2 essays for Essays Guru

The Rhetoric of "Rocky": A Social Value Model of Criticism

JANICE HOCKER RUSHING AND THOMAS S . FEENTZ*

T.HE F I L M " R O C K Y " is a genuine enigma. It has all the sure-fire mgre- dients of cinematic failure. The t h a n e of a local, mediocre club fighter's acd- dentai shot at the World Heavjrweight Boxing title is both implausible and potentially maudlin. The cast of characters—^with the possible exception of Burgess Meredith—^reads like a Who's-Not-Who in Hollywood. The screen- pky was written by someone wlu>se scripts had never been filmed and who withheld the film rights until he could play the leading role. When that was finally affirmed, the writer/actor all but converted the final product into a home movie by using virtually his entire family in some capacity (even the writer/actor's dog, Butkus Stallone, has a supportii^ role). If we were to document how to guarantee a film disaster, we could do worse than recomr mend the ingredients that went into the making of "Rocky."

But the film is not a failure. Incredibly, "Rocky" has charmed critic and public alike. Seldom has a low-budget, personally-produced, no-star film so captured the imagination of the American people.'^ Its universal appeal stems in large part from the unusual way in which "Rocky" deals with American values. Unlike other popular films which announce, predict, or reflect the deterioration of American morality (e.g., "The Exorcist," "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest," "All the President's Men," and "Network," to name a few), "Rocky" both celebrates the American Dream and implies an innova- tive psycho-social process for identifying with its mythology. On the most basic level, it is idealistic optimism tempered by experiential reality tbat sets "Rocky" apart f rc«n other fihns making rhetorical statements about values.-

The importance of "Rocky," however, is that the film need not be experi- enced only on this baac level. When examined carefully, "Rocky" manifests a particular pattern of value change. Moreover, that pattern—-while having specific symbolic import in the film itself—reflects a more general social value

* Ms. Rushiog is a Lecturer in the D^iartment of Craamunication Studies at tbe Umversity erf California, Los Angeles. Mr. Frexttz is an Associate Prcrfessor in the De- partment of Commtmicaticn at the University of Colorado, Boidder.

^ C3iartctff-Win4der PnxiucticHis report d o i ^ s t k box office recdpts, as of November, 1977, at $ta}^00,000.

='F a MBiilar view erf "Rodcy," see: Newsweek, April 11,1977, p. 71.

[63]

WESTERK JOURNAL OF SPEECH COMMUNICATION SPRING 1978

modd (rf rtetoHcal critidan. To realize "Rwiy's" i n ^ r t , we need to do more than sinq)ly evaluate a film, we must develop an^q)rt^wiate modd ior its investigation. Thus in Jhis initial es^y, wt will (1) discuss the reiationship betweei societal values and film* and (2) outline a five-part sodjd value modd oi rhetorical criddsm. In the second essay (to ^ i p ^ r in the Fall issue of WJSC), we will onpSoy the modd to investigate tibe political context sur- rounding "Rodcy," demonstrate the unusual pattern of value change pre- sented in tire film, and consider inqdications for future rhetorical critidsm of such rh^orical statements.

FILM AND SOCIETY

Sodetal values and film are related in two fundamental ways. First, film jmd sodety redprocally influence one amjther.* By projecting collective im- ages trf a culture, by serving as symptoms of cultural needs, and by symboliz- ing ti^ids, dramatic media both reflect and create sodetal events. Second, sodo-political processes, like film, are structured and per«^ved as essentially dramatic* Film is clearly a potent vehicle for symbolizing sodo-political

The redprodty betwerai fihn and sodety is manifested on three levels. First, film projects the collective ima^s, feuitasies, and values of the culture in whidi the film is created. Vievred historically, film reveals obvious corre- lations between ideals in fashion, male and femate beauty, individual and nationalistic heroian, and family life. Martha Wolfenstein and Nathan Ldtes put this p(»nt wdl:

The commcHi daydreams of a culture are in part the source, in part Ute products of its popular myths, stories, ^\ays and films. Where these produdions gain the s}mipath£tic response ol a wide audiraice, it is Hkdy that thdr producers have tapped within themsdves the reser- voir of common day-dreams.^

