Jerry Poo
ENG 2150, Dr. Blankenship
3/17/16
Paper 1: Rhetorical Analysis of a Cultural Artifact
Dear Dr. Blankenship and Writing Group:
I will be analyzing the Netflix Original Series Daredevil and touching how it was able to capture the audience that it did. I chose this topic just because I was rewatching it and it didn’t sound like a bad idea. Looking at the show, it utilizes parallels to connect with the audience. These parallels are what contributes to the mass appeal of the show. Knowing this, Netflix was able to successfully execute the production of the Marvel comic Daredevil to add onto their already long list of noteworthy original shows. How I look to support this will simply be breaking down the actions of the characters within the show and how they relate to our society. I was writing this with the intention of getting the attention current and future Daredevil fans, After the revision process, it was clear that I needed to make my thesis clear and support it using what I took away from the show. The first thing I noticed was my organization was not what it should be so that was one of the main things I wanted to focus on. What made this so hard was the fact that the show had a lot to take in, and I was writing without trying to spoil the show for anyone who had not yet watched the show. I feel as though I still could have done a better job at supporting my thesis. This was probably because I’ve always put so much emphasis on editing out of habit despite it not being worth a whole lot. I still can’t help but think I was a little too ambitious with this topic. I thought I had a lot of interesting points to touch on, but conveying those points properly was something that I was never satisfied with, so I just gave up on my initial points completely. That being said: Was my support sufficient and justified? Could certain parts have been omitted? Were the changes I made for the better?
Adding Onto an Already Long List
Shows are created with the purpose of making money. The ones that stand out tend to be the ones that best cater towards what their audience is looking for. More often than not, if you’re talking to your friends about a show after it aired the previous night, the show probably did a good job at getting your attention in a positive way. As a company, Netflix has already been producing noteworthy original content to build its subscriber base for some time now. In some cases like the Netflix Original series Daredevil, the show was created as an interpretation of preexisting content. Not only does it already have an audience to build upon, but its many parallels with our society allow it to do just that. Combined with it’s mass appeal, execution, and timely release, Daredevil had everything it needed to be added onto an already long list of excellence that looks to further cement Netflix as a more than capable content provider.
With the recent surge of superheroes in our movies and television shows, the timing of it’s release could not have been any better. Considering popularity of Daredevil’s comic, a show was bound to happen eventually. Unlike some of his superhero counterparts, the problems he deals with are issues that are becoming more and more present in our media. You have the ever-growing disparity between the rich and the poor, corruption, and politics. This timing is something that ties into the motive behind the show’s creation. In this particular scenario, Netflix took full advantage of kairos in a way that would allow the show to make a lasting impression on current and future subscribers. Product placement aside, the primary way for Netflix to make money on a show like this would have been to create something good enough to entice more people to subscribe to their platform.
The show focuses on the main protagonist, Matthew Murdock, an individual who was blinded from an accident during his childhood. Having lost his eyesight in an attempt to save the life of another, his drive to save lives is already clear at a young age. Being blind allows him to have heightened senses, which is the main reason he can go on with his everyday activities. Lawyer with his best friend Foggy Nelson by day, and Daredevil by night seeking answers for cases he might not be able to find pertaining to the main antagonist in the show, Wilson Fisk. With such tasks being akin to what we would expect to find current day society, they bring about a level of connection that is unique in the sense that they are problems the audience may recognize as requiring a solution.
This desire to appeal to many audiences is something that makes the show strive to highlight many of these controversial issues people are currently dealing with. One of the main issues that gets touched on throughout the show is how people get taken advantage of just because they are in vulnerable situations. The prime example of this was when an elderly woman by the name of Elena Cardenas sought the help of Murdock and his associates since she is being pushed out of her housing since the value on real estate in the area is moving upwards. This was something very common in New York City since the value of real estate is increasing at a rate that incentivises landlords to increase rents that force out those who can not afford it. In this case, the people with money have all the power. Very rarely do you find an individual looking to bring about change in a positive manner. Those with money control a lot of what goes on behind the scenes. For a character like Wilson Fisk, this power is what he he hopes will shape the city to what he wants it to become.
