Fantasy-Theme

Fantasy-Theme Criticism flat

=History = The fantasy theme was created in 1972 by Ernest G. Bormann. This theme was derived from Robert Bales and his associates on his study of communication in small groups. During Bales research, he discovered that types of communication that occurs in groups are fantasizing and dramatizing. Bormann expanded on Bales research and created the method, fantasy theme criticism.

=What is a fantasy theme? = To better understand fantasy theme criticism, you must understand the fantasy theme. Fantasy, in this method, is not the typical meaning of fantasy such as things that are imaginary. Instead, fantasy is the creative and imaginative interpretation of events. This method can be applied to small and large groups as well as all kinds of rhetoric.

When dealing with rhetoric, the themes may function dramatically, which helps the audience connect with the message. In a larger group, the communication of fantasizing and dramatizing happens when an individual finds an aspect of the message that catches their attentions and has those involved imaginatively participating using images and actions that were stimulated by the message.

Bormann describes the fantasy theme as “a word, phrase, or statement that interprets events in the past, envisions events in the future, or depicts current events that are removed in time and/or space from the actual activities of a group” (Foss, page 98). This theme can also tell a story about the group’s experience.

=What makes it a fantasy theme? = A fantasy theme depicts characters, actions and settings. These are also themes that are associated with the fantasy theme from a group’s perspective. The setting theme is statements that depict where the action is taking place. The character theme is agents or actors in the drama. And the action theme, also known as the plotline, is when you deal with the actions where the characters engage.

Another primary unit of analysis in the fantasy theme is rhetorical vision. Bormann states that “the rhetorical vision is a unified putting together of the various shared fantasies” (Foss, page 130).

= The Artifact = =The American Cowboy = Wild Bill Cody, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, John Wayne and even Beau Bridges have all helped to create the cultural icon of the American Cowboy. No other image has captured the world’s view of the American West than that of the Cowboy in full gear, riding hell bent for leather with guns blazing. This image was carefully crafted by the early wild west shows. Prior to the advent of the Wild West shows, the image of the American Cowboy was shabby at best. “Before Buffalo Bill the Cowboy was no hero. President Chester A. Arthur in his 1881 message to Congress denounced a band of “armed desperadoes known as ‘Cowboys’ during a trip West in 1883 (Russell,D. 1970). The reality of the life of a cowboy was driving cattle over endless miles of trail, over open land with little contact with the outside world. The Wild West shows changed the image to the world. The icon of the American Cowboy was a carefully constructed advertising campaign designed to sell tickets and keep the shows in business. = Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show = A brief look at one of the programs shows the extensive amount of entertainment given in each performance. The 1897 program started with an Overture of the Star Spangled Banner with the Cowboy Band. There was a demonstration of the Pony Express. There was an illustration of the Prairie Emigrant Train Crossing the Plains ,then Johnnie Baker showed his marksmanship. Cowboy fun included such things as picking objects from the ground, lassoing wild horses, riding the bucker. There was a military musical drill, the Sixth U.S. Calvary and then an attack on the Deadwood Mail Coach by Indians. They were repulsed by Buffalo Bill and his attendant Cowboys. There were Indian War Dances, a Buffalo Hunt reenacted and the Sharpshooting skills of Col.W.F. Cody. There was a final attack on Settlers Cabins. They were rescued by Buffalo Bill and his band of Cowboys, Scouts and Frontiersmen. The Final Salute and Conclusion with the Rough Riders of the World, completed the show (Wojtowicz,J.W, 1998). The Cody Show in 1899 alone, gave 341 performances in 132 places, and traveled 11,111 miles 200 days. The Buffalo bill Tour to England in 1897 took over two hundred performers and over two hundred animals including horses, and bison. The show was to tour over a decade. To support this show billboards depicting the event preceded the actual show several weeks in advance and provided the most complete advertising that had been seen to date. His advance teams were there first, plastering billboards before every stop. “One London newspaper wrote: “Buffalo Bill and his braves have not only decorated the walls with some of the most telling picture advertisement that have been seen in town, but they are beginning to pervade the metropolis, and are everywhere regarded by curious crowds.” Another newspaper spoke of the tyranny of there “mural enormities” and the Globe summed it up rhapsodically: I may walk it, or ‘bus’ it, or hansom it: still I am faced by the features of Buffalo Bill.Every hording is plastered, from East-end to West ,with his hat, coat and countenance, lovelocks and vest”. Every spare wall for fifty miles was covered with billboards advertising the show. Other shows competing for an audience often complained that the Cody show had every space already taken with their massive billboards (Rennert, J 1976). = = =A Buffalo Bill artifact = <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">The artifact we have chosen is from a large series of billboards that were posted worldwide during the run of the show. Because of the quality demanded of the product the budget allocated to advertising was high. The product was shipped ahead partially pasted, but the advance team had to assemble them on place. In many cases, there was additional expense incurred in the cost of renting space to post the lithographs. “When a 28 sheet billboard was ordered, the quantity was usually from 1,000 to 1,500 copies. The lithographer’s price was about $4.00 a billboard a billboard depending largely on the location of their stand and especially on the population of the their city. These posting were adjusted by size and location according to the population. (Rennert, J 1976) Our artifact is typical of the large scale postings done in advance of the show. The artifact depicts the establishment of a “typical” Indian Village, complete with teepee and a war dance circle. The depiction of Plains Indians dress gave the world the belief that all Indians wore the massive feathered head dress. They rode bareback. The caption reads “ A Congress of American Indians: Representing various tribes, characters and peculiarities of the wily dusky warriors in scenes from actual life giving their weird war dances and picturesque style of horsemanship.” This created the image of the American Indians in the minds of the world, that Hollywood continued decades later. The poster includes Bill Cody with his long hair locks still on his head—having never been scalped by his enemy. He does not ride bareback. His long military boots, fringed jacket and hat become the image of what a cowboy wears into today culture. His horse is fully dressed with bridle and saddle. The pioneer men all wear the obligatory hat. Military help is riding to the rescue in the background. The image of the American west is crafted with care. It is an image which lingers today.

