American Farming: A Love, Hate Relationship

American Farming: A Love, Hate Relationship

The underlying argument in both videos was that America was built on the small farmer’s ideals. Both videos also acknowledge how God had an impact on the farm industry. Both stress the fact that God created a farmer, and each keeps a spiritual focus on the video. The original template was from the Super Bowl commercial and the second filmmaker used the template to create his/her video. They both included the same type of font and roughly the same font size. Both videos also tried to use emotional appeal to get their point across.

                Reading between the lines of the first video, it does diverge from the ideas of the second video. The first video is painting the picture that the average farmer is an ideal that all Americans should strive to emulate. Dodge Ram wants the viewer to associate the ideals of the American farmer with Dodge trucks. The video is arguing Dodge Co. lives on the core values that on which America was founded. The video attempts to evoke feelings of patriotism among viewers. The video also implies that if viewers keep buying Dodge trucks, that Dodge will maintain these good values and that they are supporting the American dream, of a hard working farmer trying to make an honest living. The video implies that Dodge trucks embody the American dream and they have the same values as the American farmer. The video implies that the American farmer, like Dodge Company, is looking out for the goodwill and the best interests of all Americans. The video implies that farmers do not get paid enough for the hard work that they do. The first video implies that all Americans can identify with the ideals of the American farmer.  It also implies that farmers, and Dodge trucks, represent family values.

                One of the strengths strength of the first video is it references people of all races, genders, ages, and it does a good job giving the viewer feelings of patriotism. The video also did a good job showing the imagery of the American farmer. The video is weak because many Americans don’t identify with the ideals of the hard working farmer. Many Americans don’t realize how hard farmers work to make their living. Another weakness of the video is it basically pictures white males, for almost the entire video, implying the “true American farmer” is a white male.

Reading between the lines of the second video, it is diverging from the first video because it is satirically making fun of what farming has become today. It is essentially poking fun of the ideal of the “hardworking farmer” that the creators of the video believe does not exist. The video implies that farming is not based on Americans doing hard labor anymore. It implies that farming has essentially become more about making money than the values of the American farmer. The video implies that most Americans do not identify with the idea of the American farmer because the vast majority of Americans are not farmers. With a satirical tone, the video seems to imply that God did not make farming what it is today. The video implies that the need for the farmer to make money has caused farming to evolve into big business more than an old fashioned store. The video implies that the big business of farming is taking advantage of taxpayer dollars to make money. The video further implies that the business side of farming has made real farmers lazy and undeserving of the subsidies they receive. The video implies the word “farmer” should be associated more with rich business owners who take advantage of the people. The video also implies that America should not have given a bailout to auto makers because they are equivalent to the farmers who are taking advantage of the average American consumer.

One of the strengths of the second video is the satirical tone of the narrator, which gave a humorous appeal to the entire video. Another of the strengths of the second video is the ideas of the video were supported with facts and figures, that seem legitimate. The video also does a good job connecting the perceived negative aspects of the farming industry to Dodge Co. and the commercial. One weakness of the video is it makes a stereotypical generalization about Mexicans. Even though the intent was humor, I think it might offend some people. Another weakness of the video is the ideas of the video don’t really connect logically. The video jumps from topic to topic with poor transitions. One final weakness of the video is it the inconsistency of the accent on the voice of the narrator because it distracts the viewer from the overarching theme of the video.