation is an interesting one to explore not only in relation to John Alton but in relation to any noir film.