I have recently read the lyrics to this particular song by Public Enemy as well as watched the music video, and with the combination of these two particular methods of addressing an audience, I feel like I have obtained a very good idea about what message this group of musicians wanted to get across.
The purpose of this song/music video is to explain to listeners that there was a major difference in response time for police officers to show up when someone called ‘911’ from a white neighborhood versus someone calling from an African American or Hispanic neighborhood in the 1980’s. This never occurred to me as an actual problem, but when some of the lines in the song are “they only come and they come when they wanna,” and “they don’t care ‘cause they stay paid anyway.” “They,” referring to the police officers of course, are portrayed as lazy people acting exactly as the lyrics describe them. In the opening “scene” in this video, there is a dinner setting and an old black lady seems to have suffered from a heart attack or some other sort of physical condition, because she collapses on the floor and her family members and friends surround her not knowing what to do. 30 seconds later in the video, two cops show up slowly walking in with a sub sandwich just chowing down rather than paying attention to the condition of the woman. An example such as this truly sets up the stage for Public Enemy’s message they are trying to convey.
Although the target audience is not directly stated, I feel like it is aiming to reach every possible person they can to let people know what is happening and why this is politically and morally wrong. It does appeal more towards the younger generation (preferably high school and college people), simply because of the means of how it is produced—a funny rap video including Flava Flav as one of the rappers. This video was shown on MTV in the 1980’s, which at that time, not many black videos were around, so this definitely was a change for the viewers and may have called more attention than normal to the message. I believe that our generation is still considered part of the target audience because this problem still does exist, just not as badly anymore and there are more intense problems that have arisen since then, such as terrorism, etc.
Humor is dramatically used throughout this music video, and for the majority of the time, it is very effective. Due to the seriousness of such an issue of discrimination, especially by the police force, humor is used to soften the appeal of this argument, and makers it easier to connect with for the younger generation because they can still get the point without slapping them in the face with a more serious method. BUT humor can also do the very opposite and detract from the “older” population, who might not respond well to people simulating a health condition by flopping all over the floor with their tongue sticking out. For me personally, I found this music video a bit strange. I will admit that I did laugh at parts because of how ridiculous it got, but until further analyzing this piece, I didn’t get the whole effect. For the most part however, I do feel like this music video was rhetorically effective due to the well-combined lyrics and visual representation. The lyrics were very pathos-driven, explaining what the police officers were doing and how they were feeling towards the African Americans calling in for 911. In addition, the music video created a more logos-driven appeal, by visual representing a very overdramatic situation that minorities felt like they were put in to by the delayed response time when they called 911. Overall, the combination of the lyrics put together with the music video did not only give the audience something entertaining to listen to and watch, but it also educated a vast population on a very serious issue occurring in the late 1980s. Thank you Gabby for introducing us to such an interesting group 🙂
This video above is one of my favorite lines of rhetoric. This was selected as an interlude in the band Story of the Year’s album “The Black Swan.” It is titled “Pale Blue Dot.” It further underscores a point not made nearly enough in today’s world: our differences are far outweighed by our similarities, our commons interests and desires. Though there are individuals in positions of power who profit from perpetuating petty differences, it is our responsibility to realize that we are one; an insignificant knot in an immense web of harmony cast out over trillions of light years.
food for thought. 