Logical Fallacies in PCU

In the approximate fifty minutes that we were able to watch PCU, the movie about politically correct things that should be said and done on college campuses, there were many logical fallacies that I thought I identified (even though I found it hard to because I was enjoying the movie). The one that I did notice for sure (I think) was the either/or fallacy. The either/or fallacy is the conclusion that oversimplifies the argument by reducing it to only two sides or choices. It came in the scene right after “Ms. President” of the college left the “PIT.” One of the main characters suggested throwing a party to raise money so that they would be able to keep the PIT as housing. When a member protested he then went on to say, "you either throw the party or have to get jobs."

"Death of an Innocent"

The story of Christopher McCandless told through the article “Death of an Innocent’ by Jon Krakauer, is an exceptional story about a young man who not only defied the image of an average college student, but also defied the image of the average American.
It is pointed out in “Death of an Innocent” that Christopher McCandless (also known as Alex Supertramp), was very different from others his age. During his college career at Emory here in Georgia, he strayed away from the things that his friends and others his age were taking interest in. “Social life at Emory revolved around fraternities and sororities, something Chris wanted no part of. And when everybody started going Greek, he kind of pulled back from his old friends and got more heavily into himself” (8). However, his story is not sensational just because he did more that sit about and binge drink his college days away at the frat house. It is because he attempted to do feats that many past their college years would do. From an early age, it was pointed out that Christopher McCandless “marched to a different drummer” ( Death of an Innocent 7). He was willing to do things others were not willing to do from an early age. According to Krakauer, at ten years old McCandless ran in his first race that included approximately one thousand adults and finished sixty ninth.
McCandless reminds me of what I used to see growing up in New York. During my pre teenager and teenage years, I would have to travel into the city (Manhattan) for school. Both my middle school and my high school were on the west side, which was home to some of the oddest homeless people I had ever seen. These homeless people were not shriveled up, and they did not appear to be mentally unstable. They were scrawny white kids that sported hand written, “I will… for food” signs, whom I had always presumed to be acid or some crazy “white kid drug” users, because how many white kids did I know living homeless on the streets in New York City. To be quite honest, none. It was not until my freshman year of high school, when a teacher told us that these teenagers left their comfortable suburban (sometimes lavish) lifestyles to travel across the country. They were letting go of the stability of their money, and delving in to see what it was like without that security.
When I thought about what they did, I did not even stop to think that I should at least admire what they were doing. The first thing that came to my mind was that they were obviously crazy. No one in their right mind should leave home to live on a New York City street. After all, why would anyone want to leave economic security to travel with hardly anything to survive on? Unfortunately, the same belief is shared by many others. According to Jon Krakauer, “when news of McCandless’s fate came to light, most Alaskans were quick to dismiss him as a nut case” (9).

AIDS and Advertising

At first, I felt that if anything, the photograph would turn the public away from what it was that the company was selling. But then when I started to think about it, I realized that the photograph came from a completely different time in history than the one that I am apart of now. Now in these times, a picture of a young man crippled with a disease would have probably been black and white to present a softer touch to the point that they were trying to get across, so that it would not be so “hard hitting”. It feels as if because the photograph is in color, there is that certain intensity to it that would have been played down in a black and white photograph. The fact that the image is heightened would make any person stop and look and think about what is trying to be said with the advertisement. Once they get the point (if they are anything like me), they would purchase the shirt believing that they are helping with the cause.
One can look at the advertisements or commercials of today for various forms of cancer, and advertisements for HIV/ AIDS awareness for examples. In trying to get the point across the people making the commercials and advertisements are appealing to a side of the general public that would make them go out and want to purchase whatever items are being sold to help benefit HIV/ AIDS awareness, or that would benefit the research to help cure breast cancer. Then again, even if the way the photograph is presented in a different style, I believe that the advertisers all still have the same idea. They are attempting to appeal to a certain side of a consumer. It’s like that feeling a person gets when they go out and purchase the yellow bracelet for cancer, a red shirt from Gap to help with research for HIV/AIDS, or a yogurt from Yoplait with the pink cap that turns over some of its profit for breast cancer. The advertisers know that consumers like to buy items for themselves, so why not let them buy an item in which the consumers themselves feel that their money is indirectly helping someone else.
Also there is the side of the consumer that makes them feel as if they are making a personal statement about themselves. In wearing the photograph on a shirt, a person is saying, “I believe in AIDS awareness,” or for that time specifically, “I know that AIDS is not a taboo.” Look at the way people dress, especially now in the times of the Che Guevera and Bob Marley shirts. Or the shirts that blatantly have the messages written across them such as “You Know You Want Me.” Us human beings are always trying to get a message across for what we stand for, believe in, and or support.
I think that overall the company who used the photograph was trying to evoke that type of feeling from the general public. They wanted people to go out and feel as if not only were they making a statement about themselves and their own decisions, but they were also helping other human beings.