charity c. tran

By Charity C. Tran

The following was written for my course on Classical Rhetoric.  With the latest slew of online videos, I felt compelled to look into the rhetorical dialogue and structure available in networks like YouTube, particularly with response videos. -cct

In Brutus, Cicero evaluates orators and states that

The truth is that the orator who is approved by the multitude must inevitably be approved by the expert.  What is right or wrong in a man’s speaking I shall be able to judge, provided I have the ability and knowledge to judge…” (Matsen p. 175).

Cicero’s evaluation of orators makes me contemplate what it means to be an “orator” today.  Kennedy describes in A New History of Classical Rhetoric that “an important difference between Greek and Roman courts was that in Greece litigants had ordinarily been expected to speak on their own behalf […] [whereas Romans] regularly got their more eloquent friends to help them out […] [with major cases] pleaded by  professional orators, called “patrons” (p. 103).  While we still have formalized situations that require formal speeches and professional representation such as in legal and government settings, we also exist in the world driven by personal narration that can easily become social platforms and relevant topics of rhetorical dialogue.  With readily available social media platforms and user-friendly means of generating media like videos and blogs, no “multitude” is necessary to grant anyone the ability to speak.  But the multitude does still hold sway on how many people listen.  The viral video is a great example of this and still follows a format of “approval by the multitude” and judgment by “experts”.

Viral videos are a direct reflection of the multitude, rising up in attention with numerous views and social sharing through blogs and social networks like Facebook and Twitter.  The Internet provides the perfect platform for the exponential growth of digital content: each time a content piece is shared, it has the opportunity to become shared again and again through not only the same channel but multiple other networks as well.  In today’s media-driven society based on popular response and opinion, a viral video can then gain attention in traditional outlets that include “legitimate” household-name publications and mainstream news, to be then legitimized as a topic of discussion by experts.

Contrary to times where rhetoric related to generally important topics of judicial and government processes, anything is fair game in the world of online video today.  Recently, the overnight rise of teenage pop singer Rebecca Black was mainly due to the extreme banality of her produced pop-song Friday’s lyrics more so than her singing talent:

Yesterday was Thursday, Thursday
Today is Friday, Friday […]
Tomorrow is Saturday
And Sunday comes afterwards
I don’t want this weekend to end” (Rey & Wilson).

According to Cara Lynn Shultz of People.com, “[Black’s] video was discussed on Tosh.0, Comedy Central’s blog for comic Daniel Tosh’s Web-themed show, proclaiming ‘Songwriting Isn’t for Everyone.’ From there, the video spread quickly, being dubbed the ‘worst music video ever’ by Gawker.com.”  Despite this description by Gawker.com, the video has not only received 48 million views, but has also spawned comments, shares, and even responses in the form of remixes and cover songs.  This phenomenon would initially seem to directly counter Quintilian who describes “the definition which bests suits its real character is that which makes rhetoric the science of speaking well”, but this example actually reinforces Quintilian’s point (Matsen p. 214).  What is trying to be persuaded in the viral movement of this video is not about how good the song is and why one should listen to it, but rather the rhetorical dialogue and response actions speak well about how bad it is; the sharing of this content then becomes a reflection of this belief among the “magnitude”.

Viral videos can also reflect social values and opinions.  Former UCLA student Alexandra Wallace attempted a supposedly tongue-in-cheek video about “Asians in the Library” filled with racial jokes, including an ill-timed joke regarding Japan in the aftermath of earthquake and tsunami.  The controversy of this event was increased by the fact that Wallace is not Asian.  Not surprisingly, the video was met with outrage and several copies were circulated even after the original video had been taken down.  It is possibly due to the video medium at large that UCLA felt the need to release not only a statement, but an official video stating that the beliefs expressed by Wallace were not shared by the university.

What makes the Wallace video significant to the conversation of online rhetorical dialogue is how well it establishes YouTube as a home for such dialogue.  Reactionary videos from others soon followed Wallace’s, but true to the entertainment value that drives the internet, the most popular videos were ones that commented through creativity like comedy or song.  David So’s “Vlog #4: Asians in the Library – UCLA Girl (Alexandra Wallace) going wild on Asians” video includes humorous reactions to Wallace’s comments.  Jimmy Wong wrote a song called “Ching Chong! Asians in the Library Song” which reflects Wallace’s use of the racist phrase “ching chong” (including her addition of “ling long ting tong”):

Ching Chong (It means I love you!)
Ling Long (I really want you!)
Ting Tong (I don’t even know what that means!).

So differentiates his response video from his others, indicating how he usually does not comment on other people’s videos.  Meanwhile Wong specifically wrote his song for this video as well – his other available videos are original songs and covers of known songs.  So and Wong become types of present-day orators through their response videos, purposely creating media that contributes to today’s rhetorical dialogue.  Wong’s video especially has been judged and “approved” by today’s “experts” having gained additional notice through such media outlets as NPR (National Public Radio) and MSNBC.  Both managed to emulate Crassus who “captivated the ears of all present and diverted their minds from earnest consideration of the case to a mood of pleasantry,” a skill in which Cicero believes is “the function of the orator to effect” (Matsen p. 176).

Both these YouTube case studies of Rebecca Black and Alexandra Wallace support Quintilian’s point about how

no art is self-contradictory, but rhetoric does contradict itself; no art tries to demolish what itself has built, but this does happen in the operations of rhetoric; or again: – rhetoric teaches either what ought to be said or what ought not to be said” (Matsen p. 216).

Additionally they also support Cicero who believed “what sort of an orator a man is can only be recognized from what his oratory effects” (Matsen p. 175).   Cicero cites “three things […] which the orator should effect: instruct his listener, give him pleasure, stir his emotions.”  In both examples with the original videos and subsequent reactions, audiences were directed to what they should see as good or bad, were given joy (even when outraged), and extreme emotions were definitely stirred – else, the videos perhaps would not have gone viral in the first place.  Or as Cicero would say, “Whether or not the orator succeeds in conveying to his listeners the emotions which he wishes to convey, [they] can only be judged by the assent of the multitude and approbation of the people.”

Works Cited

Jey, Clarence, Wilson, Patrice. (2011). Friday [Recorded by Rebecca Black]. On Friday [mp3]. Los Angeles: ARK Music Factory. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD2LRROpph0

Kennedy, George A. (1994). A New History of Classical Rhetoric. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Matsen, Patricia P., Rollinson, Philip, & Sousa, Marian. (1990). Readings from Classical Rhetoric. Carbondale and Edwardsville, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press.

Shultz, Cara Lynn. (March 17^th 2011). Rebecca Black Takes Back the Internet from Charlie Sheen. People. Retrieved from http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20474201,00.html.

So, David. (March 14^th 2011). Vlog #4: Asians in the Library – UCLA Girl (Alexandra Wallace) going wild on Asians [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOGpGoEMu2s

University of California, Los Angeles. (March 14^th 2011). Chancellor Block appalled by student video disparaging Asians [Video file]. Retrieved from http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/electronic.aspx?fid=134990&id=E0C24321

Wallace, Alexandra. (March 2011).  Asians in the Library [Video file]. Copy retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7XAJo3rQn8

Wong, Jimmy. (March 15^th 2011).  Ching Chong! Asians in the Library Song (Response to UCLA’s Alexandra Wallace) [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zulEMWj3sVA