They explain this process of persuasion: “In the political arena, it is important to note that images are often intended to symbolize far more than candidates’ most attractive personal traits. Instead, they have often been constructed to imbue candidates with mythical, larger-than-life qualities that stand for not only the candidate, but he nation itself. In these symbolic representations, the identity of the candidate and the nation are merged…Politicians usually construct images that reflect core political values because embodying exalted American values—such as individualism, freedom or equality—enhances their status, legitimizes their claim to wield power and justifies their policy preferences…The emotional appeal of these images to patriotic values encourages unquestioned acceptance of candidates’ images and candidates’ patriotic definitions of the nation, as well as the stands on policy positions that flow from these definitions” (135-6) What these films do, then, is “to celebrate values rather than persuade by virtue of rational argument” (139).
They also argue that since mass media, politicians have moved away from relying on verbal rhetoric in these films and have moved toward a more visual rhetoric (though one hasn’t been present without the other).
Key Terms:
- Schema Theory: “According to this theory, people abstract information from their personal or vicarious experiences to create mental constructs that organize information about situations and individuals. Each mental construct, or schema, includes a conception of a general pattern, as well as a limited number of illustrative examples…[F]irsthand, direct experiences have far more influence on schema development than secondhand, vicarious ones…Yet the invention of television provided a new and far more persuasive way to learn from vicarious experiences. The medium, with its appeal to visual and auditory senses, comes closer to recreating the perceptual cues of real-life experiences…Once a schema has been developed and a judgment put into place, it is particularly difficult to change because people engage in selective perception” (146-7)
- Verbal rhetoric: “attempts to persuade with verbal symbols or words including the full array of assertions and arguments” (136).