W . Rosenfield d e s e r t s the "model modi^ty" of riietorical criticism in "The Anateny <rf Critical Discourse," Speech Monogr^u, 25 (1968), 50-69, as one proceditfe for joining <rf>%rTatioiis and rhetorical norms. I l i e critic generate a (aradigm wfaich is used as a basis <rf comparison. FCNT ao excdlent exaso^Ie ol iaodd rhetxn-ical criticism in which tiie toodds used are described explicitly, set: James W. C^sebro and Caroline D. Hamriter, "Coomnsiication, Valties, and Popoiar Television Series," in TehtHsion: The Critical View, Horace Newcomb, e d , (New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1976), pp. 6-25.

* See: D a w i M. Berg, "Rhetorfc, Reali^, and Mass Media," Qmrteriy Jottrtud of Speech, 58 (1972), 256, -who argues: T i r s t it is dear that soedia do more than merely reflect events; they also create them. 'Any medioo:,' as antl^^iologist Edmtmd Carpeater points out, 'abstracts frraa the given and codifies in terms ^ t ^ t o^dimn's grammar. It cemrerts "given reality" into experioiced r e a l ^ . "

* See: Earnest G. Bormaim, "Fantasy and Rhetorical V&ion: The Rhetorical Criti- d a n of Sodal RealiQr," Qwaierty Journal of Speech, 58 ( 1 $ ^ ) , 396-407, who argues that the irocess bs which fantasies goieratedin small groups b e ^ m s i n j ^ enactinei^ is also draaiatic in nature. .-<

« Martha WolfeostdnaMNathan Lates, Momes: A ify^chological Study (Glencoe: Free Press, 1950), p. 13. See also: Richard M. Merlma^ "Power and Community w Televiswn," ia Newocmib, who argues ttert telension's weMems, crime saries, aad situ-

[64]

JANICE HOCKEK RUSHING AND THOMAS S . FKENI3

Second, fihn often dramatizes symjrttMns of particular societal nttds ĉ an era. By portrayii^ external jM^lems facing the entire country, conflicts amcBig aib-cukural groups, or internal needs shared by a major segmient of the public, fitos give tan^ble structure to sodal phenranena. Like dreams, films arouse an audiaice to recognize, with varying d^rees of comsdousness, the most cHfical sodetel problons and in a form that is appealii^j.̂ It is often easier to face saaal proMenra l^ identifying with attrjaaive, humorous, or pattos-evddng diaracters engaged in some form of dramatic tension than by listening to politidans, ministers, or other public persuaders preaching about sodetal ills. As David M. Berg argues, mass media expands the awareness of issues facing humankind, and thus "increases the ratio of exigence to reality."*

This "symptomizing" relationship between film and sodety can be docu- mented almost endlessly. Many 1940 war movies (e.g., "Guadalcanal Diary," "Iwo Jima") r^ponded to a general public need to feel that the war was morally justified. Similarly, select 1950 sdence fiction films (e.g., "The Thing," "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" ) can be seen as thinly veiled reflec- tions of the Communist Threat. The popular "youth films" of the 19608 (e.g., "The Graduate," "Easy Rider," "Five Easy Pieces") were symptomatic of a duster of intracultural problems all relevant to the "generation gap." Nos- talgia movies of the early 197O's (e.g., "Summer of '42." "American Grafiit- ti") could be analyzed as symptomatic of a desire to return to more tranquil times following tlK turbulence of the Sixties.

Third, films often symbolize and reinforce sodetal trends.* Sometimes films have modeled for sodety complete re-orientations in value structure. For example, Thomas S. Frentz and Thcanas B. Farrell argue that "The Ex- ordst" signaled an alteration from a positivistic to a more transcendent value orientation.̂ " Other times, films, or film genres merely reflect a trend already

ation oHnedies are "fertile sources of infonaatioa about the coilective proj^^ons of Americans. . . . Unconscious as weli as ixmscious expectations of political b^avior, in- dividual morality and social norms are acted out in television aitertaimnait series." p. 87. That films re^esent collectve sodetel projections implies the "intentional fallacy"— that it is misleading to attribute meaning in any artistic creati<Hi only to what matches tbe source's inteixtion. The artist can certainly laid insight to an interpretation of film, but orten he or Ac is acting at least in part uncmscMtisly as a representative of the cultoie and thus as a receptacle for its fantasies. See: Rosenfidd, p. 63.

