A Sneaky Influence

A Sneaky Influence

http://www.oregonlive.com/window-shop/index.ssf/2013/02/some_independent_retailers_fin.html#incart_m-rpt-2

         Stickers pile up, advertising a history of markdowns; the store is dark as night; and the figure’s sad eyes are veiled by a sheet of tin. Is this the work of marketing geniuses appealing to modern society’s love for the thrill ride? In fact, it is quite the contrary, sharing the dreary tale of many locally owned businesses today. This OregonLive article tells the story of a young boy hoping for a fun visit to the mall, who left without the personal satisfaction for which he was searching.

            The photo of the boy is placed in the top left corner of the article, so it is the very first spot readers’ eyes are drawn to. Looking at this image, even before any text, brings up subconscious ideas. The boy is wearing red and black, colors that signify riches and debt, and his display of both colors emphasizes his childish innocence.

The caption reads:

Riley Page, 5, visited Excalibur Cutlery & Gifts at Lloyd Center recently to see its reproduction of "The Hobbit" character Bilbo Baggins' Sting Sword. But the retailer was locked up after filing for bankruptcy. The Eugene-based retailer will liquidate all its goods at the Lloyd location starting March 1.

These couple sentences instill multiple emotions in the reader’s mind. He or she may wonder what is going on behind the fenced in area, feel bad for the kid for not being able to find what he was looking for, and at the same time wonder if maybe it would be best if he didn’t enter into the darkness. Then, the article begins by making malls seem like the “bad guys”, favoring corporations’ sales of the same items local businesses carry in their stores. It goes on about how being dropped from Washington Square Mall, its most profitable location, made Excalibur go out of business altogether. The article itself then tries to mimic Riley’s innocence by coming off generally neutral to the situation. The language shifts from pointing a finger at malls themselves to data supporting the opposing point of view. This is the most obvious benefit of the image at the top of the page, because it essentially, with the view of the concluding sentences, bookends the article so it slyly influences the way the reader thinks.

The image’s initial effect is to make the reader wonder about the downfall of local businesses, but subconsciously it is identifying local businesses as bad because of how dark and hellishly dismal the right half of the photograph is. The neutral, innocent boy separates the slouching figure on the right from the well-lit, well-stocked, pristine class case on the left. The article’s uses stronger language and rhetoric in its latter half, quoting the CEO of another successful Portland mall who says about malls’ store-selection process, “They face a lot of pressure to deliver more bottom-line profits, and it's just more efficient for them to deal with national tenants”. If, after reading the article, the reader takes another look at the image, he or she will likely relate more to the child, agreeing with his face peeking into the dark side but his feet firmly planted in front of the financially-sound, more visually-appealing, industrial side of things.

A Photograph of the Invisible

Morris relates images to beliefs by discussing photos and what we associate with them. When I first viewed the photo of the ship, I felt absolutely no attachment whatsoever besides thinking the photo itself was fascinating. After reading the stories attached to the history of the boat (whether or not it is truly the Lusitania as we presume it is), I felt sympathetic when viewing the photo again. Naturally, my brain started wandering between possibilities of who was on the boat, under what circumstances the photo was taken, where in the timeline of the ship’s history the photo was taken, etc. As soon as I believed I knew the situation expressed in the photo, I felt differently towards it. 

To a certain extent, as expressed by the aforementioned change in my feelings, I agree with Morris that beliefs influence what we think about an image. However, he then goes on to state that we cannot assign the labels “true” or “false” to any image because those labels reference not our thoughts on the picture but our thoughts on statements related to the picture. Even if these statements are as simple as a caption, we never answer directly whether or not a picture is true without answering an underlying question. This is where I disagree. I wholeheartedly believe that a photo can induce feelings on its own and answer questions. It is indisputable that photos can give us insight into otherwise mysterious occasions, as seen by the help they provide for solving crimes, and often this information cannot be acquired by other means.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/05/world/europe/armenia-rally-balloons-explode-at-campaign-rally.html?ref=balloons&_r=0

Images like this can tell us who was where, and answer questions about the atmosphere of a situation, even if they cannot provide insight as to what chain of events led up to the photo or what exactly it may be depicting.

Taking [ ] <- see, it's taken :)

In “Taking an Approach,” Harris discusses yet another way to rewrite the works of another while using your own words, this time specifically directing attention to influence and style of another writer as opposed to directly quoting them and their sources. When forwarding and countering, you bring new ideas to light by either agreeing with them or providing examples of a view you disagree with to provide conversation. One of the perks of countering is that when you spend time arguing against the piece of evidence, you are exposing your conversation-partner to two views and showing him or her why yours is correct. By having that alternative perspective, others can think more critically about what you are saying, and then whatever viewpoint they come out of the conversation with they will feel that much more strongly for. This means that if you argue well, you now have another strong supporter on your side. This ability to disprove other potentially convincing arguments is used as a major tactic when taking an approach. Bloggers often do a great job of involving readers in their views by making their speeches candid and understandable. This is the necessary base for taking an approach, because the author can now pull in things he or she does and doesn’t agree with and followers trust the points made because they can see alternative points disproven.

