November 24, 2009
The Doctor
Last night, I watched a movie called The Doctor created in 1991 and starring William Hurt. Our teacher recommended this film to me because of its relevance to my project about the display of empathy by doctors toward their patients. The movie centers around an arrogant heart surgeon named Dr. McKee who uses humor to distance himself from his patients and the seriousness of his work. He seems to be happy with his life until one day he becomes the patient himself, and he is diagnosed with laryngeal cancer. Viewers watch as Dr. McKee slowly realizes how insensitive he has been toward his patients. As events unfold, Dr. McKee is able to admit his shortcomings and make a transformation into a doctor who displays empathy and understanding for his patients' concerns.
I was very impressed with this movie, especially with the way that it visually made the argument that doctors should be more sensitive to their patients' concerns. Several scenes in the operating room, in particular, show the transformation of Dr. McKee and the effects of his changed behavior. The very first scene of the movie shows Dr. McKee and his surgical team performing a serious operation on the heart of a boy who had jumped out of a window. This scene strongly displays the emotional detachment of the doctors as they laugh, tell jokes, listen to loud offensive music, and tease the nurses who are assisting them. The doctors hardly recognize that the person they are operating on is actually a human with his own name, emotions, and life. The first time Dr. McKee himself lies on the operating table, he seems to have a panicky look on his face. He knows what goes on in the operating room once the patient is asleep, and he does not want to be the person under the knife whose name the surgeons barely know. As Dr. McKee makes his transformation, he again finds himself on the operating table, completely under the control of the doctors he had previously performed surgeries with. Understanding his concerns, this team plays his favorite music and comforts him before he is anesthetized. This experience is much more comforting than his previous experience as a patient undergoing surgery. The movie comes full circle in one of the final scenes, where Dr. McKee performs his first surgery after he has been cured of cancer. This scene starkly contrasts the first scene as he comforts the patient, speaks to the patient throughout the procedure even though he is asleep, and even plays the patient’s favorite music instead of his own insensitive music.
Through the changing audio and visuals displayed in the operating room throughout the movie, viewers are able to see the transformation of Dr. McKee and how this transformation makes him a better doctor. I think that one of the reasons these scenes were so effective was the ease with which I could see changes happening. By re-creating several similar scenes, the creator of the movie forces the viewer to remember back to pervious scenes that were similar and make comparisons. When I saw the final scene of Dr. McKee operating, I could not help but remember back to the very first scene of the movie and notice how he had changed. I thought that this was a very effective way to portray a message to the audience, and it was one of the reasons why I enjoyed the film so much.
Posted by foucherj at 04:48 PM | Comments (0)
November 19, 2009
A Different Approach to Advertising
Thinking of our recent discussion about persuasion and advertising, I would like to look at one method of advertising that sends an opposing message to that you would expect, but still seems to work well. The gym I belong to in Ann Arbor, HyperFit USA, is a CrossFit affiliate gym that is unlike most gyms you will find these days. Take, for example, Bally’s or Lifetime Fittness. These gyms are large chains that expend a lot of resources to attract clients through advertising and promoting their “product.” HyperFit USA, on the other hand, advertises primarily by word of mouth and its website, www.hyperfitusa.com. Visiting this website, one is not overwhelmed with inviting photos and special offers on membership prices. The gym’s logo featuring a skull-and-crossbones is one of the first images you see, and as you scroll down the page searching for information about the gym, you are warned:
Our gym is NOT open to the public.
There is no drop in or “check it out” time. Everything you need to know is right in front of you. If you would like to come learn more about what we do, send us an email and make an appointment to go through your introductory session. Please do not call and ask about price. We don’t compete on price; we compete on quality, skilled professional coaching and training.
There are plenty of places out there A LOT cheaper. You get what you pay for. Please check out the lower price places before you come to us, so you KNOW what you are getting. If you are looking for value, then you are in the right place.
We forge elite commitments...
If that isn’t enough to scare you away, a nearby link on the website leads you to the “10 Reasons NOT to train at HyperFit USA.” The rest of the website is filled with photos and videos of people training at the gym.
