Friday, March 20, 2009
BARBARIC!!!
This is a video of Senator Robert Byrd, the oldest member of Congress, making a speech on CSPAN in regards to the Michael Vick dogfighting charges. The genre is definitely humor. The speech wasn't meant to be funny, for Byrd is completely aggravated about the entire incident. However, his long pauses in between phrases and sentences, as well as his "barbaric" rant, takes all seriousness out of the speech. No one took this speech serious, not even the media or I'm sure even in Congress. The speech's intention lies within Byrd, whom obviously is a dog lover, and it was meant for him to address his opinion on the Michael Vick case.
The audience is those who are aware of the Michael Vick case, followers of the media, and of course dog lovers. Unfortunately for Byrd, because no one took this seriously, his argument against dogfighting is not effective at all.
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This video, though comical and unbelievable, still manages to have some sort of appeals at work. There is definitely a "pathetic" or emotional appeal at work here. Senator Robert Byrd is visibly devastated at the "treatment of these poor creatures", in reference to the dogs trained to fight in the Michael Vick case. During his "Barbaric"tirade, Senator Byrd is upset with Vick for what he did to the dogs and the fact that the situation got as far as it did.
ReplyDeleteThe Barbaric video also has an ethical appeal to it. The country saw on national television (I think C-Span is national...) what kind of person, or character, Senator Byrd really is. He's established himself as a dog lover, an outspoken Congressman on current events, and sort of senile I'm afraid (those hilariously random pauses in between his Barbaric! chants). Had Vick decided to train mice or parrots to fight each other, Senator Byrd probably wouldn't have gone public with his opinion. But because he loves dogs, and is a Congressman, he felt he should use his power to say something.
There isn't any editing or music in this video, which is a plus because viewers can see that this actually happened. Had there been 50 Cent or Nelly Furtado playing in the background, or if there was a television audience laughing in the background, this video wouldn't be as believable or effective as it is. It's the video's reality that brings it the most attention and makes it the most funny.