42 Problems but Baseball Ain't One

42: A Chris Pozzi Critique

         

              This trailer seems to try to convince people to attend the movie by the way it flows.  Initially, it has a pretty slow introduction.  The trailer makes the audience question what kind of movie this is going to be.   With the ominous music combined with the slow transitions, I personally could not tell if this genre was going to be a horror film or a drama.  As I continued to watch the trailer, I determined that it would be a drama, so I think it could appeal to most any audience.  I would say somebody a little bit more mature may enjoy it more than someone immature because it has more of a serious component to it than other movies may have.  This serious component would definitely appeal to many people as well though.  It has a lot of content having to do with controversial issues like racism and segregation.  On the other hand, it is about Jackie Robinson and baseball, so I bet it would appeal to a child who is a big Robinson fan or who really enjoys baseball.  I think both are viable options for an audience, but are just different.  Additionally, as the trailer keeps opening, the man who plays Jackie Robinson starts talking and you realize it will be a sports drama.  

             Another main component are the scenes regarding segregation, which help you understand what time period this movie will take place in and the issues the characters will face.  Two of the scenes that show this are when the spectators go into the baseball stadium they must go into the colored section or the white section.  Another scene is that Jackie’s wife looks at the white women’s bathroom and seems to contemplate going in (and if you watch the movie she ends up going in).  As the trailer picks up, the speed increases and relates to how intense the movie is going to be and the oppression Jackie is going to face.  This take on segregation and racism and how it affects sports negatively is definitely the argument the movie is trying to make.  As the trailer comes to an end, the music changes to a bit more inspiring and makes the audience feel that while Jackie is going to face oppression, he will fight it and hopefully overcome it. 

 In addition, this trailer demonstrates ethos as it shows a very prominent actor, Harrison Ford, as one of the main characters.  As Harrison has been in many great movies, people trust his acting and the type of film that he partakes in.  In the trailer, you are visually able to argue that his costume is that of a high society businessman, and his character seems to express that pretty well in the quick scenes you see of him.  An example is in the scene that he is trying to convince people that putting Jackie on the Dodgers is a good idea, and I assume people listen to him as an authority figure for one because of his types of clothes.  This is shown in “Everything’s An Argument” when author Ms. Andrea Lunsford says, “In considering the role that ethos plays in rhetorical analyses, you need to pay attention to the details, right down to the choice of words or, in a visual argument, the shapes and colors” (106).   This trailer demonstrates pathos as it pulls on the heart strings showing the oppression Jackie and other African Americans truly faced at this time in history.  It also shows pathos as it shows how Jackie badly just wants to be the same as everyone and play baseball, while also just wanting to make his wife and son proud of him.  Lastly, this trailer shows logos because we, as an audience, logically know how this movie ends.  We know the facts and know what Jackie truly overcomes.  It is interesting that all three of these visual arguments are different, but really tie together everything the audience should get by the time the movie is over.   

             In addition to having a few different types of audiences, this trailer has visual elements that we talked about in class and in the reading and play a big role in this argument of oppression.  An interesting thought I had regarding this trailer came when looking at my reading from Ms. Louis Giannetti’s “Understanding Movies: Color” as it talks about black-and-white sequence: “A more effective variation is simply not to use too much color, to let black and white predominate” (22).  While this is definitely a different take on what the black-and-white meaning is, I think that the symbolism regarding black-and-white color sequences that the reading talks about can be seen in other ways.  The best parts about movies and the visual elements are finding their hidden meanings.  I think that the colors black and white have extra meaning and stand out when watching a movie on segregation.  These colors are just naturally seen in different ways with this type of movie.  Black and white can definitely be over-looked, so it was interesting to find another take on this visual argument that could be in this trailer. 

             I would rate this trailer four pickles because it demonstrates ethos, pathos, and logos well and has symbolism that is definitely interesting to pick up on (and it was an entertaining trailer in general).  I did not give it a fifth pickle because it was almost a little too obvious as to how Jackie faces his problems in the movie.