The questions I ask are, why has the owner of this gym taken such an abrasive approach to advertising, and why does it seem to work so well? I think that the answer to these questions can be found within the theories that Charland discusses in Constitutive Rhetoric. Charland states that the key to making an argument is to create an audience that identifies with your argument, rather than persuading a pre-existing audience. I think that in this case, the owner of the gym does just that. By not using the typical advertising gimmicks to promote his product, he lets his product promote itself. He knows that people who are not truly interested and do not truly identify with intensive physical training and working hard to improve their physical fitness will be scared away by his intimidating remarks. In creating his website in the way he has, the owner of HyperFit USA has created an audience of people who are serious about fitness. Thus, he does not have to worry about people joining his gym who are going to be lazy or uncommitted and damage the motivating atmosphere he has created. This unconventional advertising method seems to be so successful because in a roundabout way, it does appeal to the identities of certain individuals. These individuals, who then join the gym, add to its powerful and motivating atmosphere, and thereby improve the overall product. People who join this gym then see results and are more inclined to spread the word to their friends who may add even more positive energy to this great training atmosphere.
Posted by foucherj at 05:03 PM | Comments (1)
Television and Identification
I was browsing through nytimes.com again, and one article caught my attention after our discussion about the television show Glee in class on Monday. The article was titled “A Market Segment ‘Glee’ can call its own: Theater Folk,” and it was written by Patricia Cohen and published on nytimes.com on Monday, November 16th. The title of this article in particular caught my attention because of our discussion about Charland’s Constitutive Rhetoric, and his theory of “identification” rather than “persuasion” as the key to making an argument. In this case, the creators of the show “Glee,” have used Charland’s theory by creating a show that “theater folk” will watch because they can identify with its theme and characters. The article takes readers into an evening Glee-watching with the cast of Broadway’s Bye Bye Birdie. Readers can see how the cast responds to the show and is able to relate personally to its characters. Cast members are even able to catch onto some jokes and references that would go right over the heads of members of the average population.
This article also made me think of another show that I watched over the summer because I was able to identify with it- Make it or Break It, a drama on ABC Family about gymnasts training for the Olympics. When I first saw commercials and advertisements, my personal identification as a gymnast allowed me to identify with the show. Because I identified myself as a gymnast, I was persuaded to watch the show, even without knowing much about it other than that it centered around gymnastics. The creators used similar tactics to those of Glee by targeting a specific audience of young girls (and boys) who do gymnastics.
Thinking about these two shows further, I became confused as to why they were so popular considering that the number of people who can identify with being a “theater person” or a gymnast is very small with respect to the entire population of television viewers. I then began to think more about the identities that these shows portray. Although I am far from being considered a “theater person,” I have always been fascinated with theater and singing. I love going to my friends’ concerts and shows, and I love to imagine myself with the abilities to act and sing as well. I think this is a common theme among many people who may not be in theater themselves- many people who aren’t theatrically inclined appreciate theater and like to imagine what the lifestyle of an actor or actress would be like. Just look at our fascination with Hollywood- acting and singing are two talents many people admire and aspire to have. I think a similar argument can be made for gymnastics. Gymnastics is one sport that gymnasts and non-gymnasts alike love to watch, especially during the Olympics. Every Olympic season, the nation picks its favorite little girl to obsess over from Mary Lou Retton and Dominique Moceanu to Carly Patterson and Shawn Johnson. This popular desire to identify with the abilities and lifestyles of “theater folk” and gymnasts creates an even larger audience for the television shows Glee and Make it or Break It. Anyone who has personal experience with the theme of the show or who has some fascination within them to find out what the life of a theater actor or gymnast’s life is like will identify with the show, and therefore will be persuaded to watch based upon this ability to identify.
Link to nytimes.com article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/17/theater/17glee.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=glee&st=cse
Posted by foucherj at 01:15 PM | Comments (1)
November 11, 2009
The Ten Rules of Cancer
Today I came across an article at nytimes.com by Tara Parker-Pope titled “The Rules of Cancer” with a link to an article that will be published Women and Cancer magazine in December. I followed the link and found “A Survivor’s Compass,” an article by Kathryn Gurland laying out 10 important rules that cancer patients should follow. I found the article to be very insightful, especially in the context of the topic I have been investigating this semester. Kathryn Gurland is a medical social worker and therapist with personal cancer experience. After the loss of her two young sisters to cancer, Kathryn started a cancer consulting group.
Rule #2, in particular, stood out to me as relevant to my topic and to the topic of identity we have been discussing this semester in class:
2. Introduce your healthcare team to the person behind the diagnosis
Kathryn suggests that cancer patients do not allow their diagnoses to overshadow their previous identities by telling their health care teams about all aspects of their lives. She states, “If you allow yourself to think of yourself as ‘just another cancer patient,’ you will become just that. Do not allow your diagnosis to overshadow who you are as an individual, and do not let it take over your identity.” This statement directly relates to our study of identity, as Kathryn suggests that individuals will fulfill the identity that they believe themselves to have. She states the importance of cancer patients maintaining other aspects of their identities so that they continue to live full lives that are not completely consumed by their diagnosis.
