Reader’s Log
As someone who watches a lot of films, I also talk to many other people who watch them and love to talk about them. Among these people (and many others), there are directors that many people consider ‘dumb’ or ‘lazy’ filmmakers, like Michael Bay (the man who makes the Transformers films and The Rock, usually responsible for what people consider big, dumb action films). However, when I evaluate their arguments for why using the four tests, I am not sure that they have much of a leg to stand on; I am firmly of the belief that, while Michael Bay movies are not always good, the man is an auteur who knows exactly what he is doing – he just makes movies that they don’t like.
First, Bay’s films are not all necessarily bad based on the first test of truthfulness of the premises. The premise, first of all, is that a film like Transformers is bad because it’s an overlong, bloated mess of CGI that does not respect the source material and offers lowbrow humor and terrible comic relief characters. To be fair, these are legitimate opinions to hold about many of Bay’s films, though I would argue that there are exceptions (his 2013 film Pain & Gain, for instance, is actually really smart in showing dumb characters and making a dark crime comedy).
However, the other side of the premise is that, because he does those things, he is an idiot and should not be making films. I disagree with the credibility of that premise, as well as its logical ties to the attributes of Bay films people do not like. It does not add up that Bay is an idiot and a lazy filmmaker, when he has to be able to command millions of dollars of resources, create a consistent (if busy) visual aesthetic, and create two-to-three hour films with some of the best ensemble casts in Hollywood in the midst of a decades-long career in film.
Similarly, the intelligence of the director, or any perceived flaws in his personality (people regularly condemn him for being a ‘frat boy’ director who caters to the lowest common denominator) is not strictly relevant to the films he makes. It may be entirely possible that he makes these films strictly for financial purposes, or sees another artistic utility in them that audiences do not get (or want to get). Making presumptions about a director’s character because you do not like his films is a poor leap in logic. This ends up creating a vicious cycle where people think Michael Bay is dumb because Transformers is dumb, and won’t see any other Bay movies because it will be just as dumb, regardless of any evidence to the contrary.
While film tastes are a matter of subjectivity, of course, Michael Bay is someone I think gets unfairly derided in these arguments and personally attacked for making movies that some people happen to not like. To that end, they make logical leaps and claim that Michael Bay himself is an idiot and a lazy filmmaker, because they do not think he ‘tries hard enough’ to make a movie good. I contend that Bay does work hard and is an incredibly smart, deliberate filmmaker; he just makes films that a lot of people (critics especially) do not like.
Social Media Assignment
For the purposes of this social media assignment, I chose to follow the Facebook and Twitter pages of George Takei, the Star Trek actor, celebrity and avid gay rights activist. Looking over his Twitter and Facebook presences, I noticed a significant number of trends that point to the way he chooses to represent himself online. Mr. Takei’s banner on his Twitter page is a three-part split between the three different audiences that he caters to – on the left is a picture of Captain Sulu, his Star Trek character, the middle shows him in an LGBT musical called Allegiance, and the third is a poster for his documentary To Be Takei. All three of these show him as someone leveraging his notoriety in sci-fi culture, theater and LGBT activism to gain followers and maintain his persona.
The vast majority of his posts follow three main trends. First, there are small, humorous memes, gifs and news stories that he picks up and shares with others, offering himself as almost a curator of Internet comedy. Many of them are slight and silly, and accompanied with an intentionally terrible pun in the Facebook post – this gives him a persona somewhere between an Internet-savvy comedian and the corny grandpa who shares memes on his Facebook. Secondly, he posts often about his life with his partner, Brad, taking pictures of the two of them smiling or making references to him whenever he makes jokes. This not only shows his relatable side, by talking about his personal life, it also allows him to normalize his same-sex marriage (which then helps to provide further support for LGBT equality by making his relationship seem just like any other couple).
A third trend in his posting involves posting earnest news stories about more liberal social topics, such as religious persecution of LGBT youth, the social stigma of being gay, and other efforts of social activism. There is also the regular posting which advertises Allegiance, To Be Takei and his other efforts, encouraging followers to purchase his documentary or other products, to leverage his social media personality into profit.
Based on these trends, I would argue that George Takei has found a way to translate his immense cultural cachet (as one of the most iconic sci-fi characters in 20th century history) into an active, vibrant social media presence that presents him as a gay cultural icon. By posting funny things to entertain his followers, while also commenting on them himself, he maintains an air of approachability, as well as showing followers the life of a normal gay couple in his interactions with (and mentions of) his husband Brad. Because George Takei posts about these varying aspects, he wishes to gain and maintain Internet popularity for the purposes of both selling products for profit and advancing the cause of LGBT equality.
I believe this argument passes the four tests of an argument’s worthiness. Each one of the premises is true, based on the clear trends of visibly looking at Takei’s Twitter and Facebook profile. The result of this posting also has logical weight, given Takei’s cultural status and the nature of his content. Takei’s openness with his homosexuality, and willingness to talk about it on social media, makes his use of social media to advance these causes very relevant. It also passes the test of non-circularity because the claim’s veracity comes from the truth of the reasons presented.
Works Cited
George Takei. Twitter. 2014. <https://twitter.com/GeorgeTakei>.
