Challenge Blog

For the challenge blog I watched Halle Berry's acceptance speech for Best Actress at the 74th annual Academy Awards ceremony in 2002. The context of the speech was that Halle Berry had just won the award for best actress and she went up on the stage to accept her award in front of hundreds of other actors and actresses. It was a very emotional time for her, as she walked on the stage she was crying and had lots of feelings and emotions to express to the audience. This clip of her speech is available online, on youtube and on many other websites. It is easily accessible over the internet to watch for free.

The target audience for the original presentation was definitely african american women. Halle Berry felt like she opened the doors for African American women to win awards and be able to achieve that goal, she felt like the award wasn't just for her, but it was for all of the talented African American women thats voices should be heard. This was definitely her target audience for her speech, but this speech was broadcasted on national TV in 2002 and it was a very emotional speech, not just about her feelings and beliefs, but also the way she accepted the award, your attention could not be lost while watching. I think everyone who watched the show could have been impacted in some ways, the people that would have been watching are people who frequently watch movies or are interested in movies or like the actors that are nominated for the award.

After analyzing her speech by using the neo-Aristotelian approach and the five canons, Halle Berry definitely used her language persuasively and appropriately to get her point across. SHe used invention or recognizing a need for a message stating that she was the first African American women to receive that exact award and she feels like she reached a new level for African American women, and that itself is a message she was trying to get across. She also carefully arranged the way she put her speech together. Before she even started to get her point across through her speech, she was crying, out of breath and emotional and the audiences attention was completely focused on her. Once she had the audiences attention she made her main point first, then moved off into thanking other people that helped her achieve this award. What was important about the organizational structure was that she explained that she made her point and stood her ground firmly throughout the entire speech. The language she used in the speech was somewhat simple, she didn't use complex words but she said 'this award isn't just for me, its for all the women out there' and she name some names like Jada Pinkett Smith and others who she felt were worthy of the award. Berry also had very intense facial expressions and actions which compelled the audience to listen to her more and this added to the language she used while speaking. She delivered the message on public television that everyone could see, so this message was delivered all across the united states, and after i was put on you tube and other online video sites. This message is very memorable because of its content as well as her emotional expressions, at least that was what caught my attention the most. We also remember this because it has cultural significance, it was a landmark for Halle Berry as well as other women and african american women in the world that strive to do something.

In my opinion, I though the speech was a little over the top, especially concerning her crying and emotional part. But i do think she made a very good point and got it across to the audience. As the camera was being flashed around the audience during her speech, there weren't many dry eyes in the theater.