The Battleship Potemkin was not only a cinematic milestone but an excellent example of the development and potentially dangerous escalation of a social issue.
Slides 1-2: A strong sense of outrage is present. The effected feel that they are wronged and yearn to take control and make a change themselves. This is not necessarily applicable to the mentally ill themselves, but their families are more than capable of making their voices heard, especially assembled they would sum out to a greater population than the mentally ill. Slides 3-7: Group mentality is crucial to propagating social movement, as detailed by Cohen in Passionate Politics. Slide 3 shows the lowly sailors banding together in their boycott of the bad meat (Slide 4). These connections carry over when they assemble on deck, as evidence by the massive clusters of white (Slide 5). The bonds only strengthen after they win against the officers. Slide 6 shows several sailors jumping into the sea to save their comrade. Backtracking a bit, slide 7 shows a crucial scene where the gun-wielding soldiers choose to side with their comrades rather than their duty. Together, the lower-ranked soldiers defeat the haughty officers. In terms of advancing a social issue, power and influence comes in numbers. Slides 8-10: For a campaign is is important to identify a campaign. In the film, the high ranked, oppressing officers were distinguished from the masses by their dark elaborate uniforms and haughty demeanors (slide 10). They are at first pictured as calm and decisive, but eventually degrade into violent threats (slide 8-9). For the advocating rights of the mentally ill, the main opposition comes in the form of stigma, fear and misperceptions. This collective enemy must be isolated and discredit for the movement for progress. Slides 11-13: Martyrdom is a key trait of melodramatic rhetoric. The victimization of the innocent, particularly women and children, evoke a strong empathy in the audience often overcoming the threshold in changing popular opinion. Although death is unfortunately common result of the abuse of rights of the mentally ill, it can be presented as martyrdom to curb societal opinion. The fallen deserve justice. |
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