Blog Post 6: A Logical View of "Buddy Holly"

Whereas ethos may be the strongest and most obvious rhetorical appeal used by Weezer in "Buddy Holly," logos also plays a near equal role. The song is well led into by a television anchor standing outside Al's Restaurant in Kenosha, Wisconsin from the 70's show "Happy Days." The video then leads into the restaurant where the viewers see owner Al Molinaro and the Weezer band members standing behind him. Al continues to introduce them before the band begins to play.

The restaurant seems fairly trendy with pennants of prominent area college pennants such as Purdue, Wisconsin and Northwestern on the walls and younger teens as patrons. The teens begin to dance around and have a good time when the music starts playing indicating they obviously enjoy it. Much of this plays into the lyrics of the song that talk about how teenagers idolize celebrities and even dress and act like them. Each of the band members dress very similarly to a "Buddy Holly" type look and when the teenagers start dancing along with the music, it hows how the celebrity status of the band instantly makes them good, somewhat regardless of the quality.

After the second time through the chorus, the video takes an intermission with a "To be continued..." across the screen much like the end of an episode or a commercial break as if the video were an episode of the show. This could also show how the trends of what was just said in the chorus ("I look just like Buddy Holly...I don't care about that") will continue as being true. In the 1950s, fads of dressing and acting like celebrities were just starting to become prominent, so by saying that this will continue shows how through the past few generations, we have idolized popular culture in the world.

The title "Buddy Holly" itself indicates the way our minds wrap around a certain key name and take it for all it's worth. Even though there are surely many better names for this song, "Buddy Holly" is very accurate to the theme because it shows the prominence of the celebrity image being the total focal point for the piece.

Blog Post 5: Rhetorical Appeal in Modern Music

Not only does Weezer's "Buddy Holly" music video appeal to a wide range of contexts, but it also connects just as strongly with the three main rhetorical appeals: pathos, ethos and logos. Though the video touches on all three, it most strongly hits ethos.

Throughout the entire video, Weezer's fullest intention is to mimic the 1950's set sitcom, "Happy Days." Obviously, Weezer's music is set to a younger audience, so by creating a parody of an older show, Weezer is gaining respect from older folks watching that may have thought down on the band judging them solely on their chosen musical genre.

Beyond the platform that the video is based around, Weezer also employed the help of former “Happy Days” star Al Molinaro to give an introduction and play a part throughout the video. This again brings up the point of ethos. By having a somewhat-major celebrity in the video, Weezer can play off the appearance that they have “made it” as a band to the point where celebrities will be willing to take part in the band’s music.

Lastly, as the band members are walking off stage after the show, Restaurant owner Al asks Weezer bassist Matt Sharp how he liked the fish, to which Sharp responded, “Not good, Al.” Such a simple statement could be easily overlooked at the end of a video, but in this case, the comment shows humor and with the audience laughter in the background, pushes for a bandwagon affect on the viewer. In fact, in any place in the video where the patrons start dancing or the other “extras” in the video show they are having a good time, Weezer is garnering ethos from the video viewers. Because the people in the video are having a good time, the viewers will gain ethos for the video through their enjoyment. Obviously this touches strongly on pathos as well, but the end result is credibility and acceptability for Weezer as a band and “Buddy Holly” as a song.

Blog Post 4: "Buddy Holly" by Weezer

Though there are not a variety of contexts displayed in this Weezer video, those that are, are very apparent and well rounded. Most obvious is the historical context that makes up the entire composition of the song and video. The setting is in Al's Restaurant from the television show "Happy Days"and features cast member Al Molinaro, who was the owner of the restaurant, from the show itself. Besides using the set of the show itself, the video was also set up like a spoof of the show. Weezer was introduced by Molinaro and there was a "commercial" break in the middle of the video. On top of the location and video format, Weezer band members dress as though they are from that same 50s era, making the point to go along with the song how people tend to dress up and act like those they idolize, in this case, Buddy Holly and Mary Tyler Moore. Although these celebrities were from that time period, the same holds true today. Much of why the video was set up this way is to back up the song's purpose, but it also could help bring in older audiences as well. By structuring the video and song around concepts older people can relate well to, they will in turn connect to the music, whether or not they actually like the music for its quality.

Other than historical, the video also captured the classic cultural example of the 50s in America. For instance, when one girl "cast an eyeball" on the "cool cats" playing on the stage, her apparent boyfriend decided to "agitate the gravel" and "cut out." From the jute box in the corner to the swing dancing on the floor, the video, whether intentional or not, could give a definite perspective of American 1950s. Along with the location and format from "Happy Days," the cultural parody could help garner appreciation from older demographics and create ethos for the newer, younger music that older generations usually may not be a able to connect to.

Blog Post 2: Web 2.0 Video

Videos such as the one above provide a crucial insight into where humans have come from and where we are headed in terms of our written and comunication habits. By beginning with a simple pencil writing on a piece of paper, only to erase and replace the writing with a more meaningful, to the point message, the video shows the primary roots of the more common writing style of today. Following the initial development into computer text and html coding, the video presents the more common web browsers with tons of information streaming rapidly across the screen with no possible time to grasp everything flying past. The purpose of this is to show the viewer that our society now has turned into a massive information overload where people are able to know everything going on at all times whether they really want to or not.

Throughout the video, the developer did an excellant job of keeping events in choronological order as they happened, with paper and pencil coming obviously before the current constant media highway. Doing so allowed the viewer to easily connect with the developer's idea, even with the lack of auditory monologue. This created some ethos with the viewer. By engaging the viewer with motions and intersting thoughts such as those presented, the developer is able to connect with those watching and is better able to get his or her point across. Even with a lower quality, this video would have still garnered much interest by using the sort of websites and and information that people use day to day. By incorporating what people are interested in, the developer also is able to keep their attention at the level to, again, make his point. With purpose and ethos, the developer of "Web 2.0" not only made his point, but kept his audience interested through the art of rhetoric.

Blog Post 1: Quotation on Writing

"He who does not expect a million readers should not write a line." -Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

As I am beginning my first blog, Von Goethe’s quote makes absolute sense. While writing in a diary is for personal satisfaction, public writing is a freedom of speech and should express a certain freedom from speech restraint. While that applies to hard print, it is imperative to online writing. The internet is open to anyone and everyone. For my writing to be on such a medium, it requires trust and self confidence. I am aware that my audience is the world and write as such. Though my writing is directly intended for a small group of individuals in a college English class, my writing purpose will reflect myself and what I stand for, regardless of the “million” people that may be reading it.

As our world has become as minuscule as “a mouse click away,” writers must realize their pieces are not going to be bound in the next town over and read only in the following nearest village. My writing here is available for the global community. Anyone with access to a computer is able to see what I have written. Although surely Von Goethe didn’t realize his quote would have quite the meaning it does today, he is entirely correct with such a thought. Possibly, he went a bit far that writers should not “write a single line” if they are uncomfortable, but in reality and today’s world, a writer must have a full ability to let his work be read, pondered, argued and criticized. Without this ability, a writer will not write to his fullest potential due to his inhibitions to let himself release what is meant to be said. In short, if a writer lacks the desire to let himself be read by the world, according to Von Goethe along with my own belief, he is wasting his time.