Lethal Weapon Rhetorical Devices

In Fox’s new show Lethal Weapon (based on the movie series of the same name), we follow the characters of Martin Riggs, and ex- Navy SEAL, and his new partner at the Los Angeles Police Department, Roger Murtaugh. The show is serial, as each new episode follows a specific storyline and builds off the previous episode. Some spectacles are also included during the commercial breaks, where we see a character from the show using a new Microsoft Surface Pro. Although this is not important to the show, it still catches the viewer's attention as it shows all the things a Surface Pro can do, and pushes the audience to buy one.
There are many visual and auditory aspects that go into this show. The lighting in specific scenes is very interesting. The …show more content…
In the scenarios that he creates, the lighting is very warm and always sunny. The way it all plays out on screen makes it look a sunset is always behind Miranda. These colors are warm and relaxing, and are now being paired with the one thing Riggs wants most in life. This contrasts with the movie Spring Breakers where color hues were over dramatized to create an opposite feeling of what was on screen. The character’s appearances also align with what they are going through in their own separate lives. Riggs, who is alone in a new city and struggling to get over the death of his wife and unborn child always appears to be disheveled in some way, and it is portrayed that he only owns three shirts. He also is seen drinking heavily and is often hungover by the time he gets into work. When he speaks, he uses a deep monotone voice and usually says some dark and depressing things. His life is currently a mess, and he himself is a mess standing in cowboy boots. Murtaugh on the other hand, is always in a freshly pressed button down. Murtaugh who has the picture perfect family and a beautiful house seems to have everything …show more content…
When we see Riggs talking about his wife, we ultimately feel bad, but whenever he makes a joke of his situation, we laugh. We also feel anxious whenever one of the characters is in some sort of danger, even though we do know that nothing will happen. In the first episode when Riggs offered himself up to a sniper, we did fear what would happen even though we knew he would not die (mainly because the main character would not die in the pilot episode). Riggs is portrayed as the man who does not follow the rules and tends to create trouble, while Murtaugh is the boy scout and does everything by the book (although this begins to change as his relationship with Riggs grows). Riggs can be seen as an alter ego for viewers, someone we wish we could be although we know we must conform to the rules. It makes sense that whenever Riggs does something unorthodox we feel joy and even a sense of pride, although we question his motives. We applaud him for going toe to toe with a sniper, but question why he was so quick to do it when his partner had a perfectly reasonable plan. Although the show can create some mixed emotions in its audience, it does not create the sense of affect that Shaviro spoke of. The audience is always able to tie what they feel to a concrete