Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; these are all very general rights that we, as humans, have when we are born. But there is more to it than that, right? Human rights are the basis of a just world; these rights need to be known and exercised for the good of the world.
Beginning centuries ago, the Magna Carta, which was signed by King John of England, enumerated a number of what later became known as human rights. This was the first concept of human rights that existed in European thought. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, European philosophers thought that humans had “natural rights” which belonged to a person by nature. This concept was drawn heavily upon during the American Revolutionary War, and a document, The Declaration of Independence, that was produced as a result, still stirs feelings about certain human rights. One part of the this document declares, “We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” (A Short History of the Human Rights Movement). So what exactly constitutes for a person’s happiness? The freedom to express yourself in any way you find appealing or necessary would be considered a person’s pursuit of happiness, as well as their liberty to do so in life.
As a public service announcement project to educate and possibly inspire the world, the Youth for Human Rights International teamed up with the Church of Scientology International and created thirty powerful videos focusing on human rights. Their hope is to make people advocates for tolerance and peace. These thirty videos all deal with one article of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In one of the videos that this group made, they establish the argument that freedom of expression is an inalienable human right, no matter what a person’s race, ethnicity, gender, or age; and this expression can be portrayed in a multitude of ways. I think it is rather ironic that this video, in particular, has no dialogue, even though it’s about freedom of expression, because speaking is a component of expressing yourself. It just exemplifies the fact that there are so many other ways to express oneself than just with verbal communication. Because of its unique approach to the concept of freedom of expression, this video makes a great argument for this human right.
In this video, the creators used many strategies to develop the rhetorical argument. First of all, illustration is heavily employed throughout the video. A young man plays soothingly on the piano, a little girl concentrates on practicing the violin, and a black boy performs a tune on the trumpet. A young lady dances elegantly while the sun rises, two girls make elaborate drawings on the sidewalks with chalks, and a guy passionately strikes his drum set to the beat. A teenager jumps around and rocks out on his electric guitar, a young woman listens and ends up dancing to her music in an elevator full of bus
inessmen, and a group of teenagers jam out while driving around. A group of guys break dance in a circle, a black girl lip-syncs while brushing her teeth, and a girl paints effortlessly using vivid colors. These clips relate to everybody’s life, since they show such a wide variety of ways that people express their feelings. They give people the desire to express their feelings, emotions, and thoughts through their own unique way. It’s very inspiring to see all of these youths using their talents to their maximum potentials. All of the people in this ad illustrate ways in which people exercise their right of expression.
The ad also employs the use of an analogy. For example, at the beginning, the piano player plays very softly and timidly, almost as if wary about whether to play or not. As the video progresses and continuously returns to shots of the player, the audience can see how his expression through music gets louder and stronger. The audience notices throughout that as all of the people’s modes of expression join together the video becomes faster-paced, stronger, and more unified. This exemplifies the idea that if people work together in this world, utilizing their liberty to express themselves in a constructive manner with their God-given talents, then the world would likewise become stronger and more unified. It shows the benefits of utilizing that particular right.
This ad relies on both logos, pathos, and ethos. In this ad, logos is the tool of persuasion responsible for making the ad such an argumentative force. Watching this commercial might give others the confidence and energy to express themselves in new ways. This commercial presents the argument that by expressing yourself you will be like the people in the ad.
The majority of this argument; however, is made with pathos. This is done by appealing to the emotions of the audience. The clips of all the young people in the video strike different feelings in different people. For example, for an older person, it may spark the emotion of joy because they may have once expressed themselves in a similar manner and it brings back good memories. On the other hand, it may spark some sadness or morose because perhaps they didn’t have the same opportunities to express themselves so openly and freely. However, for a younger person watching this video, it may inspire them to do or become like the people in the video, because they have the desire to be more open and expressive. Each child has many talents and abilities; they just need to find a way to express themselves. The expressions on the peoples’ faces in the video also prompt emotions in the audience. In the piano player, the viewer sees a look of determination from his constant gaze at the piano keys, the audience can tell he is in the zone and striking the correct keys is his only focus; in the dancers, the viewer sees strength from their elegant and agile movements; in the kid’s driving around, the viewer sees faces of laughter and enjoying friendship; and in the girl lip-syncing, the viewer sees a look of joy and excitement from her side-to-side movement and the smirk on her face.
The set-up of the video, for example, the illusion of sunlight coming through some of the shots and the sepia-tone of the video, reinforces the pathos of it because it makes it seem time-less so any age group can relate to it. Also since the video show different races, the sepia-tone makes everything appear similarly colored, so it gives the effect that everyone is equal.
Ethos is also employed in the video. As a whole, the video argues for Human Right #19, which is the Freedom of Expression. As was prior mentioned, these human rights are articles of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Therefore the argument made is given a large amount of authority and credibility from this source.
The only text in the video is at the very end. It reads, “Human Right #19: Freedom of Expression” in a text that appears glowing and sunlight. The near lack of text lets the audience put more of their own experiences into the video so they relate more to it than if it had a lot of dialogue. This helps with the argument of freedom of expression because expression can go so many different directions that it can’t be tied down to only one. The mind needs to have the freedom to wander and this aspect of the ad allows for this.
The ability to express oneself never ends. Even after death, the things one leaves behind continue to express their thoughts and feelings, like the Declaration of Independence was a monumental form of free expression. This just shows how far expressions can take a person and even a country. This is why this right is so important and the reason this video showed so many young people freely expressing themselves. This right cannot be forgotten amongst any generation. So there is more to it than just life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and this right of expression, especially can help in the greater good of the world if used to its maximum potential.
Works Cited
“A Short History of the Human Rights Movement.” Hrweb.org 25 Jan. 1997. Human Rights Web. 28 Oct. 2007 http://www.hrweb.org/history.html
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