I believe that the target audience for this movie trailer consists mainly of women, either young ones who love to shop or older women who have experienced the passion of shopping. Men who love to shop as much as Rebecca [the woman in the movie] does can also be included in the target audience. However, it looks to be a “chick flick”. Judging by the name brands mentioned in the movie trailer such as Gucci and Prada, one would think the target audience can be narrowed down to shopaholics of the upper class income in America who possess a plethora of money to spend on frivolities, with an overabundance of time to spend that money. The middle and lower class shopaholics can only daydream about Gucci boots, while spending their hard-earned money on necessities like groceries, rent, tuition and other bills. However, I am a part of the working middle class and I would LOVE to see this movie. Watching this movie and thinking about how insignificant her worries are make me feel a whole lot better about my life.
The fact that this clip is a movie trailer reinforces my belief that the argument is to convince people to go see the movie. However, actually watching it makes me want to understand the actual meaning of the movie. I see that a shopaholic is brutally and suddenly brought to reality when her credit card is denied and she receives her bills in the mail. Her facial expressions are hilarious. When she realizes she has to find a job and work to pay off her debts, you could almost see her pride crumpling to the ground around her.
The rhetor, for the purpose of this blog, is the executive producer. I think he is using pathos as the main way to appeal to his audiences. A lot of shopping women can relate to the experience of having a card declined…the utter humiliation, pure disbelief, the fading hope after we ask the cashier to swipe it again and we, once again, hear the disappointing “DECLINED” buzz. As a part of the target audience, we can relate to Rebecca, and find ourselves identifying emotionally with her throughout the movie trailer. I feel that if I were to go see the movie, I would want her to succeed as she works to try to pay off her debts to the credit card companies.
There would be no point in using ethos or logos to advertise this movie. There is no logic or positive characteristics displayed when spending inordinate amounts of money on mere material things. I highly doubt anyone would be able to make a convincing, logical argument in favor of spending almost $10,000 on expensive clothes, shoes, and bags. But, being that the movie trailer looked pretty interesting, the rhetor more than likely succeeded in having more people buy tickets to see the movie.
Considering that the rhetor is Executive Producer Jerry Bruckheimer, I doubt that he is a part of the audience. He knows how to produce shows and movies that appeal to different types of audiences, but not necessarily consider himself as a part of those particular audiences.
That’s my kind of movie. The ladies love it Ebony, am I right?