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Camille Scher

Professor Arini

English 102

February 4, 2019

Rhetoric Analysis

Richard Williams, better known as Prince Ea is an American filmmaker, speaker and

activist. He initially tried to pursue a career as a Hip Hop artist, though today he does incorporate

Hip Hop in his career; Williams joins movements to promote intelligence, creativity,

sustainability, environmentalism, culture and music. He creates videos of motivational spoken

word and other material such as environmentalism and spirituality. Prince Ea is spreading

throughout social media platforms and becoming increasingly more popular within the younger

community. Another popular influencer in our society is the Canadian-American actor, Jim

Carrey. He’s a comedian, screenwriter, musician and producer; commonly known for his

enthusiasm and energetic performances in popular movies. Carrey had made an impression

through stand-up comedy, television series, and film as well as the occasional interviews and

speeches.

Something that both influencers have in common is the way they came into speaking and

success. They were both driven by failure from an early age. Prince Ea was struck by failure

before a Hip Hop concert where he was supposed to perform. Prince realized that he got defeated

but knew he had a dream, and he was going to reach his goal. Jim Carrey had a similar uprising

as well, but instead saw most failures through his father. Carrey admired his father and how

comedic he was, but saw that he was unable to succeed in what he loved doing; he saw that his
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father had to compromise for his family and himself. Eventually his father was fired from his job

and that’s when Jim realized that “...you can fail at what you don’t love, so might as well do

what you love” (Basquiat). He learned that whenever he wanted something to happen, he would

visualize himself doing or creating it. This way that Carrey realized he would find success

inspired him to create his character and inspire other people to reach for their dreams “...[even if

it] seems way out of reach and ridiculous to expect...ask the universe for it” (Basquiat).

In Jim Carrey and Prince Ea’s speeches they both focus on the future, and focus on

influencing you to make a better and more successful future for yourself. While Carrey had put

an emphasis on his own personal experiences when interviewing, Prince tries to make people

more self aware about their surroundings and inspire them to make more informed choices and

branch out into the world. Both of them are telling you to trust in yourself and expect holdbacks,

but keep striving for greatness and fulfilment. In Prince Ea’s Youtube video, “​A Brand New

Ending​” (Bo), he starts focusing on getting his viewers to think about the end of life and

reflecting back on their life. He says, “It is not death most people are afraid of, it is getting to the

end of life only to realize that you never truly lived” (Bo). He is trying to persuade you to live

your life to the fullest; to not only go through life paying rent and waiting for the weekend. He

believes every person has a gift and a certain dream for the future. Then goes on to talk about

failure and struggle, and how doubt can damage your dream and not give you the courage to

grasp it. Jim Carrey talks about a similar idea that holds you back from success, and that is

yourself.

Jim says you can ask the universe for your dreams, even if they seem far fetched -- you

are the only one that is holding yourself back. “[I realized] whenever I wanted something to
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happen, I manifested it” (Basquiat). Carrey tries to influence his viewers not be afraid to go after

a dream, as does Prince Ea. They both try to inspire you to do more and not be afraid to go after

what you want.

Prince Ea reaches his viewers through social media, he is a filmmaker and makes videos

that he posts on his own ​website​ and YouTube channel; as well as speaks in front of audiences

on stages and events. He is on social media platforms such as: Instagram, Twitter, YouTube,

Facebook and Soundcloud. These sources make it very easy for anyone to access his feed and

watch any videos or get updated on any events he is speaking at. During his video, “A Brand

New Ending,” he is placed in front of a landscape with mountains and lush surrounding him, he

is wearing a travel pack and a warm coat; giving the impression that he is hiking or traveling. He

then goes into saying to live life with more than just the basics and aspire to reach your dreams.

