Zuzanna Osiecka
ENG 2150, Dr. Blankenship
March 8, 2016
Paper 1: Rhetorical Analysis of a Cultural Artifact

Dear Dr. Blankenship and Writer’s Group:

I am analyzing the television series crime drama The Blacklist. I have titled my paper “The World Is Not Exactly Black and White”. I chose this topic because the show is one of the few that has caused me to question my perception of good and evil. My process in writing this draft is to try to transfer my ideas into words in a way that is easily comprehendible but also interesting to read.

My thesis is “The Blacklist presents its viewers with a distorted idea of good and evil and using an emotional appeal teaches us not to necessarily take things at face value.” I supported my thesis by using the show as evidence; my audience consists of my classmates, my professor, and anyone that is open to finding out how a television show could possibly question our morals and beliefs. The biggest challenges have been organizing my paper in a way that makes sense as well as incorporating examples from our class readings. It has honestly been hard to write an essay of this length; I have not written many 2,000 word papers in my life. I think that what I have so far is well-written with solid evidence, however I definitely need to work on further analysis of my idea as well as incorporate more examples from the show and our reading. While you are reading my paper, you could ask yourself, “Do the ends always justify the means? Are there bigger issues that can be considered more important than a few innocent people’s lives? Where do we draw the line?”.

The World Is Not Exactly Black and White

Picture this: you just graduated and it is your first day on the job as an FBI profiler. Coincidentally, a fugitive on the Top Most Wanted List of multiple U.S. law enforcement bureaus for the past 20 years has just willingly turned himself in. You know nothing about this until you leave your apartment only to find helicopters and what must be at least ten FBI cars waiting for you outside. Raymond Reddington, wanted for an immense amount of crimes, has specifically asked that he only speaks to you. What would you do? This is exactly what happens to Elizabeth Keen on the crime-drama television series, The Blacklist. Unlike most crime shows, it not only provides its audience with an inside look into the mind of a criminal, but it also raises many thought-provoking questions. The Blacklist presents its viewers with a distorted idea of good and evil and using an emotional appeal teaches us not to necessarily take things at face value.

Raymond “Red” Reddington, a former U.S. Navy officer that became a high-profile criminal, surrenders to the FBI declaring that if he is granted immunity, he will expose what he calls “The Blacklist”. He claims that this valuable list contains the names of the most dangerous criminals in the world. In return for the list, Reddington does not only want immunity but he also requests that he speaks exclusively to a woman named Elizabeth Keen. Elizabeth Keen is a newly hired FBI profiler in her twenties; she has no clue why Reddington has chosen her nor has she ever met him before. The FBI decides to accept Reddington’s offer and the storyline develops. Soon it is discovered that the targets that Reddington gives to the FBI are not necessarily random picks; in fact, Reddington targets people in order to protect himself as well as Keen. Although many innocent people are killed in the process, every criminal caught saves hundreds of lives. The FBI is forced to choose between giving Reddington exactly what he wants and letting innocent people die.

The Blacklist is not a typical television drama; it is aimed at a more engaged audience. There is a necessary amount of attention and thinking involved when watching the show. It is directed at people whose idea of entertainment is more than mindless humor or a romantic drama. Its audience could range anywhere from preteens to senior citizens, anyone who’s interested in seeing crime from the inside.

Aside from the mysterious dark side of the show, there is something that makes it special in its own way. As the characters develop and we are able to learn more about them, we grow to understand them. The mind of a felon is shown in a unique, thought-provoking way. Reddington, a cold-hearted criminal wanted for multiple felonies including murder, is seen from a completely different perspective. Although his relationship with Elizabeth Keen is still not confirmed, he displays a father-daughter approach towards her. He does whatever he can to keep her safe; he even attempts to hide from her the fact that she unintentionally shot her own father as a child in order to protect her. When Reddington is presented as a caring father-figure, we develop a new view of him. We begin to relate to him; we no longer see him as we usually would, an evil man that has murdered tons of innocent people. The show uses an appeal to pathos; it appeals to our emotions through the relationship between Reddington and Keen. As we watch them interact we realize that we are not really that different; anyone would do anything in their power to protect the person they love. We grow an attachment towards them which allows us to put ourselves in their shoes.

