Matthew Schwam

Project 2: Rhetorical Analysis of Field Artifacts Draft 1

Steven Spielberg once said, “Every time I go to a movie, it’s magic, no matter what the

movie’s about”. The film industry has become one of the most creative, advanced, and magical

businesses in the world. With continuous development, and an endless amount of technological

improvements, the film industry has allowed creators to bring unforgettable stories to life. These

stories allow characters to give audiences a plethora of opportunities to learn valuable life

lessons. The major that I am currently declared to pursue is Digital Media Production, with a

dream of eventually becoming a movie producer or director for Walt Disney. The film industry

in general has long been known for its ability to allow creators to express a wide variety of

unique stories that are beloved by audiences worldwide. Although the film industry may seem

like a perfect world, every industry faces a wide variety of issues within their sector. One very

controversial topic that continues to surround the film industry is the gender pay gap. I have

decided to analyze two sources that go into depth about this issue, but in different manners. One

source is a short video, and the other is a text-based online article.

Before I dive deeper into analyzing and comparing my two sources, you may be

wondering, “What even is the gender pay gap?” The gender pay gap is referred to as the average

difference in salary between men and women. The discussion of this topic is one that takes place

in several industries, as women tend to get paid by a far smaller amount than men. Although this

issue has been debated in more general terms, it has picked up immensely in this specific

industry. According to Insider, which is an online media platform that reports financial news,

“The top 10 highest-paid actresses in 2018 earned less than 30 cents for every dollar earned by

their male counterparts. These actresses brought in a combined salary of $186 million, while the
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10 highest-paid men earned $748.5 million” (Insider, 1). Insider is essentially reporting that

males actors bring in an astonishing income of at least $562 million more than females. To even

further analyze this data, Sofia Vergara, 2020’s highest paid actress makes $44.5 million less

than the highest paid male actor of 2020, which is Dwayne Johnson. The wage gap doesn’t stop

there, as actresses in the film industry aren’t the only ones who are experiencing this inequality.

It has also been proven that positions on set that are performed by males, such as directors and

producers tend to bring in a much larger income than female employees, directors, and

producers.

The first source that I consulted when researching this topic is an online article, known as

Fast Company. Fast Company is an American business magazine that publishes their content

both online and print. The magazine reports information about technology, business, and design

in several different industries. The magazine is also a very reliable source for content, as they

publish at least eight print catalogs per year on top of their seasonal editions of online content. In

the article I analyzed, Fast Company’s winter edition in the year 2019 was about the issue of the

gender pay gap in the film industry. The reporting of this information made sense, since statistics

had just been released about Michelle Williams being paid eight times less than Mark Wahlberg

in the film, All the Money in the World. The gender pay gap has always been a looming issue that

sits on top of the film industry, but once the news broke out about this particular film, the issue

blew up and ran rampant throughout the industry. This appalling report caused several actresses

and other women employees in the industry to speak out against the pay gap.

After reading source number one, Fast Company, I decided to take my research a step

further and see what others had to say about this ongoing issue. After scrolling through hundreds

of videos discussing the immense gap between the two genders, I came across a video that
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contains famous actress, Priyanka Chopra, discussing her thoughts regarding this dilemma.

Chopra has been working in this industry for at least sixteen years now, and has been involved in

over fifty movies, including plenty of well-known movies such as Baywatch, The Sky Is Pink ,

and Isn’t It Romantic. Aside from acting, Chopra also produces some of her own films. Being so

involved in the industry has allowed Priyanka Chopra to see the astonishing pay gap between

men and women. She happens to be a very vital figure to this movement, and has been fighting

against it for years. In the video, she even states in her response to the interviewee’s question

that, “The conversations and the battles needs to continue, and we need men standing up for

feminism” (Chopra).

After a lot of research, I became far more knowledgeable on the subject that surrounds

the industry that I plan to work in as I get older. Another thing that I found extremely interesting

while researching is the way in which the two sources that I reviewed both discussed the same

general issue, but had very different ways of portraying the information to its viewers. The two

sources differed in quite a few rhetorical strategies to get the same point across. The most

noticeable strategies in which the sources differed was purpose, rhetorical appeals, medium, and

tone. Although there was a number of differences between the two, they were both similar in

content, as well as audience.