^ Horace Newcovnb makes a related point abcmrt tbe twc&m of televisicm in "Towai4 a Televisiffli Aesthetic," in Newcondi, pp. 273-89. Televisicai dramatic programs, he Kiys, often deal with taxttemporaiy histcn^cal ccHicems as s^ject matter, Init place t b ^ r char- acters withm an older time frame. In this "mytiiical realm," where values and issues are nxire clearly defined and certain modes of befasvior, such as yidoice, are more permissible, we TKOfstuze Ota own prdbjems. "Our history is all too familiar and perplexing, so to deal with it we bnvt created the anrth <rf television." ^ 6

' B 2 Merg,p.2M. * ITns asasnpticai cra-respcntds to Rosenfidd's "M-E" or message-environment focus

w criticism, in wUdt focnses oji the ajvinaanort as the particular age and cirilizatkin m waich the i s e s s a ^ was o-eated. Rosenfidd defined * e focus as follows: "This emphasis "tm its rationale in ti» amustption that to &e extent t h ^ an aesthetic event can be am- sidered tytncal c^ its age it will wovide valnaUe insight into the Intdlectu^ and social trendsofthatage."p.60.

[65]

ouiNAL OF SPWECU OJMMDNICATION SPHNG 1978

in progrras. Russdl L. Merritt, fw example, dscribes the "badiM tyjMcaliy pkyed by Gary Cocper, J a m s Ste^rart, Henry Fonda, and Will Roi^s—as the rhetM-ical duld of the Prc^essive eara tfiat enMrged around tlM turn of the coitury, in wbJdi the prevailing phikis(q^y was ̂ aMtarian, focusing upcm. the wisdom of the osiamon man.^

Although film and overall sodal protxs^s are iaextricably related, it is with political processes that film is most symbioticidly l i n l ^ . For pc^tical arts, like fikn, are essentially dranmtic and symbolic in form. Eddman rap- tures tijis rdationshitp well:

The parade of 'news' about political acts r̂ HMted to us by the mass media and drunk up by tbe jmUic as drama is the raw matoial of such symbolizaticm. It has everjrthing: remoteness, the omnipotient state, crises, and detentes. More tban tbat, it bas tlM blurring or absence of any realistic detail tbat might question or weakai the symbolic mean- ings we read into i t . . . If political arts are to promote sodal ad- justment and are to mean wbat our inner problems require tbat tbey mean, then tbese acts bave to be dramatic in outline and «npty of real- istic detail.-'̂

If both political processes and film are experiaiced as dramatic events, tben botb are experienced as "spectator sports." Daniel J. Boorstin comments tbat Americans rardy confront political reality directly—that tbey instead witness "pseudo-events" tbat apprar spontaneous and genuine, but are in fact designed to obscure the ambiguous situation bebind tbe event.^' And wben tbis occurs, tbe experiendng of pioHtical change beccwnra analogous to tbe ex- periencing of, say, a football game or—^more to tbe point bere—a prize fight; tbe contart can be at once exbilerating wbile still somewhat detached.

SOCIAL VALtrE MODEL

We have argued that an interdqiendent relationship exists between film and sodal phenomena in general, and political proce^es in particular. Sodetal change, however, does not unfold capridously; it bas an underlying struc-

i« Thonaas S. Freatz and Thomas B. Farrell, "ConveraoB <rf Anrarica's Cossdous- ness: The Rhetoric of The Exorcist," Quarterly Journal oi Speech, 61 (1975), 43.

" Russell L. Merritt, "The Bashftil Hero in American î tini," Quarterly Journal of h 61 a975)l&Speech, 61 a975),l&.

12 Murray Edelman, The Symbolic Uses of Politics (Urbaaa: Univ. of Illinois Press, 1964), pp. S-9. See also: Murray Edelman, Politics as SymbsBe Action (Odcago: Mark- ham. 1971).

