Analytic Blog Post 1

For this blog post, I chose the second prompt that was offered.

I will start my post by answering the first two questions of what is an image event and what is a mind bomb?

An image event is something staged or demonstrated to capture the attention of the media. A mind bomb is defined by Deluca, “an image event that explodes ‘in the public’s consciousness to transform the way people view their world” (1971, p.22, p.1).

I think the Greenpeace is a significant model for radical change because it was an early event that was captured of, “wow did that really just happen?”

It was a more old school sort of situation that showed that the thought for safety and threat towards the human life were not considered and it really caused so many people to explode on the individuals at fault. The more dramatic and controversial something is, the more publicity. Drama generates exposure and this was a prime example.

In todays society with so many smart phones, social media platforms, and vloggers, we are used to seeing images and videos of extreme events that cause an uproar and an act for change.

One recent example that comes to mind is the Fyre documentary. There was a Bahamian woman who had to spend her entire life savings to pay her employee’s or she would have likely been killed, all because she was lied to and manipulated by someone who claimed they were going to help and pay her back. She was filmed about her experience and she was flooded with emotion and you could really understand why she was so upset and so many people were compelled to rush and seek ways to help her. Soon, a GoFundMe was created for her and she received all the money back and then some. I feel as though that was an image event that called people to act on her behalf and a way that people could come together through a public image to help someone in need.

DeLuca claims that images can expand critical thinking and influence social change where Postman contends that the media is trash and we are complicit with it. While DeLuca expresses the power of images and the unity they bring to society, Postman argues that we are so caught up with what’s going on around us, we don’t pay attention to the objective truth.

I believe that Postman ideals undermine reasonable rhetoric while DeLuca’s claim to be more effective in that regard. Reasonable rhetoric is the art of speaking and writing effectively. If the most efficient way to generate power, change, and unity is through images on a social platform, then shouldn’t rhetoric practitioners focus on the best solution?

Images affect peoples emotions and minds. With so many users on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook daily, the amount of images we see are almost too many to handle. Whether memes, art, or factual images, everyone of them have a place and they all promote their own sense of relationships, conversation, and power.