Weekly Blog Post 5

As it is with most music and music videos, Toby Keith's "American Ride" is taking things around us and exploiting them. In this video, Keith uses various forms of logos, ethos, and pathos to entertain his audience with a little bit of humor on some subject that are very touchy to some people in today's society. The combination of media, video and music in this case, present an even more ways to employ these ideas.

Ethos and pathos are two somewhat connect ideas so that is where this will begin. Keith has always been one to stir up emotions and in this video he accomplishes just that. He presents his arguments in a way that will raise different emotions. He uses both the images in the video and the lyrics of his song to do this. The way that the video was made also adds to the emotional aspect of this video. The broken still shot animation makes the video seem less serious. It almost characaturizes the situation and people he talks about. If the video were just regular pictures or videos it would evoke a whole different set of emotions. Keith's lyrics also add to the emotional aspect of the video. "I love this American ride" is not exactly what I would say after seeing all of the corrupt or immoral things that are brought up in the video. This makes the audience feel like he is "calling out" the problems in our society. Pathos leads to what we see in Toby Keith. It has never been a secret that he loves to speak about what he feels. It is clear what his position is when you watch the video. A quick google search of Toby Keith will provide you with articles questioning his lyrics in many of his songs.

The last idea is logos. As I discussed before, Keith sets up this entire presentation to evoke emotion. From his lyrics to the images of past and present issues our society has faced. He chooses to use some humor and irony to cause a stir among people.