I am interested in the concept of courage because it is a very well know but underrated part of a person's identity that can affect so much. Also, courage is important for an individual's success and independence, also for me personally because it has to do with standing up for what you believe in and closely relates to getting over fear. Some texts from the class that relates to my concept are the class books To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee, Of Mice and Men By John Steinbeck and some supplemental texts are The Birthday Party by Virginia Foster and Talking About Religion by Eboo Patel. My intended audience is essentially anyone in the community because it can relate to anyone and is important topic to learn about. Courage is an admired trait that affects one's individuality and ability to stand up for their own opinion, and not worrying about how others feel about it.
The ideas in my PSA are overall structured in the order that first gives a little description of what the concept of courage is, and how there are many ways to be courageous. Also, another reason why I feel like courage is an interesting one to do is because tons of people who think courage immediately think of all these movie scenes where the main character makes a life or death decision to save the world, but that's not what it needs to be. It just has to do with sticking with what you believe in and not letting anyone change it. After the introduction, I show an advertisement that Nike released in mid-2018 regarding police brutality on black people that featured NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick who also took action and silently kneeled during the national anthem at a game. They came together and released this ad to raise awareness about the issue and to take action about it. This is a very good example of courage because both Kaepernick and Nike put their reputations at risk but they stood up and took action for what they believe needed to be done and said. Then, after that, I show a statistic that I implemented of how only 20 to 30% percent of the kids who get bullied notify someone about it or take action and stop it (stopbullying.gov). This is very depressing and unpleasant to think that over 70% of kids who get bullied are scared of doing something about it and having the courage to tell someone who can help. If you can get over the fear of doing something then you will be able to get over fears easier. In the video when the statistic rolls onto the screen a image of a kid being bullied is faded behind it and the important words are highlighted, also melancholic music plays to help present that intended effect on the viewer. Seeing the faded image a depressed lonely kid behind the dim statistic has an effect on the viewer and really makes them stop and think, “wow this is really cruel and really is an issue” After that, you see the quote fly in letter by letter with a transition, “It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are” by E.E. Cummings to set it in stone that without courage you do not have that individuality that every human being is granted at birth. Occurring after, my call to action “Don't Just Let It Happen, Do Something About It” is presented in large bolded text on a page that is light pink and stands out compared to all the other normal black backgrounds. Finally, my credits role showing my works cited, and of course its beautiful immortal creator Jonathan James Gary. The goals I set for myself before creating the PSA were to create an effective video when after watching it people actually learn from it and it changes the way they see things, and also my main goal was for the audience to learn that they shouldn't be afraid to be courageous and I hope they feel more confident in their ability to take action and stand up for themselves.
This PSA strongly connects to the novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck because there are tons of examples where courage is shown and so many other meaningful concepts. Towards the end of the story Lennie kills Curley's wife on accident and then everyone from the farm goes on a hunt for him to harshly torture him, but George knew where Lennie was going to go so he went straight there. “George raised the gun... He pulled the trigger... right in the back of the head... 'you hadda George, I swear you hadda' (Steinbeck, 106). George knew that if Curley and the other guys from the farm got ahold of Lennie they would not put him out of his misery, and even though it was terrifying and burdensome, George kills Lennie. This showed courage because he loved Lennie and he had to use everything he had inside of him to kill him.
Also courage connects to the supplemental text The Birthday Party by Virginia Foster which is about her very distinct memory of her 7th birthday party when she wanted it to be with her friends (who were African American) but everyone in her family wouldn't allow it but she kept persisting and eventually had one in the front with the white people and a separate party in the back with the black people. But her family was still very racist and discriminatory towards African Americans and Virginia was getting so frustrated about it just happening and she decided to take action. In the story, she says how, “That night at the supper table, my aunt said I was the worst child she had ever known… I was sitting right there listening to her, so I took a knife and threw it at her.” Her aunt said this because she stood up against racism and felt empathy for African Americans/personified them. President Bill Clinton said after her death (Virginia): 'Her courage, outspokenness, and steely conviction in the earliest days of the civil rights movement helped change this nation forever.' She made a huge difference in society, just by standing up and taking action on what she believed in and felt was morally right.
My PSA project also connects to the book To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. In the book, several characters portray courage, although it doesn't seem obvious at first. An example of this is Mrs. Dubose and her painkiller addiction, “Mrs. Dubose was a morphine addict’, said Atticus. ‘She took it as a pain killer for years. The doctor put her on it. She’d have spent the rest of her life on it and died without so much agony, but she was too contrary-’... “she said she meant to break herself of it before she died, and that’s what she did.” (Lee 92). This quote shows that Mrs. Dubose is courageous because it shows how she could have easily just died with the addiction, and have her life end where it was, but she decided to end on a good note, free from addiction. Her courage stands out here because kids didn’t really know much about her and who she was. She was just the mean old lady who didn't socialize, but it turns out she was courageous and determined. This is an example of personal courage and being able to set goals even though they are hard to overcome but you still persevere and do it. Another example of a courageous character during the book is Boo Radley and how he acts towards everyone in the town even under his circumstances. 'Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that's why his hands were bloodstained -- if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off. There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time.'(Lee 13). This quote shows Boo's Courage because even though he knew rumors were being spread around the town about him being a big horrible monster, he was still really kind to all of the people and cared about them.
Another Supplementary text that relates to courage in my PSA is Talking About Religion By Eboo Patel which is about when the author, Eboo was in high school and there was a time period when his friends used anti-semitic slurs commonly and it was a dark time for his Jewish friend. Years later when reflecting on it he says, “My friend needed more than my silent presence at the lunch table. Pluralism is not a default position, an autopilot mode. Pluralism is an intentional commitment that is imprinted through action. It requires deliberate engagement with difference, outspoken loyalty to others, and proactive protection in the breach. You have to choose to step off the faith line onto the side of pluralism, and then you have to make your voice heard. To follow Robert Frost, it is easy to see the death of pluralism in the fire of a suicide bombing. But the ice of silence will kill it just as well.” This is an example of a time where courage is huge but in this case, Eboo was too afraid and didn't step up and help out, and this made it a lot harder for his friend to get through those tough times. Courage is very important when it comes to situations when you feel like you should do something because you know it's the right thing to do, and you never know it may impact others.
All in all I think that the entire process of creating the PSA campaign was beneficial for everyone because for me as a creator, I got to experiment around with the process of film making and get to use different techniques and transitions on the computer to create an engaging video, and the viewers benefit from learning more in-depth about concepts in my case courage and how it is a trait that affects one's ability to stand up for their themselves what they believe in.