"Daniel J. Boorstm, The Image (New York: Athegwan, 1962), » - 9-12. Dan Nimmo, The Political Persuaders: The Techniques of U^em Election Ctrnpiagns (Esgiewood QiflEs, N.J.: Prentke-Hall, 1 ^ 0 ) , atM three«*«cent trmds in puWtcizing imlitical csmdidates tm tdevision: dK quest cA the news m e & for entertaining events to report, tiie rteialistk television coverage oi sudi pviAic erett^ as ^uty oHtveatiotts ana inai^uratkois, and tbe attempt o£ TV staticms to pmorma "griUic service" l^sta^ng <K- bates betnreen candidates, p. 155. For a liietorical p«Tpectiv«im the rdation^p between m a s nwcUa "spectodes" and s o d ^ towwledge, see: ibsmmB. FarrtU, "The Forms of S o d ^ I ^ o w l ^ i e : Prsuds and ^tectade," mper preseoted gillie Speedi Ccomuimcation As»)dati(Hi's CooventitHi, San Frandscc^ CaU&wnia, DtctOibec, 1976.

[66]

J A N I C E HOCKER R U S H I N G AND T H O M A S S . FKEHTZ

ture. This pattem has sddom been exjdored by sodal ami rh^wical taitics. If kiM3vî <%e<rf iht form of sodal diange—^particularly in rtgard to values— is necessary to tuuterstand fujly such change, then we must generate a model that explicate that form. To the ext«it that the model is explidtly formulated and functioaially dear, it should operate h e u r i ^ c d l y to reveal the nature ctf the political o n t e x t that impinges oa a film, such as "Rocky," and the spe- cific exigence to which it is a response. W e prc^wse a five-jart model to serve this function, we call it a social value model. The remainder of this essay will be devoted to detailing its structure.

Dialectical Opposition The "collective consdousness" of a sodety is c(Hnpos«l primarily of broad

dusters of values that take the form of images, dreams, and myths that are self-reflexive.-** The values basic to a culture's thought and rituals exist fre- quently in a fragile pattem of dialectical opposition—a state of tension, real or potential conflict or change.

Several critics note the existence of such didiotomous value schemes. For example, Alvin W . Gotddner argues that any culture's outlook on its own fu- ture is manifested in opposing values—those comprising a "tragic" vision and those ccMnprising a "utopian" visicai. The tragic viewpoint incorporates the belief that positive sodetal growth is not pnjssible and that the continuing en- durance of stiflFering is the mcBt realistic stance. By contrast, the Utopian framework is based on the assumption that the discrepancies between the real and the ideal are surmountable; utopianism strives for perfection.^* E a d i vi- sion co-exists in "profound tension" with the other.^* Since utopianism does not focus on what already has been accomplished, Gouldner says, " I t is contin- uously poised on the brink of a new d « p a i r and pessimism, to whidi it is vul- nerable, so that one tmintended outcome of the striving to enact the Utopian vision is to regenerate the tragic vision. The pursuit of Utopia prepares for a regression to the tragic view. "^''

A similar dialectical (^position among sodal values may be observed—in slightly different form^—in American history. For example, Frentz and Far- rell argue:

^* Marshall McLuhan argues Hxat the existetKe of w i ^ y shared mass media images creates a situation in which the "globe is no more than a v i l l a ^ " and everyone is neces- sarily involved in t l » lives oi everyone else. Sex: Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1964), p. S. By "myth," we refer to a society's crflec- tiyity of persistQit Tains, handed <kiwn from g«ia-aticHi to generation, that help to make the WM-ld understandable, svf^ort the sodal order, and educate the sodety's young. Myths change slowly^ and are widely taught and believed. They are expressed in the doaamoA symbols and ntuals of the culture.

^Alvin W. Gouldner, The Dialectic of Ideology and Technology: The Origins, Grammar, and Puittre of Ideology (New YOTk: Seabmy, 1976), pp. 69-88. A variant of me vteqiisn view is tiie " i d e o l t ^ a l , " whidi accepts mirersal iatperfectkm and merely stnres fw better conditiais in iife.

"Goal<hier,p.88. " Gcwldner, p. S9.