With this rule, Kathryn also emphasizes the importance of cancer patients offering information about themselves to their healthcare teams so that they may be understood holistically. What struck me was Kathryn’s suggestion for cancer patients: “Make yourself memorable to every clinician you meet: make sure everyone knows your name during visits with providers, wear something distinctive, discuss a current event, interject humor, or find some other way to connect on a personal level.” To me, these instructions seem ridiculous- if someone has been diagnosed with cancer, they should NOT have to worry about wearing a brightly colored shirt just so that their doctor remembers who they are. The very fact that Kathryn has identified such actions as necessary, in my opinion, indicates deficiencies in health care. I think that it should be considered part of a doctor’s job to connect with his or her patients at least to a level that they feel noticed and memorable. This #2 rule for cancer patients only evidences further my claim that more emphasis should be placed upon the display of empathy by doctors.
Kathryn Gurland’s Article: http://www.cancerconsultants.com/a-survivor’s-compass/
Nytimes article: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/10/the-rules-of-cancer/
Posted by foucherj at 11:24 PM | Comments (3)
November 09, 2009
Discovering Visuals
Although some of my classmates have made use of visual elements in their blogs such as pictures and spacing, I think many of us have been limited by the blogging sites we use. This weekend, my roommate brought her dad’s blog, Zuerk One, to my attention, and I have really enjoyed reading it. As far as I can gather, her dad uses the blog to write about or reflect on ideas that are on his mind once in a while. One thing that really struck me as I scrolled through his blog was his vast use of visual elements in comparison to many of the blogs of students in our class. Although he has a much different purpose and intended audience than we do, I think I can learn a lot from his use of visuals.
One visual aspect of Zuerk One that is especially effective and attention-getting is the use of pictures. In almost every entry, text is preceded or accompanied by a photograph or drawing of some sort. These pictures function to grab the reader’s attention and draw him or her in to actually read the text of the blog. Pictures of street people, espresso, and even the bones of the arm made me question what Zuerk One might have to say about these topics. The pictures also helped me to contextualize what Zuerk One was trying to say and associate his words with previous thought, feelings, and emotions I have had. In this way, his words become more personal and have more meaning to me. One blog existed entirely as a video of a man singing and playing guitar. Seeing the video made me want to click “play” and find out what it was about. Watching and hearing the man sing allowed me to experience this blog in a much different way than if the blogger had simply described with text what the video portrayed.
In addition to his use of pictures and videos, Zuerk One uses spacing and creative text to add to his blogs. Many of Zuerk One’s blogs contain poems, in which spaces are used to separate stanzas and words. These spaces allow the reader to pause and think about what was said and notice patterns in his poems. In one blog titled A Celebration- U2, he starts the first line with three dots (…) and then skips to the next line before adding text. This adds a unique aspect to his blog entry and sets it apart from others. In another blog titled Orange Shirt with the Smiling Face, Zuerk One uses bright orange text for the words “orange shirt” every time they appear in his blog. This visual addition allows me to relate more to the person he writes about in his blog, looking for his orange shirt and smiling face in a crowd. I am able to see the words “orange shirt” much more brightly and distinctly against the black and white background much as the person he writes about can pick him out of a crowd in his bright clothing. In this way, I can understand more personally why he might have worn a bright orange shirt.
Overall, I was very inspired with the visual aspects of Zuerk One’s blog. I feel limited by my blogging site that does not allow posting of pictures or colored text, but perhaps I can find some way to express myself visually in addition to the text I post.
Zuerk One’s Blog: http://www.zuerk-one.blogspot.com/
Posted by foucherj at 11:59 PM | Comments (1)
November 05, 2009
Visa's GO WORLD Campaign
When asked to pick out an advertisement that was most convincing to me for class, I could only think of one: Visa’s “GO WORLD” advertisements for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. I don’t know what it is about these commercials and magazine ads, but for some reason they have a huge impact on me. I even have one of the magazine ads still hanging on the wall in my bedroom.
