http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=s5lULB1qOeE
After watching this, I felt sick to my stomach. Literally. The image is disturbing.
The ad makes an effective use of visual imagery to connect with the viewer's pathos. First off, the girl is common-looking. She looks like a woman any one of us would pass on the street during the day. This makes us feel an almost personal connection with her. It also makes us think that the beating she went through (apparent from her bruises) could also happen to anyone: you don't have to stand out to be abused. In the background of the video, the room the woman is standing in is also common: a bathroom. We see the towel hanging on the door, and bottles on a shelf. This puts the woman in a common place, and a usually comfortable place for most people (since it's somewhere in their home). The comfort generally associated with home, juxtaposed with the pain apparent from her cuts and bruises, creates a sharp contrast.
The other element of the video that I think is most important is the point of view. Rather than watching the woman from the side looking at herself in a mirror, trying to clean herself up, we are the mirror. She is looking directly at us. Her eye contact is piercing, further creating a connection between the viewer, and the victim. This plays upon our pathos, making us feel emotionally connected and almost responsible for the victim, since it feels as if she has come to us to tell her story and get help.
The end of the video, where she turns around quickly, implies that her attacker is coming, and that more injuries are coming as well. This makes viewers feel a sense of urgency to stop the violence.
The bond this video forms between viewers and the victim helps viewers feel empathy. This in addition to the shock at seeing her extensive injuries affects the viewers' pathos, causing feelings of sadness, disgust, and compassion. These emotions combine (ideally) to cause people to take action against domestic violence.
This is so sad; domestic violence is more prevalent than most people think; its crazy. Of course women are the man victims. The abusers themselves might have had terrible childhoods or might have being abused themselves. Many women do not leave abusive marriages because they keep getting promised it will never happen again. This is why many of us are oblivious to the domestic abuse; some of the cases go unreported. Its recurrent and continues to happen. The only way to rid of it is knowledge. All women must know the signs
ReplyDeleteThis is an incredibly well done commercial, and everything you've pointed out is true. One can't help but feel strongly about what is going on here. From a male perspective though, as much as I disgust myself saying it, it really hits home that she is a good looking woman (besides the injuries). The way I figure, the commercial probably wouldn't resonate with a male audience unless she was at least moderately pretty. I know, sad to say, but let's face it-- Men are dogs.
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