Reputation Cannot be Avoided

It is possible, in Aristotle’s time, that his contention, that ethos should be derived from what the speaker says and not his past reputation was a fair argument. In this media saturated age this statement is much more controversial. In most cases we, the public, are very aware of people’s past actions and we take those actions into account whenever we see a well-known person speak, or take action. As college students we are taught to be aware and critical of the world around us. Aristotle’s argument almost goes against this notion of the student as a critical thinker. When we hear Barrack Obama make a speech, we do not turn off the knowledge we have gained from the constant coverage of him for the past two years. For me, and for other students, I am sure this is impossible. On the other hand, as critical thinkers we must also use our minds in the moment to decide what we think of any speech or rhetorical action. In this sense our education gives us a double-edged sword, while Aristotle’s argument can be seen as a single sharp blade.
Another point to consider is the vast amount of people who can make public arguments, after all that is what we are doing in this class. In this case and in any case where you are reading someone’s blog who you are unfamiliar with, your sense of ethos will no doubt come from what the writer has said and argued for. In fact, there are numerous rhetorical actions that require us to make judgments of character based on inanimate objects and one-line phrases. Someday when you’re walking between class take a look around you at all the bumper stickers on cars and buttons and patches on people’s backpacks. We see things such as “support our troops” and “impeach bush”, in this case we can make reasonable judgments about an individual’s political affiliations and thus what we think of their ethos. All this from the back of a car, without ever hearing the individual speak a single word.
Then there are the cases where the public knows more than they ever should, or want to about someone, thanks to the Paparazzi and the constant coverage of all celebrities. Whenever we hear celebrities speak, there are events from their past that immediately come to mind. O.J. Simpson running away in a white Bronco, Michael Jackson dangling his baby off a balcony and of course Brittany Spears, well there aren’t really any specifics besides that she is a mess. Imagine if Brittany Spears got up and read one of Barack Obama’s speeches as if it were her own. There is no way anyone in their right mind could take her seriously and believe what she was saying. The obvious and indisputable reason for this is her reputation, her unavoidable and disastrous reputation. The example doesn’t have to be this extreme for us to discount most of what celebrities say. The lesson here is that it is possible to damage your reputation so much, that anything that comes out of your mouth will be completely disregarded.
In conclusion, I don’t believe that in this modern age we can discount reputation. There are times, when reputation isn’t there and in this case we have no choice but to base our judgment of ethos on what an individual says. In contrast, any well-known speaker’s reputation is very apparent and cannot be discarded. We all saw Barack Obama on TV and in the news for two years plus, finally concluding with a half-hour infomercial. Is it really possible for us to forget everything we have seen and heard when hearing him give a speech now? No it isn’t.