The advertisements center around a theme of “GO WORLD,” attempting to show that the Olympics celebrate the global spirit and bring out the best in athletes and people. Perhaps it was just this theme that hit home with me, as it ignored all of the conflicts and news we hear every day about people and countries fighting to show that we really are all the same and we are united as members of the world. Morgan Freeman’s words in the commercials reflect this message, as well as the depiction of athletes in moments of spirit and emotion. One commercial even shows an athlete finishing dead last in a race because of an injury, emphasizing the importance that he DID finish. In this way, the commercials attempt to show that athletes are human just like you or me, and they are not always perfect, but it is important to put forth your best effort no matter what.
Linking back to identity, I think that Visa used similar tactics to those used in Triumph of the Will, the film I talked about in my last blog. Visa emphasizes the unity and group identity of “the world” coming together in celebration of the Olympic Games. These ads make their audience feel good and want to be a part of this excited and united community that supports the Olympics. In an outline of the ad campaign (seen in the website below), Visa states its objective to “connect with consumers on an altogether more emotional level.” I think that with all of the controversies, fighting, and hate that exists in the world between and within different countries, most people are rooting for one, united world free of these things. The commercials appealed to this desire of their audience, allowing people to invest emotionally in the Olympics through the athletes and their incredible stories. Seeing the expressions on the athletes faces especially appealed to my emotions, as I was able to identify with them and root for them no matter what country they lived in.
Link to website with ads: http://www.effie.org/winners/showcase/2009/3532
Posted by foucherj at 10:45 PM | Comments (2)
November 04, 2009
Triumph of the Will
In class on Monday, we watched Triumph of the Will, a German film made for Hitler around the time of the rise of the National Party in Nuremburg after World War I. The film depicts a unified, happy city of people in Nuremburg all in support of and dedication to the Fuehrer, Hitler. As I watched, I determined that the intended audience for the movie was the people of Germany at the time. It was clear that Hitler wanted to influence the people of Germany to join his movement. Especially because much of the movie did not include dialogue and the parts of the movie that did include dialogue were in German (with English subtitles), I identified mostly visual arguments in the film. For me, the most visually powerful part of the film was the beginning, with Hitler’s arrival to Nuremburg by plane and his reception by parades of people. The initial view of Hitler’s plane among the clouds almost gives him a “God-like” depiction. He flies in, overlooking the entire city as if to “save the day.” These suggestions are confirmed when Hitler is greeted by rows and rows of screaming people, saluting him in unison. Something else I noticed about this initial scene was its long length. Just when I thought it might end, more fireworks, flags, and crowds of people praising Hitler came into view. I think that this excessive display of the “craze” that Hitler’s visit to Nuremburg evoked would really have had an impact on Germans of the time, convincing them that Hitler was doing great things for their country and that they should join his movement. Another interesting thing I noticed was that at the convention, one speaker said something to the effect of, “we will stand by Hitler/the movement in good days and in bad.” This immediately made me think of the vows that people recite in wedding ceremonies, signifying the country’s “marriage” to Hitler and his movement.
I think that the movie would have been much more persuasive at the time than it is now, mostly because of the state of Germany at the time. People were suffering from the depression and the war, and I think they would be ready to jump at any opportunity to re-unite their country and regain their sense of pride.
This film also triggers thought about the connections between argument and identity. Hitler uses the idea of a group identity to influence people to behave in a certain way, i.e. join his movement. After watching the film, the audience would most likely want to be a part of the happy, unified group identity that is displayed by the German soldiers and German people. People would want to be accepted in their society, not wanting to stand out as outsiders, so they would be inclined to join Hitler’s movement. In addition, the audience may gather from the movie that Hitler and other Germans see all Germans as members of the movement, and they would thus begin to see themselves in this way, according to Cooley’s Looking Glass self.
Posted by foucherj at 07:08 PM | Comments (2)
October 30, 2009
Doctors, not actors
In this blog post, I will attempt to revisit the 5 paragraph essay to argue (hopefully not TOO convincingly) against my convincing paper thesis:
Those who go to medical school and become doctors are usually the students who were extremely good at the hard sciences and problem solving. Just look at one of the biggest determinants of a students’ acceptance to medical school- the MCAT. The MCAT is an exam based primarily around the sciences, and although it contains a verbal reasoning section, this section is more about being able to pick out information than connecting emotionally with something someone else wrote. From the MCAT onward, considerations of emotional displays are not commonly associated with the primary work of doctors, so doctors do not need to be formally trained in how to display their emotions. Deep acting is a method that has been used to teach workers how to control the display of their emotions in their jobs. Deep acting should not be utilized in medical schools as a method of teaching empathy.