[67]

OUENAL OF SPCT^^H COMMUNICAnON S P M N G 1978

ThrotHgfaoot the history of Amoican Ibm^ht, t « o coiiirt^'vailiag im- polses have akersativety donunated the nation's ccmsdousness. There IS . . . a positivist inclinatioa [tfiat] . . . r^iscrds any stetemoit to be mesmingfcd cmlj in terms dt its Tm£table j ^ observable referents, . . . distrusts the abstract, is contemptuous of tfisorder, and compen- sates for its ^ q j d d s m w i ^ a fo-m ccnifideiKje timt ivdisctiaiiian, pre- didion, and ccmtrol are valued inteUa:bial pastitara.^^

By contrast.

counteipart of Positivism in American tihonght, Transcendence, . . . yeam(s) for that which is general and ideal, . . . finds meanii^ in that which is good; . . . harkens after the aidstorical; . . . com- pensates for naive insecurity by piously anticipating a reemergence of Utopian innocence.̂ *

The g«ieric names as well as the values underlying these dialectical oppo- sitions vary; in this psiper, however, we are most cwicemed with the specific form value opposition took in the socio-political context surrounding "Rocky." Walter R. Fisher aptly defines the dichotomy in the distincticoi be- tween materialism and moralism. The materialistic myth

is groimded on the puritan worii ̂ hic and relates to the values of ^ o r t , persisteiK«, 'playing the game,' imtiative, self-reliance, adiieyement, and succ^s. It undergirds ccHiq>etition as the way of determining per- sonal worth, the free enterprise Systran, and the sotion of freedom, de- fined as the freedom from a>ntrols, regulations, CH: constraints that hinder the individual's strivii^ for ascendency In the sodal-eccoicunic hierarchy of s o d ^ . ^

In tension with the materialistic myth, the moralistic myth . . . is well express^ in ba^c tenets of the Declaration of Independ- ence : tfiat 'all men are created equal,' men 'are endowed by their Cre- ator with certain inali»iable rights,' 'among th^e are life, liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness,' . . . These tenets naturally involve tiie values of tolerance, charity, compassitMi, and true r ^ a r d for the dignity and w(Hlh of each and every i H i d l ^ '

As we shall demcmstrate, the tension between mora£sm and materialism is particularly rdevant to understanding "Rocky."

Symbolic Conflict li the values of a society live in ddicate tension, we may ask what the con-

ditions for change are and if such change has an identifiable cx>nimunicative form. Some sort of valtte c h a i ^ is inevitable whenever the diMninant form of

«Fretttzand Fan^l, i^. 40-41. M Freatz and Farrell, p. 41. 3e Walter R. FISIKT, "Reaffinnatkn aad Sabv«-skm of due American Bream,"

terly Iimrwtd of Speech, 59 i\9m, 161. aFish«-,p.l61.

[ 6 8 ]

J A N I C E HOCKER R U S H I N G AND T H O M A S S . FKENTZ

the pferailing myth OT value duster is incapable of solving sodal p r t ^ e m s . ^ Altbou^ sodStal members may b^;in to questitMi the values of a m y l i indi- viduaJly, the coUectkn preiaomtion of inadequacy must be a d o i o w l e d ^ be- fore adual dianges can occur. Several forces operate simultaneously in the emer^nce, coosenstial validation, and OMnmuniration (rf value diaxige to a public Social and artistic critics, for instance, usually alert the public that its general mood is due for a change by decrying the decline of values.**

Because values exist in a state of dialectical opposition, however, com- municative conflict is the most common and powerful form for enacting change. This conflictual form of value change is dearly reflected in political acts as well as in film. In political change, Gouldner observes, "A good part of the sense of men's potoicy rests on conflictual validation, the asnduct of successfid conflict, struggle, contest, and also w a r . " ^ Cert^nly, "collective non-movements,"** loosely structured groups of people conspicuously dem- onstrating alternative ways of life, and rhetorical movements, groups at- tempting to pressure the society at large for change, are political, conflictual ways of bringing about value change.**

Film, with its dramatic affinity to political events, is also adept at depict- it^ value changes through symbolic conflicts. As Marsha Kinder and Bev- erle Houston note, film is particularly suited to representing myth for an audience;

SinoB their b^innings movies have had the ^ w d a l qialities of a mythic medium. Like the bdlad, the eircus, and odwr popular art forms, they have drawn a mass audience. I n images Iar|fer than life, they both re- flect and shape popular myths. One of their strongest powers lies in t h a r ability to project dreams and fantasies under quiet, darkened con- ditions, which enhance t h d r eff ectivaiess.*'

In both politics and film, the conflict is often expressed as a verbal or physical battle brtween two opposing individual or groups of individuals.

