Once upon a time...

Link to the TEDtalk: https://www.ted.com/talks/becci_manson_re_touching_lives_through_photos

This talk by Becci Manson was about how she took her experience and job as a photograph retoucher and applied it to help restore photographs that were ruined after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Manson opened by explaining her job and how many people do not respect it because they think her and her colleagues simply "make skinny models skinnier and perfect faces more perfect".  She said that their job is creating art and then introduces her story of volunteering in Japan.  Manson said that her volunteer team went to a site in Japan for three weeks, and while they were cleaning the homes and streets for reparation they found many photos.  They kept the pictures in a safe place so that when families returned they could look for them.  Many of the pictures had been damaged and they attempted to clean them off, but Manson thought it would be a good idea to use her skills at photo retouching to fix the pictures for the families.  Manson's purpose was to show that her talents could be used for more than just the superficial things many people assumed it was used for.

This talk relates to many themes within Never Let Me Go in an interesting way.  Manson knew how much the photos meant to the people of these towns, and how pictures help people remember certain times in their lives.  In Never Let Me Go, memories and how we think about them is a major theme that is shown to impact the rest of our lives.  The same is true with photographs.  Manson wanted to be able to give the citizens back their memories in the most clear and truest form so that they could remember things as they were instead of remembering the damage done to them.

Becci Manson is a professional photo retoucher, and as such, she is very knowledgeable of things surrounding her job.  She is also a member of "All Hands Volunteers" and does many things to help her community and countries all over the world as she did with the people in Japan.  Manson was a volunteer in Japan, she did not simply donate to the cause, she worked in the streets and with the families that were effected by this disaster. I believe this and her background give her credibility to be able to talk about how photo retouching can positively affect the lives of others.  Her audience should respond to this ethos by listening to what she has to say and taking into account her experiences beyond just fixing peoples bodies for magazines.

While this TEDtalk was more about telling her story of helping those in Japan who had damage done to their communities, Manson is still making an argument for photo-retouching as art and aid.  The logos used in this TEDtalk can be evaluated by looking at the strengths and weaknesses of Manson's "argument".  While she did not have any research or polls to back up her opinion, she did have the photographs that she and others had retouched to fix back to their original quality.  Manson also used her words to tell how the redone pictures positively impacted the people she helped.  It is difficult to analyze the elements of an argument for this kind of talk, but seeing that there are not many facts to be presented about this, I would say Manson did a good job of proving her point.  She may be biased towards her side considering that she does photo-retouching for a living, but the fact that she also does it for volunteering to help others shows that it is not just for her benefit.

The entire talk had me feeling very emotional, so it is evident that Manson could assume her audience would be emotionally effected by her talk.  I believe that her introducing the horrific events in Japan was the first pull towards pathos that Manson used.  She then furthered her argument by putting the photographs on the large screen so that the entire audience could see the amazing work she and so many others had done for the people whose pictures were ruined.  I think the use of pathos was the best element of Manson's argument, as the whole situation was extremely sad, and the audience could view the positive work she had done with her photo-retouching abilities.

Photo-retouching is a pretty modern concept, and I think that is what first drew me into watching this TEDtalk. I have also been learning about retouching in my ITGS, so I had some background knowledge on the subject and its implications.  I am also very involved in volunteer work, so to see those two things combined together was very interesting to me.  I was not exactly sure what the talk would be about at first, but when I finished watching I was very glad that I had.  This talk was all about helping people who have been through a tough situation, no matter how you choose to do it.  Whether or not some people see photo-retouching as unethical did not stop Manson from putting her skills to good use and helping many people devastated by tragedy. It was more than just clearing up a picture, it was giving people back memories that they cherished and will continue to cherish for the rest of their lives.

Double Indemnity

Walter Neff - a smart, successful insurance agent who cannot help but be fooled by a woman in an ankle bracelet.  Smart enough to figure out Phyllis' plan and smart enough to help her make it (almost) foolproof, but not smart enough to back away from his lust for her when he knew he should have.  In accordance with the typical film noir approach, Neff is strong in stature but weak when it comes to a beautiful woman.  That is not to say that Neff is a bad or immoral person, but the fact that he has no problem trying to get involved with a married woman does not speak highly of his character.  His intent at first may not have been to murder an innocent, unsuspecting man, but as the story progresses he gets more and more tangled up in this mess and eventually figures out that is not what he wanted to do.

Neff's innocence (prior to meeting Phyllis) is essential to the plot of this film.  Double Indemnity could not fit the film noir characteristics without there being a man who is influenced by the classic femme fatale character, Phyllis Dietrichson.  It is imperative to note that Neff transitions from a suave, masculine character into a nervous, anxious one as the story continues.  This directly contrasts with Phyllis, who is banking on that even if something does go wrong, Neff will be the one to take the fall.  The fact that the film progresses through Neff confessing everything that happened to his boss shows his true character; one that never meant to get involved with such a sly woman as Phyllis.  His heart took over his head and because of that he did things he never would have done before, and that he could never take back.  This standard film noir plot and characterization of Neff and Phyllis is what made this movie successful.