To start, the sources tried to accomplish the same goal, but their purpose or intent of

addressing the situation was different. In source number one, Fast Company’s purpose is to

inform readers with a series of facts and logic. The magazine even conducted their own study to

persuade reader’s to think the same ideologies as them. On the other hand, in source number two,

the speech given by Priyanka Chopra in the video has a purpose of inspiring women to continue
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to fight against the inequality, and to ignore the media if they don’t see how far they have

already come.

To continue, the source’s had a very different approach to their rhetorical appeals. Fast

Company very clearly utilizes the rhetorical appeal of logos. Logos is an appeal that persuades its

audience with the use of logic and facts. Throughout the majority of the online article, viewers

can see several statistics such as, “ In 2017, a comparison of the highest-paid male and female

actors revealed an average salary of $57.4 million for men and $21.8 million for women. That

means that top female actors earn 38% as much as the top male actors” (Fast Company, 1).

This source even states that they conducted their own study, furthering the point of using

statistics in their persuasion, which makes their appeal a form of logos. Conversely, in source

number two, Priyanka Chopra’s speech can easily be identified as ethos and pathos. Ethos is

an appeal to an audience’s ethics or credibility. Pathos is an appeal to an audience’s emotion.

Chopra is a highly respected figure in the film industry, and many will be persuaded by her

simply because she is so respected. The use of pathos can also be seen because Chopra speaks

about the issue in such a serious and motivational manner, which invokes an emotion of

inspiration and motivation from the audience.

To further contrast the two, they are presented on different platforms, or mediums.

Fast Company can easily be identified as a text-based artifact because it is an online magazine

that is written or typed. The YouTube video that houses the video of Priyanka Chopra’s

speech is seen as a non-text-based artifact, since thee information is presented in a video

format instead of written. As previously stated, the two artifacts differ in their purpose and

rhetorical appeals, calling for a difference in the manner in which they present their

information to the audience, known as the author’s tone. The tone seen in Fast Company’s
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magazine is more serious and argumentative, as they appear to shove a ton of statistics in the

audience’s face to prove and persuade the audience to see the inequality in the industry.

However, although Chopra is serious when speaking in the video provided by source two, she

speaks in a more motivational and inspirational tone about the subject. She even deflects the

pay gap for a small portion of the video to explain that women should already be proud of

what they've accomplished so far. Chopra finishes off her tangent with hope that this fight

will continue to get better as time goes by.

There are a couple of similarities that can be seen when comparing the two artifacts,

such as content and audience. The content in both sources share the same opinion about the

gender pay gap in the film industry in their own unique way. Lastly, both research materials

are targeting the same audience. The audience is clearly the women working in this industry,

as well as all women around the globe. The gender pay gap is an issue faced all around the

world, and these two sources are trying to motivate women to continue to take a stand for

equality.

In conclusion, the film industry is a magical industry, but certainly has its fair share of

issues revolving around it, as most industries do. The gender pay gap has been the major

conflict seen in this business, and has long been debated. I was able to learn a ton of new

information about this business that I didn't know prior to my research. I will definitely

continue to research this dilemma in the future with even more sources to learn more about

the field that I am dreaming of pursuing. This industry peaked my interest ever since I was a

child in love with Disney, and all of the character’s stories that came along with it. My love for

Disney movies, and passion for filmmaking has influenced my desire to become a producer for
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Disney. In fact, I am sure that I owe quite a few life revelations to Walt and his teams. I want to

create powerful films that will impact people’s lives, just as Walt did for me.   
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Works Cited

Ahlgrim, Callie. “11 Of the Most Alarming Examples of Hollywood's Gender Pay Gap.” Insider,

Insider, 5 Apr. 2019, www.insider.com/hollywood-gender-pay-gap-examples-actresses-

paid-less-than-actors-2019-4. 

Dishman, Lydia. “Discrimination Plays a Role in Hollywood Salaries, and Women Lose.” Fast

Company, Fast Company, 20 Dec. 2019,

www.fastcompany.com/90446804/discrimination-plays-a-role-in-hollywood-salaries-and-

women-lose. 

Viralbollywood, director. Priyanka Chopra on Gender Disparity & Pay Disparity In Film

Industry. 30 June 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nGZLNdTX50. Accessed 12 Oct.

2020.