Page 80 - Cultural Studies A Practical Introduction

64 Rhetoric

and resolve in an arena far removed from the impersonal trappings of
consumer culture. But consider what happens when “ recruits ” start to
show up at Jack and Tyler ’ s door seeking membership in what has become
something of a guerilla army. They acquire identities through naming;
rhetoric would seem to be inevitably a part of even this most “ natural ” of

groups that supposedly found a way out of the artifice of civilization. To be

a group, it must engage in acts of identification through discourse and
become “ Space Monkeys. ” Old names for new, and not true nature for false
nurture.
Ultimately, we learn that Tyler is merely an hallucination, and that Jack
alone led the Space Monkeys to plan and execute “ Project Mayhem, ” a plot
to blow up the headquarters of financial corporations and erase everyone ’ s

debt. We know that Jack is not a physically imposing man, and yet he has
successfully organized a massive effort to destroy the institutions of fi nan-
cial capitalism, a testament to the power of rhetoric to move minds and

bodies. In the memorable and ambiguous final shot of Fight Club , we see
Jack and Marla holding hands as the skyscrapers explode and fall around
them. It is unclear whether we are supposed to read this as a good thing
or a bad thing. Is it a criminal act of terrorism, or a revolutionary gesture
of emancipation? On what moral or ethical criteria do you base your judg-
ment? On what foundations of “ truth ” do you rely in making your deci-
sion? How might you use rhetoric to convince others that your interpretation

of the film ’ s conclusion is “ correct ” ?
In September 2008, Republican Senator John McCain faced a daunting
challenge in the presidential race. Polls indicated that he trailed Democratic
Senator Barack Obama by a significant margin, and furthermore, momen-

tum seemed to be on Obama ’ s side. Weary of the belligerent foreign poli-
cies and ethical scandals that characterized the conservative Bush
administration, the United States seemed ready for dramatic change in
leadership, and the idealistic, progressive Obama represented a radical
departure. McCain, on the other hand, was closely associated with Bush ’ s
conservative, traditional vision of America, in terms of both his politics
and his appearance; as we know, the rhetorical effect of visual signs must
be taken seriously, and the youthful, multiracial Obama stood in stark relief
against the elderly, White McCain. In order to reinvigorate his campaign,
McCain chose a running mate that took the public and the press by
surprise: Sarah Palin, a young Alaskan governor with very little political
experience, virtually no exposure in the national media, and an ideological
stance that was even more conservative than McCain ’ s own. Indeed,