22 Frentz and Farrell claim: "The eral of an era is usually marked by the increased incapacity d cme dimension of consciousness to solve contemporary sodal problems," p. 42.

2* Frentz and Farrell note that tte demise of Positivism in America was acccnapanied by an mtensified concern with the Ammcan psyche on the part erf social critics, p. 43.

*̂ Goddner, p. 69. 25 According to RMI E . RcAerts and Robert Marsh Hoss, Social Movements: Be-

Uoetn the Balcony and the Barricade ( S t Loras: C. V. Mossby, 1974), p. 41, a "cd- lechve non.'inovaBent refers to a sotuticNa to a proUem which does iMt attempt to in- fluence Ae labor or prt^wrty relations of a given society." That is, collective non-move- "KBts, as exposed to movements, d̂ >etKi on psychological reorganizatioa rather ilian so- ^ change to solve ivc^laBS. Joseph Gusfield makes a similar distinction in Symbolic Crusade: Status Pohtics and the Afoeriam Temperence Movement (Urtena: Univ. of imnois Press, 1966). He identifies p^cbok^cally oriented movonents with statiu poli- ™^ |ra ecooomically oriented maraaaais with class politics.

°̂ Roberts smd Kloss ccxisider coQective nt»rnaoveiQents a&d movemeots to be evi- aence of a "dklectical laiocess"; tiiat is, a social trend prodncra its own opposition by fos- tenng witUn a e r o w of people Ihe psyiiiological need for negation oi the trend, p. 19. , ''̂ Marsha Kimfcr and Beverle Houstc», Chse-Up: A Critical Perspective on Film (New York: Harcourt, Brace Jovaaovich, 1972), p. 282.

169]

JotJSNAL OF Si^ECH COMMUNICAItON SVKOSSG 1978

Thus, Fisho- argues that ths 1972 Preadendal c a ^ a i g n w:^ a symbolic struggle between Nixon as dK fls^ earner of the materiaHstic myth and Mc- Govem as the symbd of the moralistic myth. Frentz and F a n ^ n^dntain that the struggk bdiween Father Kanas and the Dantm in "The Exordst" symbolizes a similar conflict, a battle bebween transeendoit Good and posi- livistic EviL And, as we shall demonstrate, a compandde conflict is central to die moning ol "Rocky."

Patterns of Change Symbolic conflict, then, is the necessary condition of value re-orientation

—both in politics and in film. There are, however, two different patterns that such S3mAoUc conflict can take, each pattern having its own peculiarities and necessary pre-conditions to enactment: dialectical transformation and dialec- Heal synthesis. One pattern «itails an inversion frtmi one prevailing set of values to the other—a dialectical transformation.^ In terms ol the concepts discussed previously, this pattern would be exemplified in a transformation from tragedy to Utopia, from positivism to transcendoice, or from moralism to materialism (or, of course, vice-versa). Of the two patterns, dialectical trans- formation is the simplest because it does not necessitate the creation of a new value structure, but only the shift from one dominairt set of values to another —^where both value sets are previously known and experienced. In addition, dialectical transformation is a non-zero-sum game; as one set of values re- places the other as the imderlying myth of social life, the value set ttat is re- placed "loses" in a symbolic sense. This pattern is narked by competition.

