Kanye & His Ego....or Ethos?

Rhetoric is present within almost everything surrounding us and our daily lives. Yet, it is often credited through public speeches and writing. When you think about award shows like the VMAs, rhetoric is present through the style of performances in which the audience is entertained by the special affects, the voice of the artist, the message in their songs, as well as their self presentations through attire or even dance moves. Each artists understands that they can gain credibility through having "the performance of the night" and so they work hard to present this, as a way of persuading the audience into taking note of their talent and overall effort. Apart of creating this artistic means of rhetoric, involves styles a like ethos in which a person's character (and in this case, the artists' talent) is showcased by means of such. When you consider artists like Chris Brown, while his fan base and views of his moral character have changed due to his own personal actions, his music allows him a sort of redemption when he performs at award shows. His audience expects him to sing amazingly, have the best dance performance of the night, as well as look stylistic, and that's all what he incorporates into his performances.

An even bigger showcase of rhetoric among award shows, are the celebrities winning speeches. Everyone listening is interested to know how one feels and thinks about receiving the award, as well as their approach in going about expressing such feelings. My most memorable award speeches have been those that have brought people to tears, have been funny or entertaining, as well as a few of those highly inappropriate ones that continues to be talked about to this day. It is all in the style, presentation, and approach of these speeches that when found moving or original to the audience, will forever remain memorable. For artist like Taylor Swift, winning her first VMA award was an exciting moment for her. She expresses this in her facial expression when she receives the award, and as she continues to thank the people that helped her along the way. What she didn't expect was Kanye West to take that happy moment away from her and embarrass her, by telling her that she was undeserving of her award. There was something so morally wrong with his character which can also be viewed as his expression of ethos, and it wasn't just that he was being harsh, but that his announcement wasn't an either appropriate place or time. 

In the style of rhetoric, Kanye West wasn't able to be persuasive in his argument about who was more deserving of the award because of his overall handling of the situation. Having prior knowledge of Kanye Wests having a history of an outspoken and often inappropriate character, it became immediately difficult to hold any sympathy for him and his actions. If Kanye and his "ethos" went about the situation in another way, like maybe writing an article describing Beyonce's achievements compared to Taylor's and was able to do so professionally and efficiently, than the public wouldn't have been as disapproving and judgmental towards his character. As a society, we often look to celebrities to be sort of spokes people that are expected to express good morals and have proper self presentations. Where we went wrong was with expecting Kanye West to follow the norms of society, as well as uphold a sense of ethos in establishing his artistic presentation of character.