Persuasion describes a method of communicating with someone in order to persuade them to believe or accept a certain idea or statement. This usually involves people from different backgrounds who may have differing opinions about an object, idea, person, or thing. Many methods can be used to communicate persuasive messages, such as art, songs, poems and videos. This paper will examine the persuasive message that Bruno Mars’ song “Just the Way You Are,” conveys.
While songs are an entertainment medium in many cases, they can also be used to communicate a message. Songwriters are naturally interested in what their listeners get from their songs. Some are more informative than others, while some offer advice and some educate. Other songs persuade others to go in a certain direction or change their mind about something. Other songs help others to believe better. Bruno Mars’ song expresses his feelings for the girl that he is singing about. We can see that he tells the girl she is beautiful and that he wouldn’t change anything about her because she looks perfect. This statement suggests that he didn’t believe in the beauty of the girl. Bruno claims that when she asked Bruno if she was OK, he would happily tell her how beautiful he is.
Bruno uses the song as a way to describe the girl’s beauty, telling her how beautiful it was. He mentions that his hair is perfectly tied and that he tells her every day about her beauty. Bruno wants to convince the girl that Bruno sees her beauty.
When she asks him what he thinks of her, he responds that he is awestruck by her beauty. He tells her that when she smiles, everyone stops to stare at her. He continues to describe how he enjoys her lips, laugh and smile.
The song is compelling because it encourages the girl to believe in herself and see the beauty that Bruno describes. He expresses sadness that the girl he’s describing doesn’t see his beauty. This tells him that he wants the girl he describes to believe in herself and, if persuaded, to be strong.
These arguments work because the girl in the video for “Just the You Are” seems happy and content about the compliments she is receiving. These descriptions of the beauty of a girl are effective because they will make her believe in the things she believes. Although everyone sees themselves/herself as beautiful in normal circumstances it becomes more concrete and stronger to believe it.
I would like to link this art work to the elaboration probability model. This model views persuasion as a cognitive event, where an individual is influenced by what they see in the art. Zelley and Dainton (2005) claim that persuasion is primarily dependent upon the beliefs of the person selling the idea to them. This theory seems to be applicable to my art selection because Bruno tells us he feels sad that the girl is extolling her beauty. He admits that the girl might not like his smile and lips, or she may not be able to see it from the same angle as Bruno but he attempts to help her see it through the words he uses.
It is clear that entertainment we might take as entertainment may be more than just that. We often view art work as entertainment and don’t think about it much until we see a scenario similar to that in the art. When we are able to understand the work we are more likely to pay attention. This is why people often dedicate songs that relate to what they are going through. This is to make them see their situations as a message from the art.
Bruno’s song gives an example of art which aims to convince people to see beauty and not necessarily make changes to their appearance. One who doesn’t understand this situation might not recognize it. Children, for instance, may be entertained by the song while someone who understands its meaning will take it to heart.
