A balance between peripheral and central persuasion cues is necessary when approaching a mature audience. With film, this balance translates to realistic visual representations that are engaging yet not wholeheartedly fictitious. Sinclair 's The Jungle clearly relied on both central and peripheral persuasion cues. Sinclair appealed to people using peripheral cues in the form of strong imagery; one particular passage is especially vivid:
“[T]he meat would be shoveled into carts, and the man who did the shoveling would not trouble to lift out a rat even when he saw one—there were things that went into the sausage in comparison with which a poisoned rat was a tidbit. There was no place for the men to wash their hands before they ate their dinner, …show more content…
The film relies on a plethora of visual imagery to convey a feeling of desolation and desertion on Earth (Pike 115). This manipulation of visuals, referred to in Critical Studies as visual design, is a form of peripheral communication; the pro-environmental message being sent peripherally is the summation of all the visual elements used to invoke sympathy towards the decaying planet (Pike 115). Furthermore, the fact that neither Wall-E nor Eve, the protagonist and deuteragonist respectively, say little ultimately appeals to children’s preference of visual and symbolic cues (Cherry). The film’s reliance on visual imagery for the promotion of the environment is not a coincidence, especially when environmental activists already recognize that visual imagery “central to their argument and rely on these extensively as rhetorical tools to change public opinion and prompt policy changes” (Pike 116). Wall-E effectively delivers messages and persuades audiences, which is the end goal of the proposed Green Code. Unfortunately, the film takes advantage of its position as an efficient peripheral communication device and attempts to make a centrally persuasive argument; this is a grievous
“[T]he meat would be shoveled into carts, and the man who did the shoveling would not trouble to lift out a rat even when he saw one—there were things that went into the sausage in comparison with which a poisoned rat was a tidbit. There was no place for the men to wash their hands before they ate their dinner, …show more content…
The film relies on a plethora of visual imagery to convey a feeling of desolation and desertion on Earth (Pike 115). This manipulation of visuals, referred to in Critical Studies as visual design, is a form of peripheral communication; the pro-environmental message being sent peripherally is the summation of all the visual elements used to invoke sympathy towards the decaying planet (Pike 115). Furthermore, the fact that neither Wall-E nor Eve, the protagonist and deuteragonist respectively, say little ultimately appeals to children’s preference of visual and symbolic cues (Cherry). The film’s reliance on visual imagery for the promotion of the environment is not a coincidence, especially when environmental activists already recognize that visual imagery “central to their argument and rely on these extensively as rhetorical tools to change public opinion and prompt policy changes” (Pike 116). Wall-E effectively delivers messages and persuades audiences, which is the end goal of the proposed Green Code. Unfortunately, the film takes advantage of its position as an efficient peripheral communication device and attempts to make a centrally persuasive argument; this is a grievous