“Choke” “Sticks and stones may break our bones, but words will break our hearts.” These wise words from Robert Fulgham have proven to become more apparent as people pass through their lives. Much of the pains and anxieties that many adults feel stem from the emotional damage and trauma those adults felt in their earliest years of development. The image entitled “Choke,” an advertisement from the Juvenile Protective Association, brings light to a controversial issue that has been lying in the shadows for a long time. The work uses strong emotional appeals in combination with subtle details to shock the viewer and inspire them to act. When one’s eyes first scan the image, the pure expression of the child holds them steady for a longer amount
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The most effective aspect of the hand that is choking the young boy is its transparency. This clearly expresses how verbal abuse can severely damage a youthful, growing person without ever being observed by an outside party. If the hand would have been completely opaque, than the image would have lost the message that verbal abuse is not something that can be observed while still causing serious damage to the victim. On the other hand, if it would not have been there at all, the integrity of the message would have been lost, and the image would display only a crying child. The hand, as it is seen in the image, perfectly encaptures the idea of verbal abuse and shows how deep of an impact words truly have. When one’s eyes scan the hand again, one can pick apart the specific words and phrases that make up the thick, bold lettering. The large words are common insults that can affect anyone, while the smaller, more intricate phrases tend to pop out because the average person may not see it as discouraging or hurtful. “Is that all,” is an example of a small phrase within the hand that appears to the viewer under close examination. After reading this, it may open one’s eyes and show them how damaging different sentences can be, even without the use of typical insulting words. A keen …show more content…
Beyond the normal scope of vision, the intricate details of the advertisement have been helping move the emotional state of the spectator more than anything else. The background is plain grey; however, the dark grey on the outside flows into a lighter shade near the middle, serving the important purpose as to not let one’s eyes escape the boundary of the image. If a person gets uncomfortable, they cannot look away because the natural shading of the background forces one’s gaze to slide back to the emotionally pulling center focus. Just like the background, the fact that the child has no shirt is also a detail that helps form the emotions of the observer. Instead of leaving the child fully clothed, the artist made this choice in order to capture his complete innocence and defenselessness. The subliminal messages generated from the lack of clothing cause the viewer to get uncomfortable, taking a simple ad about abuse and making it so much more. Even without thinking about it, a viewer will see the subject as pure and innocent because of the bare skin. This makes it much more difficult to stay emotionally unmoved. To add to that, the bare skin also creates an aura of defenselessness which draws out feelings of pity and disgust. The average observer will find themselves angry with the computer generated hand for causing pain to such a defenseless
The most effective aspect of the hand that is choking the young boy is its transparency. This clearly expresses how verbal abuse can severely damage a youthful, growing person without ever being observed by an outside party. If the hand would have been completely opaque, than the image would have lost the message that verbal abuse is not something that can be observed while still causing serious damage to the victim. On the other hand, if it would not have been there at all, the integrity of the message would have been lost, and the image would display only a crying child. The hand, as it is seen in the image, perfectly encaptures the idea of verbal abuse and shows how deep of an impact words truly have. When one’s eyes scan the hand again, one can pick apart the specific words and phrases that make up the thick, bold lettering. The large words are common insults that can affect anyone, while the smaller, more intricate phrases tend to pop out because the average person may not see it as discouraging or hurtful. “Is that all,” is an example of a small phrase within the hand that appears to the viewer under close examination. After reading this, it may open one’s eyes and show them how damaging different sentences can be, even without the use of typical insulting words. A keen …show more content…
Beyond the normal scope of vision, the intricate details of the advertisement have been helping move the emotional state of the spectator more than anything else. The background is plain grey; however, the dark grey on the outside flows into a lighter shade near the middle, serving the important purpose as to not let one’s eyes escape the boundary of the image. If a person gets uncomfortable, they cannot look away because the natural shading of the background forces one’s gaze to slide back to the emotionally pulling center focus. Just like the background, the fact that the child has no shirt is also a detail that helps form the emotions of the observer. Instead of leaving the child fully clothed, the artist made this choice in order to capture his complete innocence and defenselessness. The subliminal messages generated from the lack of clothing cause the viewer to get uncomfortable, taking a simple ad about abuse and making it so much more. Even without thinking about it, a viewer will see the subject as pure and innocent because of the bare skin. This makes it much more difficult to stay emotionally unmoved. To add to that, the bare skin also creates an aura of defenselessness which draws out feelings of pity and disgust. The average observer will find themselves angry with the computer generated hand for causing pain to such a defenseless