The competitiveness of a dialectical transformation has not gone unnoticed among political and film critics. Frentz and Farrell express concern over the possible "debilitating effect of a total reliance on one dimension of consdous- ness to the exdusion of the other."^ Fisher, commaiting on the consequences of the 1972 Presidential campaign, warns:

The gravest danger that the election may have fostered is an increased loss oE faith in & American Dream, the whole dream. . . . America needs heroes and rituals, presidents jtnd electioiK^ to sigiufy her whole meaning—moralistic and materialistic; ^ae reqavK S3niibols tiiat her dtizens can identify with and can gain sajoction from for what they are as individuals and what they represent as i ^

The second pattern of value change is more omplex concqrtually and difiicuit to enact ^rmbolicaliy. In a dialectictU synthesis tixs <M is not

^ There is some evideoce of this ^ t t e m . Of Positivism and TranscendeMX, Frentz ami Farrell argot that "j^canse of tiieir antith^cal nature, these two dimensions oi Americaa consckmaiess faaTe dbbed and flowed in aa irr^aiu- but recurrent cycie," p. 41. Goaldner daans that the modon coQscicntsness "is vr&sttiotaHy divided intermdly so that one decade may be passitre and profonndly gloonrjr wUle the very iwxt is activistic ana optkristic," p. 75.

» Frentz and FarrdL p. 41. «> Fisher, p. IS'.

[70]

J A N I C E HOCKER R U S H I N G AND T H O M A S S . FRENTZ

merely rqdaced with the new, but r ^ h e r an integration of the old with the new is fornMd in sudi a way that the relationship among the participants is reaffirmed. In other words, this pattern of change renews a sense of independ- ence and oMnmunity among those involved. Moreover, there are no "losers" in a dialectical syntheas process, because all parts are preserved, the s3Tnbolic conflict is characterized by intense effort Hat is more cooperative than com- petitive.

Psychological Prerequisites Change agents—be they politicians or characters in a film—are not totally

free to choose either pattern of value change; any change agent must manifest internally a value eisemble consistent with the fattem to be followed. This principle is based upon the assumption that agents of social change can only be effective to the extent that they have experienced psychologically the new values. For change agents to implement the dialectical transformation pattern of symbolic conflict would r^juire that they have psychological knowledge of one of the two competing sets of values. For individuals or groups dialectic- ally to syntlKsize opposing values, however, they would have to have already synthesized the values in question internally, to have "psychologically pre- viewed" the synthesis process to be enacted in the sodo-political arena. It may well be that the rarity with which the synthesis pattern is enacted stems from the difficulty of achieving the psychological prerequisites.

Andience Role The final component of our critical model involves the role of the audi-

ence, the spectators for which symbolic conflict is enacted. The audience's role in either dialectical pattern varies from intensified awareness to active parti- cipation. This general intensified awareness is traceable to dissatisfaction with a given value orientation that is no longer meeting societd needs—to a yearn- ing for something different. The audience seems to be most actively involved, however, when the pattern of change is synthetic; for dialectical sjmthesis is an emergent pattern—a pattern in which the change agents creativdy forge a new phoiomraion. Thus, when in^viduals witness such change, they indentif y with an inventional process. Ideally, they are contributors to the generative process; they both learn and vicariously help create that which did not exist before the pattCTn was enacted.

The five-jdiase sodal value modd of rhetorical criticism we have out- lined is schematized in Figure 1.

In this essay, we have argued that film and social change are inextricaHy related and, as such, to understand d t h e r demands understanding that inter- relationship. W e then created a five-part soda! value modd of rhetorical criti- •̂ sm. In the seccoid essay, we shall tise the sodal value modd as a heuristic vehicle for analyzing the political-rhetorical context in whidi "Rocky" oc-

[71]

WESTERN JOCEKAL OF SPEECH COMMONICATIOK SPKING 1978

F K U S E 1

Socki Value Model

1. Values c a s t in dialectical c^wsiticm. 2. Sycdxdiccraifiklk the necessary conditioQ for value re-(»ient^icm. 3. Ttoie are two patterns of symbolic conflict:

—d^ectlcal transformation', —dialectical synthesis.

4. P^diol(^cal prerequisite: —dialectical transfonnation necessitates non-integrated change

t —dialKtical synthesis requires integrated change agent

5. Audience role: —participation in a g e n e r a t e process hogpens eiq)eriential

involvement in dialectical sjrnthesis.

corred and for evaluating Hie fihn as an expression of value chai^;e in Amer- ican society.

172}