            Taking an approach sounds remarkably similar, almost too much so, to countering if we are viewing it solely as a way to bring up and shut down opposing arguments, though. The difference, as Harris explains it, is that when taking an approach you don’t distinctly bring up points just to counter them, but rather use those points to understand and replicate an author’s way of speaking. This is essentially the process of copying someone else’s mode, form, or style I suppose you could say, instead of taking and remarking on direct sources. I feel like The New York Times, random blogs, and even parody-focused sources all tend to resort to forwarding and countering more than taking an approach because it eliminates the majority of questioning that an audience could impose. If the alternative views of a topic are never introduced, and controversial examples are eliminated, opposition often dissipates.

Let Them Eat Cake! Or Don't...

Original Article:

http://www.oregonlive.com/gresham/index.ssf/2013/02/gresham_bakery_says_oregon_con.html#incart_river

Behind the Scenes…

            I rewrote an article from The Oregonian, my primary hometown newspaper, about a bakery-owner couple that denied service to a lesbian couple who wanted figurines on their wedding cake. The Oregonian’s article was originally fairly neutral, explaining that the owners say their response has been taken out of context while at the same time discussing the store’s prior sale to the couple’s heterosexual parents. In my alteration, I chose language to fit a pro-same-sex-marriage blogging style, such as can be found on Andrew Sullivan’s blog at http://dish.andrewsullivan.com. To do this, I removed statements from the owners, added a link and discussion about potential positive legislation in pro-gay marriage news, presented opinion about equality and contradictory behavior by opposition, and suggested instructions on supporting the arguments negating church’s power. My language reflects these choices with strong diction in reference to unsupported views, and broad, difficult to oppose vocabulary and arguments when discussing human rights.

Let Them Eat Cake! Or Don’t

The tyranny continues. The power struggle has a new flame. Our fight for equality takes another step back on its flourishing journey. Oregon’s anti-gay legislation acted as a roadblock today, enraging the members of our supportive community. Aaron and Melissa Klein own a cake bakery in Gresham, and made the unconstitutional decision against our rights as individuals when dismissing a lesbian couple as clients because of their sexual preferences. Rachel Cryer and Laurel Bowman, a happily engaged couple, requested a cake with two feminine characters atop its uppermost level. Disallowing the tradition of representing love interests for a wedding-day display is nothing less than an abomination. The owners, claiming, “[their] rights to freedom of worship and freedom of religious opinion should protect them,” consider their own Christian faith reason enough to barricade Cryer and Bowman from culinary representation of their happiness.

Oregon law, as the owners claim, protects their decision under their freedom of religion. However, this freedom says nothing about the legal allowance of one to encroach upon another’s religious preferences or sexual orientation. In fact, legislation in our state does not endorse discrimination of any kind. It particularly states that preferential discrimination cannot sabotage accommodations for others. The Oregonian explains,

“State law says it is a violation for a business to deny ‘full and equal accommodations’ for customers based on race, religion, gender, sexual orientation and other factors. The Oregon Equality Act also protects the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Oregonians in employment, housing and public places.”

This protects the gay community in public places directly- Sweet Cakes included- by written law.

As per usual, we cannot step down in our pursuit for protection. Basic Rights Oregon has begun a petition for allowing same-sex marriage in the state of Oregon to be legally recognized, further elaborated upon at http://www.oregonlive.com/mapes/index.ssf/2013/02/backers_of_gay_marriage_will_t.html. This political confrontation will soon come to a close, as the cake-denial incident merely fuels our intentions. Our moral obligations must follow the rights of equality this country provides and with your support for Basic Rights Oregon’s proposal we can surely expect to overcome opposition. The upcoming election is not presidentially centered; so voting rates are likely to decline, especially from democratic naysayers. The OregonLive article insists,

“The most recent public survey on the issue, by Public Policy Polling in December, found that 54 percent of Oregon voters believed same-sex marriage should be legal, while 40 percent were opposed.”

This should make our future success more obvious than ever, if we continue to pour in the necessary support.

We have the statistical support, but we need more to change social expectations. Who is to say a cake maker’s decoration must represent values and beliefs of the chef with decorative expertise? Just as a car dealer has no say in which bumper stickers shield and damage the fine paint job on a new car’s exterior, so shall an icing expert have no right to dispute decorative color, size, shape, and prop choice of a commissioned project. No child is denied a Cookie Monster birthday cake because the iconic character’s blue color is unrealistic, and no pastry chef should turn away a wedding figure of a client whose haircut reflects typical styling of the opposite gender. So, whether or not someone agrees with the imaginary phallic objects under synthetic clothing should have no say in a business-to-consumer relationship. In the spirit of human equality and highlighted by Valentine’s Day, let’s ignite our fighting spirits and defend what we deserve.