Dazed and Confused. Dir. Richard Linklater. DVD. 1993.
In the film Dazed and Confused one of the first scenes is a group of senior high school girls hazing incoming freshmen girls. The hazing involves the younger girls preforming degrading actions and having disgusting concoctions poured all over them.
The purpose of this scene in the film is to show the older girls exerting their seniority over the younger girls by inadvertently forcing them to preform hazing tasks to be "cool" and to be socially accepted.
The audience for this movie is high school and college students, both male and female.
The appeal to ethos exists in two manners in this scene. Many students could regard this scene in a positive manner where the young high school girls are proving themselves to be "cool". Some students might share this value system that younger students should prove that they are equal to the older girls. Other people might find that this scene shows poor morals and ethics and that they do not agree with this scene. In a sense, this scene is created for students to relate to and gain humor from, and it is not expected that the audience will find it unfunny and harmful.
The appeal to pathos is perhaps the strongest of the rhetoric appeals. The scene of the younger girls doing whatever it takes to gain respect from the senior girls draws on both empathy and humor. Many students can relate to wanting to fit in with the "cool" crowd.
MODE TWO: ARTWORK
Camplin, Todd. A Highschool Hazing. Blog: Arts, Artists, and Galleries. 22 July 2007. 6 Nov. 2008.
MODE THREE: SONG
Pink, "Hazard to Myself"
MODE FOUR: BOOK
The Bell Jar
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