Fabian Hernandez
Ms. Hoy
WRD-111
Image/Text Analysis:
In the NRA’s efforts to debunk the Obama administrations
attempts at gun control measures, they use a powerful video. The NRA argues in this
video that the American people should be thinking more seriously about the
things we should allow for the safety of our children while at school, and that
Obama is hindering that extra measure of safety needed for our kids. They make
this argument by using color, and emotionally charged statements and rhetorical
questions.
The audience of this image is more geared towards the family
man/woman. It is really aimed at anyone with a younger kid that is in school. With
all of the school shootings it is a real threat that it could happen to any
school and potentially any parent’s kids. The intended audience is persuaded by
the ethos that the NRA holds with being the powerhouse of all things gun
related, and feel they know what is best. The advertisement is really tailored
to this specific audience and plays on their fears and pits them against the president’s
anti-gun agenda, and his decision not to have guns in schools to protect the
children.
For my analysis I will be focusing on one image taken from
the NRA’s video campaign against the Obama administrations reluctance to put
armed guards in schools. The picture depicts two children playing baseball with
tall grass in the foreground and an American flag in the background. All of
this scenery is shown in an eerie black and white color along with the huge
words across the screen in white, saying, “ARE THE PRESIDENT’S KIDS MORE
IMPORTANT THAN YOURS?” The words, “MORE IMPORTANT” are written in bright red
and clearly contrast the black and white image.
When the video poses the question to the audience, the NRA
is actually using pathos to make the reader think about their own kids and how
important that they are to them. The NRA is asking them a rhetorical question
that makes them feel anger that the president may think that his kids are more
important than their own. It makes them wonder why their own kids aren’t held
as high as the presidents children. This almost automatically has the audience
side with the NRA.
While the question is showing in the image, the bold red
letters stick out like a sore thumb, with somewhat hidden intent. The red
coloring of the words are used to obviously emphasize the importance of the
presidents kids being, “MORE IMPORTANT” than theirs but the use of red really
shows the intent of the coloring. Red is the color usually used to represent
anger, sometimes evil, and is most notably the color of blood. This gives
insight into what the true intent of the color choice red was. It was meant to
make the audience feel anger about the lack of importance placed on their kids
by the president. It is also used to reflect the blood that could possibly be
spilled if something were to happen to the audiences kids while at school
unprotected. It raises the awareness of the dangers of the presidents declining
of the movement to put armed guards in schools. The text could have been any
color under the sun, but the decision to go with red was thought out and
thought about. Blue represents calm and tranquility, but what good would that
do to persuade?
