The video below is from the Onion, a fake news organization. On the surface, the video clip is a news scene that declares that video games prepare their players for the apocalypse. However, the reporters are actors, and they are not serious. Here is my rhetorical analysis of this video:
The genre of the video is satire.
The intended audience is the generation of young people that plays too many hours of video games and the parents of those people.
The purpose of this video is to make fun of these players who spend hours on end pressing buttons to move in a virtual, nightmarish scene.
The stance of this YouTube video clip is that video games are impractical, overly violent, and bad for the players’ health. For example, killing zombies that do not exist in the real world is impractical. Fighting with grenades and machine guns is overly violent. In addition, playing video games alone all day is bad for the kids’ physical and mental health.
This video is effective in presenting the view that video games that fill young people’s minds with violence are a waste of time. Children should stop playing them; parents should be aware of what they buy for their children or allow them to play; and video game companies should make less violent, more useful video games, if possible. I can totally identify with this video, since I used to play video games. They ones I played were not particularly violent, but I did waste a lot of time on them. Anyways, enjoy the video!
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This video clip from the Onion uses appeals to send out the message that violent videogames are adversely affecting children. Places where I find evidence are labeled with ‘ for minutes and “ for seconds from the 2 minute, 5 second video clip.
ReplyDeleteLack of ethos: At first, I would say that the dramatic music (time: 0” to 14” and 1’58” to 2’05”), the logo ONN modeling itself after a real news network CNN, and the serious-looking people onstage make this news report seem credible. However, the Onion is a fake news organization widely known for its satire. This fact would establish the “news broadcast” as entirely unreliable. Thus, there is no ethos since nothing is supposed to be taken seriously in this video clip.
Pathos: This video is full of humor. The overarching dark humor centers upon the assumption that the apocalypse is coming in the near future (time: 7” to 13”), an assumption that no one can prove. However, everyone on stage accepts this as true. Everyone on stage also automatically assumes that video games give a sense of what will be in the post apocalyptic future, including radioactive fallout and mutant creatures. The absurdity of the “advanced skills” kids will need to survive in this future are humorous. These “necessary skills” include finding shotgun ammo, leading “elite squads of super soldiers” (time: 20”), and building shelters from abandoned cars (31”). The impracticality of the entire discussion on what is necessary or practical to learn for the dark future is simply hilarious. The ridiculousness of the whole scene about the importance of video games for an uncertain future makes violent video games seem like a joke.
Logos: The general logic of the video is mostly unstated. However, it is implied that the future for kids of today is bright but video games train them to become brainless in the ways of the real world while their heads fill up with violence. According to the mother, Fallout 3 has “taught her son Charlie that it is easier to kill a cyborg with a grenade than a machine gun” (1’06”). As shown in this example, video games do not give kids any real knowledge while they incorporate excessive violence. In fact, they take away from the real world as kids play “video games all day, alone, and friendless” when they could enjoy fresh air with their peers (1’45”). Thus, violent video games are impractical, dangerous, unreal, and a waste of time.