Elizabeth Keen’s character allows us to view The Blacklist in a more approachable way. Because she represents an average person that has never considered crime as an easy and ordinary way to get out of trouble, we can see the way in which her character develops as she is exposed to the harsh cold world of crime. The show explores the idea of pushing people to their limits and seeing how far they will go. Throughout the show, Keen is faced with multiple dilemmas where she has to decide between being an honest agent and protecting her own as well as her husband Tom’s life. We see her character evolve as she enters the sphere of crime and corruption. At the beginning of the show, Keen is a rookie agent with a husband planning to have a family. After two seasons, Keen is on FBI’s Most Wanted List along Raymon Reddington. It is not her morals that change; she has seen what is on the other side and she has to deal with those consequences. Keen entered this new world knowing that there is a price to pay; she is aware that she will have to put herself and her loved ones ahead of her job. Her natural instinct to survive comes into play and she does whatever is in her power to not only save herself but other innocent people. Just like Reddington, she realizes that going against the orders of the government is not always as evil and selfish of an act as it appears; in order to save innocent lives Keen and Reddington have to take matters into their own hands.

The Blacklist pushes the idea of whether the ends really do justify the means. The FBI is faced with the moral dilemma of where to draw the line between between helping a high-profile criminal with an agenda and saving thousands of people. It seems implausible that a government agency would comply with a criminal of that degree, but The Blacklist demonstrates that nothing is as it appears on the surface. Reddington is willing to save people’s lives as long as he is able to protect the people he loves. However, there are casualties along the way and innocent peoples’ blood ends up on Reddington’s hands. As the show progresses, it is revealed that Reddington’s plan is not just to protect the people he loves, but to find and contain the “fulcrum”, a secret file that exposes an international government that could cause conflict all over the world. This shows us that there is always another side to things and causes us to question the way we look at good and evil; the world is certainly not black and white. Reddington’s motives are aimed at “bigger” things, meaning that a handful of casualties is nowhere near as bad as possibly billions that he could prevent. On the other hand, we are shown how corrupt and secret the world we live in could possibly be. There is a multitude of issues regarding our safety that the government hides from us.

Reddington’s perspective provides us with insight about the world of crime. We see the way that things are handled and how common death is. After being a part of that world for over 20 years, it is hard to remember what “normal” life is like. Reddington has been exposed to so much gore and evil, that he has become immune to the idea of death. In one episode, Reddington tells Keen that he has not “slept like a child” in over two decades; he reveals some of the hardships that he has faced that have made him who he is now. It is hard for him to feel at peace because he knows that he needs to be constantly prepared for whatever bad thing that could happen to him at any time. He claims that sometimes we do not get to choose the life we have, which leaves us questioning if we are too quick to judge other people. Just because Reddington is at the top of the Most Wanted List does not necessarily mean that he is a malicious and heartless person.

Beyond the fact that The Blacklist allows us to enter the mind of a criminal, it also brings up many moral questions. The show’s purpose could be to cause us to reconsider the standards we use to classify people as “good” or “bad”. The word “criminal” has an understandably bad connotation, but is it fair to group people that way? If it was not for the show’s way of presenting Reddington’s motives from his perspective, we would still consider him a fugitive that deserves to be locked up for murdering innocent people. When looked at from a different angle, however, he is not only helping the FBI catch dangerous criminals, but he also attempts to save the world from chaos. Reddington is a genius that has chosen to use the government as help for pursuing his own agenda; his plans are impeccably planned and it feels as if he is always six steps ahead of everyone. Although his strategies may require immoral actions, we learn that sometimes there need to be sacrifices made for the greater good. As we watch the show we realize that we are not always against these immoral tactics. The Blacklist shows its viewers that there are always important factors to consider that are deeper than what we can see and sometimes you have to fight evil with evil.

The Blacklist is not your standard crime show. Although it feels as if there are more and more questions after every episode, it is impossible not to wonder what will happen next. We are left intrigued and deep in thought. The show causes us to reevaluate our approach to the world; it is not a straightforward representation of good and evil, but a view from the inside. We do not just see how a criminal’s mind works, but why it works the way it does and how far someone us willing to go in matters concerning life or death.