He uses body language to try and engage you, he moves his arms and hands to create more

action and engage your attention to himself and listen to what he is saying. The tone of his voice

sounds confident and inspired, making you engaged in what he is saying because he sounds

confident. Prince stays constant with his attitude in every speech he gives, in his video “​I Quit​”

(Ea), he keeps the same enthusiasm and confidence in his tone of voice and body language as

every other video. Hand movements, voice, attitude and confidence all add to his eclectic

personality; though, while Prince is more loud and ecstatic, Carrey sounds calmer and content in

his speeches and interviews.

During Jim Carreys interview titled, “​Who is the Real You?​” (Basquiat), Jim starts out

with a calm and collected voice. Just as Prince, he sounds inspirational but instead when Carrey

talks he is fairly quiet. Throughout his interview Jim shows emotion while talking about his life
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and past, several times he has to pause or stop talking due to emotions. His facial expression

stays serious throughout the interview, making it seem he is telling the truth and sharing the high

and low experiences during his life. Carrey also maintains eye contact with the interviewer

throughout the time he is speaking which all ties together to create Carreys attitude during his

speech. His tone and body language seem to be confident and honest during his interview which

attaches you to what he is saying. He tends to use a low tone of voice while talking, make small

body movements and overall have a calm mannerism while; though, he tells a few jokes during

most of his speeches he stays serene while talking. Another demonstration of what he uses as

rhetorical devices is shown in his interview with Oprah, “​V​isualization Empowerment​”

(Whitmore). He maintains the same attitude throughout the interview as well as other interviews

he has done.

Most of his speeches have either been interviews or standing on a stage for a special

occasion, one of his most popular speeches that is used in many Jim Carrey videos comes from

the day he graduated and was giving his ​speech​ to other classmates and family. He was very

inspiring and stood as a role model for many people that day and on. On his graduation day

Carrey focused on a lot of the same topics as his most recent interviews. Topics such as:

motivation for the future, to shoot for the stars and take advantage of the gifts you've been given

throughout life.

While watching Jim Carrey’s interview, he talks about how he saw the gift he was given

and turns it into what he loves doing. He knew he had a talent to entertain people and found he

was able to “...make people present their best selves to [him]” (Basquiat). I believe that shooting

for what you love and failing is better than compromising and failing, and trying to grasp a
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dream is far more important than a lot of things. Some things might feel out of reach for us but

it’s worth it to chase that dream or wish, as Carrey talked about in his interview.

Prince Ea caught my attention several years ago, as I saw him speak I agreed with what

he had to say and noticed how confident he seemed to be in his videos. He spoke with inspiring

words and pulled you in while he talked about your future. In Prince’s video he says, “Pain is

life, but you can choose what type. Either the pain on the road to success or the pain of being

haunted with regret” (Bo). I agree with his words and how much he wants people to grab their

dreams and go through rough patches on the way to success, rather than stay where they are in

life and eventually look back and realize they wish they had done more.

Both influencers focus on dreams and manifesting them, and telling their audience they

will go through rocks and ridges; but not to stop striving for what they want. They use different

styles of body language and social media platforms but both essentially say the same things. To

go after your dreams and not compromise for the ordinary.

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Work Cited

Basquiat Picasso. “J​im Carrey Motivational Video - WHO IS THE REAL YOU?”
Online Video Clip. YouTube. YouTube, 7 December 2017. Web. 12 February 2019.

Bo Gerding. “Prince Ea - A Brand New Ending.”

Online Video Clip. YouTube. YouTube, 7 December 2017. Web. 12 February 2019.

Ea, Prince. ​I Quit​, YouTube, 25 Feb. 2018, ​www.youtube.com/watch?v=FonBwwDBxN4​.

“Home.” ​Prince Ea Filmmaker Speaker Activist​, princeea.com/.

Maharishi University of Management. ​Im Carrey's Commencement Address at the 2014 MUM
Graduation​, YouTube, 30 May 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=V80-gPkpH6M.

Whitmore, Allison Chaney. ​Visualization Empowerment,​ YouTube, 30 July 2014,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwTS0uh2faE.