ePortfolio Part 3 Blog (COMM 333)

This blog is for my Comm 333 persuasive learning class. I have been tasked to pick a film or documentary that has persuasion taking place. The film I choose was…… Training Day. Training Day is one of my top ten movies of all time and just so happens to have some very persuasive material in it. I could spend the entire blog explaining the movie, but that’s not the point of this blog soooo I’ll give a quick low down and dirty on the plot to help you understand. Police officer Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke) starts his first day with Detective Alonzo Harris (Denzel Washington) to see if he has what it takes to work in the narcotic division. Alonzo tests Jakes morals through intimidation, manipulation, aggressiveness, and charisma.

To have charisma one must come off as powerful and mysteriously fascinating. However, since the term doesn’t have a definitive meaning researchers like to use a concept called ethos or you may know it as credibility. Alonzo is not only a detective in the narcotics division he is the lead detective and oversees all operations within that division. So, even before Jake meets Alonzo the credibility is already there. Throughout the film Alonzo is able to persuade Jake into thinking he is above the law, because of all the accomplishments he has had in the past. If Alonzo didn’t have the accomplishments to back up his credibility, Jake probably wouldn’t have been so easily persuaded into challenging his morals.

Aggression was another big trait that Alonzo had. There are several different types of aggression, but the main aggression Alonzo used was verbal aggressiveness. Verbal aggressiveness is used by threats, profanity, and appearance. Verbal aggression makes the person second guess their beliefs and morals. Alonzo was able to persuade Jake into smoking marijuana by threaten him. Alonzo said that he wasn’t “cool” enough to be in the narcotic division if he couldn’t handle a bowl hit. With Alonzo’s verbal aggressiveness, through threats and profanity, he was able to persuade Jake into finally smoking marijuana, putting Jakes morals into question.

Alonzo’s appearance was very intimidating as well. He didn’t dress like a normal detective, slacks, button up, and a tie. He dressed like he was one from the streets, all black with a black leather jacket, diamond covered chains, and diamond ear rings. His appearance gave him that extra swag needed to make him seem like the head honcho on the streets even though he was a cop. Not only was he intimidating to Jake, but the gangs were intimidated as well. Alonzo was able to use his power as a cop to persuade the gangs to do what he wanted them to do. If they didn’t do as he asked he threaten to take them to jail. This persuaded them to do his dirty work when needed.

Alonzo also had a little cultural influence to help persuade Jake to do what he wanted. The culture of the streets were entirely different than what Jake has every encountered. It was basically a culture shock for him and Alonzo took this to his advantage. The streets were considered an individualistic culture. An individualistic culture is a society characterized by their moral stance. The streets moral stance had different rules than Jakes. However, Jake was a quick learner and realized that if you scratched their back they would scratch yours. A favor for a favor sort of speaks.

Throughout the film Alonzo tested the morals of Jake, but at the end Jake was able to see through Alonzo’s persuasive means and protect his morals. Although Alonzo had all the creditability at the beginning, Jake was able to see through it and see the real Alonzo. Credibility can change overtime and within a day Alonzo lost all of it. Alonzo had the expertise, trustworthiness, and goodwill to persuade the best of cops to do whatever he wanted. However, he got too cocky and ended up losing it all. In the end Jake came out on top and Alonzo fell down to the bottom.

I’ve watched this movie multiple times, at least 10, and have never tried to analyze it like I did for this blog. I’ve always interpreted this movie as a good cop versus bad cop scenario and never paid attention to how persuasive Alonzo was. I’ve learned that persuasion can be a good and bad thing. I’ve always perceived persuasion as someone talking to you and trying to get you to do what they wanted. I’ve never really thought about the other aspects of it. Like how a person is dressed, how their attitude is, or their credibility. I mean I think I did, subconsciously, but now I will pay more attention. I’ve also learned that credibility can go a long ways. Having credibility on something can move a person’s anchor closer to your side before you even try to persuade them. Intimidation is a good thing to use as well as long as you know how to use it. If you are too aggressive it could back fire and make the person go the opposite way. Another important aspect to have on your side when persuading someone would be the cultural influence. Being aware of the culture of the person you are trying to persuade could make or break where they stand.

Gass, R. H., & Seiter, J. S. (2014). Persuasion: Social Influence and Compliance Gaining. London: Routledge.