Deep acting should not be taught in medical schools because displaying empathy is not traditionally part of a doctor’s job. People visit doctors’ offices in order to improve their state of health, and this is the service that doctors should provide them. When I think of a doctor, I imagine someone in a white coat whose job is to diagnose me with some condition and then prescribe treatment that will cure this condition or in some way alleviate my symptoms. Because people primarily expect doctors to help them improve their health and not provide emotional support, they should not be trained to provide this service in medical school via deep acting. Also, doctors have traditionally been influenced to detach themselves emotionally. It has been thought that the display of emotions can hinder a doctor’s ability to provide the best care for his or her patients. Emotional stress can distract a doctor from his or her primary job of treating a patient’s illness. Because emotional displays are not part of the traditional job description of doctors, they should not be taught via deep acting in medical schools.
In addition to not being part of a doctors “job description,” displays of emotion through deep acting has been shown to cause emotional stress. Because doctors are required to display certain emotions by their jobs, they must manage their emotions by creating false selves that inhibit their true selves. These false selves prevent doctors from understanding their true selves, causing emotional stress. It has been shown that emotional management can cause job dissatisfaction and burnout in addition to emotional stress. Because deep acting is a form of emotional management, it contributes to these negative effects on doctors. Although deep acting may contribute less negative effects than other methods of emotional management, any method that contributes negatively to a doctor’s well being should not be promoted to medical students in their curriculum. Because deep acting has been shown to cause emotional stress among other negative effects, it should not be taught to doctors in medical school.
Finally, the money and resources that would be used to teach deep acting in medical schools could be better utilized in other ways. With the current lack of money to provide healthcare, none should be wasted trying to teach doctors how to manage their emotions. In addition, medical students and doctors are constantly expressing signs of being overworked and exhausted, so no more of their time should be utilized to teach them another method they should use to display empathy toward their patients. All in all, teaching deep acting to medical students across the country would require a large amount of money and resources that could be better used elsewhere, so deep acting should not be taught to medical students.
Medical students should not be taught how to display empathy toward their patients using deep acting. The display of emotions is not typically part of a doctor’s job, and medical training and environments have even promoted doctors to detach themselves emotionally from their patients. Deep acting has also been shown to cause emotional stress, and a method with such negative effects should not be endorsed by medical schools. Finally, money and other resources would be required to implement the teaching of deep acting that are needed in other places. Although deep acting may work for theater and film stars, it has no place in the medical profession.
Posted by foucherj at 12:51 AM | Comments (1)
October 26, 2009
The Evolution of My Perspective on Doctors as Emotionally Managed Selves
When I first started thinking about my topic, the identity of doctors as emotionally managed selves, I primarily looked at Arlie Hochschild’s theory of the emotionally managed self. I thought that this theory showed how the environment in which doctors work has a negative effect on their identities by requiring the presence of “false selves” that inhibit their “true selves” (see my post on 9-23-09). My main concern at this point was for the emotional identity of doctors. I was concerned that doctors were losing touch with their true selves, and I began to search for a way to remedy this problem. As I submerged myself deeper and deeper in scholarly articles, books, and popular news, I began to realize the inevitability of emotional management in the job of a doctor. While I gathered more and more evidence for the negative effects of emotional management, my sources provided no alternative. I also began to realize that not only the nature of doctors' jobs, but also their extremely busy schedules and heavy workloads contributed to the necessity of emotional management. When I talked to a surgical resident, she made it clear that “dealing with emotions” was just part of her job. She stated, “The only way to make [the emotional distress doctors experience] better would be to lessen the amount of work, but all of us crave the stress and want to work hard.” While I originally set out to find a way for physicians to become closer with their “true selves,” via coping methods such as reflection, meditation, or a lighter workload, I have somehow landed at a point where I am investigating the most effective forms of emotional management for doctors. While not necessarily remedying the negative effects of emotional management as coping methods might, certain methods of emotional management may lessen these negative effects. The path I am now taking recognizes the inevitability of emotional management in a doctor’s work, something I did not think much about before. While I knew that the role of a doctor was emotionally stressful, I always fixated on a doctor’s job of performing scientific analysis to solve a problem that would result in the improved health of his or her patients. Through my research, I have discovered the extreme significance of emotional management as part of a doctor’s job. Now that I have recognized this myself, I aim to convince others that effective methods of emotional management should be routinely taught to medical students alongside the basic sciences. Instead of relieving the negative effects of emotional management by arguing for more opportunities for doctors to connect with their "true selves," I plan combat emotional management at its source to reduce its negative impact of doctors’ identities in the first place.
Posted by foucherj at 07:17 PM | Comments (1)
