The Incorporation of the Dead in Contemporary Films

The film and music industries are evolutionary concepts. One of the increasingly common features of the current film setting relates to the incorporation of the dead in the development of scenes. This paper analyzes premises against the regurgitation of the dead in films which are highlighted in the article John Lennon, Michael Jackson: Do Celebrities Die Anymore? Through the use of various stylistic devices, Katrina Onstad succeeds in reflecting the negative implications of reflecting the dead in films.

ii) Body

A. USE OF EXPOSITION TO ANALYZE THE INCORPORATION OF THE DEAD IN FILMS

The rhetorical device entails the presentation of ideas through the reinforcement of evidential information. The initiative was an appeal to logos.

B. APPLICATION OF DESCRIPTION AND ARGUMENTATION

The essay applies a descriptive approach to discuss the negative implications of reflecting the dead in films. As a rhetorical device, the concept was used to appeal to emotions. Argumentation in the essay is an appeal to audience ethics.

C. DEAD CELEBRITIES CANNOT SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES

In reflecting the limited influence of the dead, the author questioned the morality behind the practice of incorporating them in the film setting.

iii) Conclusion

Technology plays a crucial role in the promotion of continuity for the dead in the film and music industry. The article John Lennon, Michael Jackson: Do Celebrities Die Anymore?

uses rhetorical devices to negate the practice of invoking celebrities in current films, upon their demise.

The Living Dead

The incorporation of the dead in contemporary film scenes remains a contentious issue in today’s society. Mainly, the dead are used in visual campaigns which are aimed at promoting a given understanding. Given their popularity while living, the dead are used to influence the market into engaging a product or service. For instance, according to Katrina Onstad, the dead Michael Jackson was the most selling artist of the year 2011. The article John Lennon, Michale Jackson: Do Celebrities Die Anymore decries the prevalence of practices which involve the integration of the dead in films and the music industry. According to Onstad, the dead are vulnerable in many ways given the absence of an active presence which would have regulated the use of their images (153). Therefore, dead celebrities had become a major business since they could be revived, reissued, regurgitated and remixed through a computer (Onstad 153). While companies that embrace the practice earn significant revenue, the regurgitation of the death should serve as a warning to artists. Mainly, Onstad applied various stylistic devices to convey the danger that is posed by the metaphorical exhumation of the dead into the contemporary music and film industries. Essentially, the dead should be respected and allowed ownership over their participation in film settings.

The primary rhetorical mode in the essay is exposition. The stylistic device is manifested when Katrina Onstad explains and analyzes information about the business that dead stars are engaged in; how they appear in the media and their use in advertisements through technology. The exposition mode is dominant throughout the essay since it involves presenting the idea, giving evidence and most suitable discussion. Therefore, the whole essay involved informing readers about how the dead stars are used in different ways to make money hence making them a major business.  For instance, in the essay Katrina informs readers on how a particular year where the hotel “luxury chain of Dorchester” released an advertisement with the stars who died dining with the living stars (Onstad 153). Katrina further explains that technology has been used to reshape the death of the stars (Onstad 153). For instance, she indicates that when an advertisement was released with Fred Astaire, a dead star dancing with the vacuum cleaner, its price decreased since the public and the press was appalled. The mode is very significant in the topic since it was used in analyzing various materials and discusses them in the essay. Moreover, the exposition mode assisted in exploring the topic do celebrities die any more.

Other rhetorical mode used includes description and argumentation. Notably, description is a visual presentation of a person or an event, whereas argumentation proves the validity of the idea by offering a discussion that convinces the reader. The description mode is presented by statements such as ”Technology has reshaped celebrity death” (Onstad 154). Description mode, in this case, aims at presenting the death of celebrity visually to enable the reader to picture the entire aspect of death among celebrities. The statement means that the use of technology has changed the way death is reviewed among celebrities since their work is available online regardless of being dead. Argumentation mode is extensively used in the essay to present sound reasoning to prove the validity of an idea that convinces the reader to adopt the argument. For instance, after the writer indicates ”the older the celebrity brand, the better” he gives an example of Elvis 11 to support the idea to ensure that readers are convinced by the statement (Onstad 153). The writer also gives an example of Freud who wrote about human death instinct as a way of supporting his argument to ensure that it is verifiable and adaptable for readers or researchers.

The argument that dead celebrities are currently a big business is true. The work of dead celebrities is extensively used without consent from the owner since he/she is dead. Today’s actors learn from the already produced content to know what they should use and what to fear.

There has been a challenge to protect the reputation of artists’ work after their death. Their work is exposed to forgeries which are determined by storage or dispersal or the work. In many cases, the artists who have established a foundation, their immediate family members may run the business after their death. However, it may be difficult to take the work forward, but instead, they continue using old works that may be irrelevant in the current generation. However, if the artist did not register a copyright, the work might be used after death by another aspect and he or she might be forgotten. Contrary, most of the celebrities are still remembered for the contribution they made to the current generation of art even for over ten years after death. The death of a celebrity is determined by the contribution made while alive. Artists who do not make an impact on their field of work are easily forgotten within a short duration.

In conclusion, in the current world, one can remain a celebrity even after death. Technology plays a critical role in ensuring continuity of the work of a dead celebrity. Arguably, a celebrity may die or fail to die. The death of a celebrity is determined by the contribution made while alive. A celebrity can be forgotten if the work is not registered for copyright or where another person continues to produce similar work and changes the brand name. Most dead celebrities are remembered since the living makes reference to their works. 

Work Cited

Katrina Onstad Lennon John and Michael Jackson: Do Celebrities Die Anymore? Chapter 3, 2011.