Analysis Of Requiem For The American Dream

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Peter D. Hutchinson, Kelly Nyks, and Jared P. Scott produced a film called Requiem for the American Dream. The narrator throughout the film, speaking behalf of the filmmakers, is Noam Chomsky, a former MIT professor of linguistics. Chomsky is considered one of the most influential intellectuals of the 21st century. During the film, Noam Chomsky delineates the wage inequalities between the poor and the wealthy, then relates all of it to the middle class. The majority of U.S citizens live in the middle class, so the policy would be determined by the middle class. So for Chomsky’s purpose of convincing others that higher tax rates are beneficial on the economy, Chomsky directs the message to the middle class, to convince them of his and the filmmaker's message, and to fulfill their purpose. The film, Requiem for the American …show more content…

Another example of ethos during the film begins at 23:00. The film starts out by playing old video recording. The old recording states that Noam Chomsky is on the faculty at MIT. Following this, an interviewer states that Noam Chomsky is regarded as the national leader of American resistance the Vietnam War. Then states that he is a professor of linguistics who, before he was 40 had transformed the nature of his subject. The listing of Noam Chomsky’s credentials is very powerful at gaining trust in telling the economic history, and talking about changes that could result in positive outcomes. When persuading others, having credibility on that specific subject makes others more susceptible to the message that is being conveyed. Having Noam Chomsky portrays the filmmaker's message makes the argument better, just do to his reliability on the subject. Also, just being a former professor will lead others to believe he has a greater knowledge of the

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