<span style="color: #008000; display: block; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 20pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 20pt;">Settings =<span style="color: #1487e6; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Wild West = <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">The setting for this Buffalo Bill poster is the iconic Wild West. On the left is the representation of the Wild Indians who are living on the plains, living in teepees, dancing around a fire and attacking the white settlers. On the right side of the image are the settlers, riding furiously to escape the gang of Indians.

=<span style="color: #1487e6; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">What does this scene tell us? = <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">The theme that is presented when examining the artifact as a whole is that it embraces an “us vs. them” mentality, where white settlers and cowboys were pitted in a murderous struggle against the indian people. The poster tells us that Indians are violent and will attack cowboys and their families while they are travelling across the plains. This scene also reinforces the stereotypes about all Indians living in teepees and dancing around bonfires.

<span style="color: #008000; display: block; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 20pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 20pt;">Characters =<span style="color: #1487e6; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Buffalo Bill = <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Buffalo Bill appears in a separate box on the side of the poster. He is removed from the action, sitting calmly on his horse. This suggests that Buffalo Bill is in control, that he is the leader who runs the show, but doesn’t need to be a part of the danger.

=<span style="color: #1487e6; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Indians = <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Indians in the poster are depicted as being covered in war paint, riding horses and trying to kill the cowboys and their families. What is interesting about the Indians in this image is that they are fighting the whites with guns instead of bows and arrows. The choice of weapon is the only thing that doesn’t hold up to the Wild West typical Indian; the other natives on the poster are wearing headdresses, riding bareback and dancing in the background outside their teepee village.

=<span style="color: #1487e6; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Settlers = <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">The settlers in this image appear to be cowboys and their families. The motion of the poster suggests that the settlers are trying to escape a certain death at the hands of the Indians, while their shooting of the Indians suggests that they were expecting or previously prepared for the fight.

<span style="color: #008000; display: block; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 20pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 20pt;">Actions =<span style="color: #1487e6; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Dancing = <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Indians in the background are dancing around a bonfire, suggesting that they are celebrating something. One could assume they are celebrating the inevitable victory in battle over the whites who are invading their land. Dancing around a fire also suggests something very primal; a savageness that fits in with the accepted image of the wild Indian of that day.

=<span style="color: #1487e6; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Shooting = <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Both sides in the fight, the cowboys and Indians, are shooting guns in this image. However, it appears that only the cowboys are skilled at wielding them, as two Indians are down and no white men or women have been hit by Indian shooters. The fact that the Indians are armed with typically white weapons would suggest they got them from defeating other white settlers, thus adding to the foreboding nature of the poster imagery.

<span style="color: #008000; display: block; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 20pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 20pt;">What does it all mean? =<span style="color: #1487e6; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">What fantasy theme does this create? = <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">The combination of setting, characters and actions creates a fantasy theme of the clichéd Wild West, where cowboys fought and killed the Indians who were trying to slaughter their families. The poster depicts the Indians as a savage other, something to be feared instead of understood; shot at instead of reasoned with. Those people attending a Buffalo Bill show would no doubt expect to see courageous cowboys fight and kill the savage Indians who threatened their women and children. Is this an accurate depiction of how things were in the Wild West? No. But as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.

= <span style="color: #008000; display: block; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 20pt; text-align: center;">References = <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Foss, S. (2009). //Rhetorical criticism: Exploration and practice//. Long Grove, IL: Waveland.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Rennert, J. (1976) 100 Posters, Buffalo Bill's Wild West, Darien House Books.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Russell, D. (1970). //The Wild West, a History of the Wild West Shows.// : Amon Carter Museum.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Wojtowicz, J. W. (1998). //The W.F. Cody Buffalo Bill Collector's Guide// //with Values Collection.//