Criticism Post #4 – Revised

Neo Classical Criticism – Logos, pathos & ethos

In this post, I will be applying the neo classical criticism method.Three persuasive factors can be used as part of the neo classical method: logos, pathos, and ethos. Logos is used to appeal to reason. It convinces the audience by using logic and reason. Pathos refers to appealing to emotion. It draws the audience in to help connect with the argument emotionally. Ethos can be broken down into three parts: good sense, good will, and good morals. It is the appeal to character. Using all three of these factors are modes of persuasion used to convince audiences. 

In the series, Grace and Frankie, I believe the use of all three persuasive factors are used often. In particular, humor and pathos is used throughout every episode, so I will be focusing on pathos, and how the audience can connect with both characters, Grace and Frankie.

In Season one, Episode three, “The Dinner,” the shock and humiliation from the break-up and discovery of their husbands is still very fresh (for everyone), and a family dinner is being held without Grace and Frankie present. This is the first family dinner that Robert and Sol are having as a gay couple together with all of their children in attendance. Separate conversations happen between Sol’s sons and Robert’s daughters in regards to the dinner:

Bud: “I feel weird.”

Coyote: “It’s all weird Bud. Our father, and his boyfriend are having their children over for dinner.”

Brianna: “If I’m going to this dinner, you’re going. And Mom can’t know about this! If you breathe one word about this to Mom, I will tell her who really killed dimples.”

Mallory: “What if she calls?!”

The children are all beginning to feel guilty as the dinner is hours away. They are feeling remorse because they feel as if they are going behind both of their Mothers’ backs. This conversation is an example of pathos. We begin to feel the empathy that the children are having towards their Mothers. We all realize that Robert and Sol are the ones who lied and cheated for over twenty years to everyone about their relationship, so why should they have to attend this family dinner with their Dads? Bud, Coyote, Brianna, and Mallory all make it to dinner and seem to get through it in a civil manner at first, but then Bud goes into the kitchen (where Brianna is secretly taking sips of alcohol). It becomes clear that this dinner should not be happening judging by Brianna and Bud’s conversation regarding their Dads being together:

Brianna: “Would you be cool with it, if they were cheating with women for the last twenty years?”

Bud: “I don’t know.”

Brianna: “Please! There wouldn’t be cake. <Pointing to the cake that Bud is about to carry out back to the dinner table, for dessert.> There would be blood. Or bullets. Or something. For sure, we wouldn’t be talking about the chicken.”

Bud: “Do you think you’re the only one that’s having a hard time? Up until a week ago, I was under the impression that my parents loved each other, now I’m losing my family, I’m losing Jewish Christmas eve…”

Plenty of emotions are being present in this particular scene and the conversation that is taking place between Brianna and Bud. They realized that if Robert and Sol both cheated on their Moms with women, none of them would be supportive or present at this dinner. Here we begin to realize and see the discomfort with Sol and Robert being finally out in the open.The audience is being drawn in, and able to connect in some sort of way with all these characters. Whether it’s feeling guilt for going behind your mother’s back and lying to her, having to go or see someone else go through a divorce, losing a loved one, having your own parents divorced, family members coming out for the first time, cheating, being cheated on, or angry at your Dads for putting your Mothers through this. At the end of this family get together, during dessert, the children all let their Dads here how they really feel about being there. They are all upset, angry, and hold nothing back. Bud says something in particular that really draws us in and makes us feel for Grace and Frankie at that moment:

Bud: “I am not even allowed to be mad!”

Sol: “Why not?”

Bud: “Cause you’re gay! If you were f@$*ing around with a woman for the last twenty years, we wouldn’t even be here, eating cake! <Stands up and picks up cake, and walks out.>. So we are not eating cake.”

The cake is a subtle dig at Robert and Sol that they are “having their cake and eating it too.”  It’s not about them being gay, but how they were selfish. Overall, this series is about navigating life as older women, as they try dating, find new direction, and go through the frustrating details of divorce, all while using both humor and pathos. The children play an important role in this series and in this episode in particular. The audience gets drawn into the argument and feels what Grace and Frankie must be experiencing, and all other characters as well. It moves me, because how can you not feel sorry for them, for all of them? Especially during the moment when the children stood up and spoke up for them themselves. The emotions being felt here moves us, the audience, which makes this method effective.