I really liked the movie Thank you for Smoking. I thought it
did a very good job at showing this industry during this time and the different
ways it impacted individuals within the United States. I would rate this an
8/10. My favorite part was watching Nick Naylor as a lobbyist. I thought the
way he worked was very interesting and he was a very talented lobbyist. There
was nothing that stood out to me as annoying.
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| Source: http://pixabay.com/p-78001/?no_redirect CC Public Domain |
In the movie everyone is
"working their own angles". They do this by knowing what their intended
audience wants. They also appeal to what they know the people are going to
want, and twist their words to promise they are going to be able to deliver on
that promise. Nick Naylor had a great line that stated, “If you argue
correctly, you are never wrong.” I thought this did a great job at stating that
you must choose your words and the way you represent something wisely.
The truth can be a difficult subject.
There is going to be the absolute truth, but then there are going to be truths
that are subjective. How can we expose the weakness and appeal to the people to
make it seem like something is more important than the truth. For example, not
talking about the individual who now has lung cancer from smoking cigarettes. Morals
are definitely subjective. In class we did an exercise where we had to talk
about different morals, and even though we all used the same photo, we had
different beliefs on if it was moral or not by the exact definitely of morals
we were looking at. In the United States we are free, but we will never totally
be free. We are influenced by many people and have to follow a set of rules
produced by the government, social rules created by our culture and communities,
and the moral rules we choose to follow.
I think one spin that I often hear is
the need for new products and technology in my life. I often see a commercial
that will put a spin on a new technology (camera, tablet, and phone) that will
impact the way we live and the reason I will need to have it. I am easily
convinced these are important tools that will help me better my life and
productivity.
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| Source: This photo was taken in the Rod Library by Robyn Bredvick |
I really try to give the facts and the
logic of the situation. I do not want to “spin” people to choosing the same as
me, but I want them to feel educated in the decisions they are making and I
want them to understand how something will affect their lives.
This movie was able to add to my visual literacy. Throughout this video it
is evident that people of United States are being manipulated by the use of
visuals by big corporations. A great example of this is when Nick Naylor knew
if they were able to get the cigarettes back into the movies they would see a
rise in tobacco products. I was able to see how visuals and speech can
manipulate the way people look at a product.