It is one thing to say that you are going to do something, but to actually act on what you believe in is something completely different. Fisk running for a position in government can be a symbol as to how many of our politicians are corrupt, and are in it for all the perks that come along with the position. Murdock can be thought of as that one person who always asks these people the hard questions that they don’t have the answer to; someone who won’t stop digging until what they want to expose is known by all. In both cases, the individuals wholeheartedly believe what they are doing is the best course of action. Just as their perspectives differ on a matter, every issue we see pop up in the news has many solutions, but the right one depends on who you ask.
One of the things the show executed well was conveying emotion to the audience. In many scenes, you actually worry for the main character which is something that can not be often said about superhero based shows. The relationship between Murdock and Claire is one that can’t flourish due to conflicting interests. This allows you to really feel for him in order to be with someone he cares about, he has to give up on what he truly believes in. Alongside Murdock, the side characters offer the audience a chance to feel sympathetic since these are the individuals who are forced to face unfavorable situations or meet unfortunate demises. “These stories, which are often heart-wrenching, use emotion to persuade you—also called pathos” (Carroll 47), is one of the pillars which Daredevil leans on to create that connection that makes any good show great.
The final thing that makes the show what it is is how complex the main characters are underneath the relatively simple plot. One one hand you have the Daredevil, who is in essence, a human being. While he may excel in one area, he ends up lacking in another. That is something prevalent throughout the show. He is both literally and metaphorically blind in the sense that his blindness to the consequences of his actions would not even be seen had he not been blinded from the accident. A man who many would classify as “exceptional” is just as vulnerable as any of us. You can see his vulnerability as a human while he retains his superhero status. Act first. Think later. Those words pretty much sums up how he handles things. Very rarely does he think about the possible consequences of his actions. With the ability to be a stone cold killer, he refuses to cross that line and punishes those who deserve it, just like how the devil tortures those within his domain, That line between just doing enough to solve a problem and not killing anyone to flat out stop the problem from ever arising again is what keeps him in line with the rest of humanity. Confiding on a regular basis with his priest is something that he does to ensure that anything he does never really crosses that line of no return. It is his very refusal to kill that makes him vulnerable. Had he dealt with his problems in a more permanent manner, all of his other problems would never have presented themselves. It is as though his values as Matthew Murdock don’t allow the devil side of him to do his job properly. Our ability to comprehend his motives throughout the show due to the fact that “most of our ordinary conceptual system is metaphorical in nature” (Lakoff & Johnson 4). His very reason for him being the Daredevil is what makes his refusal to kill all the more interesting and allows for the story to progress the way it does.
Parallels to what is currently going on only adds more depth to already complex individuals. You have Wilson Fisk, a villain who in theory, should never lose to the likes of someone like Murdock. Fisk’s love for his city is what drives him to go to such extremes, just as Murdock’s love for his city drives him to go to such extremes to prevent Fisk from fulfilling his dreams. If one were to compare their interactions to something in our world, Murdock can best be compared to our government officials who truly look to bring about change and Fisk can be compared a successful capitalist who although not at the forefront of our everyday media, definitely has a lot going on behind the scenes. Since Fisk began running for a position in the government, his is similar to that of Donald Trump running for president. That’s not the only similarity they share. Just like how Fisk “wanted to make this city something better,” Trump looks to make “America great again.” A wealthy individual who looks to make a name for himself in politics would be something that would describe both characters, with being emotionally unstable unable to do justice to just how insane these individuals really are capable of. The timing of when the show was released highlights the similarities between the two since it was right around the time when rumors of Trump running for president was all over the news.
While there is no doubt that Netflix making Daredevil was a financial move, there is no denying that what they have created is something worthy of attention in our society. Not only did it take on many of the underlying issues in our society, but it was able to connect to it’s audience in a way that many of his superhero counterparts are simply incapable of. Everything that could be leveraged was. Emotions, timing, and reasoning all came together to create a show that deserves all the praise it has received. While the show was based on a superhero, Daredevil had everything we would want in a show,
Works Cited
Carroll, Laura Bolin. “Backpacks vs Briefcases: Steps Toward Rhetorical Analysis.” Writing
Spaces: Readings on Writing. Vol. 1. West Lafayette: Parlor LLC, 2010. 45-58. Print.
Daredevil. By Bill Everett and Stan Lee. Dir. Drew Goddard. Perf. Charlie Cox and Vincent
D’Onofrio. Daredevil. Netflix, 2 Apr. 2015. Web. 17 Mar. 2016.
Lakoff, George, and Mark Johnson. Metaphors We Live by. Chicago: U of Chicago, 1980. Print.