Ashton Applewhite's TED talk, filmed in April 2017, has already been viewed almost a million times effectively spreading Applewhite's point that as a whole society can see old people through a bias that hurts them because for the most part it is entirely untrue. Applewhite uses mostly a humorous approach in her speech and builds ethos by giving her own experiences as she herself has grown "old" over the years and was one of the people who believed in ageism. Applewhite relies mostly on logos and throws many statistics out throughout the duration of her speech. She starts off with one at 0:35 which changed her mind about getting old which is that "only four percent of older Americans are living in nursing homes and the percentage is dropping" (Applewhite). She throws some pathos in there with humor in places such as when she describes workers getting Botox and modifications to make themselves appear younger but she throws in a joke that they are "skilled white men in their 30's so imagine the effects further down the food chain"(Applewhite). This gets a laugh from the crowd but also serves a good point as pathos should. The most important example of either pathos or logos is a statistic that is shown at 9:33, it states that "By 2050 one out of five of us, almost two billion people, will be age 60 and up"(Applewhite). This is the most important because it shows that this ageism epidemic affects a lot of the population because everyone gets old so this bias hurts everyone.
Applewhite is effective in her speech in many ways but one of her best moments is her opening. From the beginning to 0:25 she uses a couple questions to her audience such as "What's one thing that every person in this room is going to become?Older." (Applewhite) which starts her point that this bias goes against every single person and starts to get it into the audience's heads how truly important this topic is. In the opening she also brings up how people fear getting old which is Applewhite's way of starting to show societies fear and bias against the old and getting old. Another thing Applewhite does as a speaker is when at 4:45 she brings up a fairly socially normal concept of having a senior moment and turns it around by saying "when I lost the car keys in high school I didn't call it a 'junior moment' " (Applewhite) and "I stopped blaming my sore knee on being 64. My other knee doesn't hurt and it's just as old" (Applewhite). This is powerful for her speech because it turns the norm around to show how truly wrong it is. Applewhite's audience could actually be anyone since everyone grows old and most everyone has these stereotypes, even those who are already in that old age range. Lessons to learn from this video are that growing old does not have to mean giving up on your dreams and living in a home as Applewhite talked in detail about how ambition kept people sharp until the end, and that society has to look in on itself to change all the prejudice that it has created for itself. Applewhite could improve her speech by giving some sources to all of her facts or maybe more credibility to herself. One question to ask Applewhite is was there anything else that really opened her eyes to ageism?
Applewhite's speech relates to the American dream because a critical point of the American dream is equal opportunity for everyone, Applewhite is just looking for equal opportunity for the old. People come to America searching for that equality and opportunity in everyday life, and even though it is not reality yet it is still the basis of the American dream for people to never be judged on something they cannot change. People always judge the old even if they are still smart and active they are only seen as old and Applewhite wants to change that in spirit of the American dream. This relates to the global dream because everywhere in the world people grow older and there is a similar general attitude of that meaning they are useless because they are old but the global dream is also based off of peace, equality, and longevity. It is a dream of every country to have people survive longer but that means getting older bringing the need for equality for all ages. Applewhite's speech is similar to Obama's Keynote Address to the 2004 Democratic Convention because he talks a good bit about equality because it is one of the fundamental ideas for America and Applewhite's speech is made to draw attention to the inequality so it can be fixed and everyone can be equal as Obama and many Americans want. "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson also explores many of the inequalities Applewhite mentions such as racism and homophobia, but not ageism. Stevenson does go into some similar points though such as how these prejudices are just to maintain the status quo.
I enjoyed Applewhite's speech because being prejudice towards the old is not something normal people think about. Applewhite's speech made me take a step back and examine everything around me because I knew she was right and that society had tricked me into thinking the same thing about pretty much anyone over 60 and I did not like it. Society can be this world's greatest threat if we do not try to fix some of the problems it has created and this speech further helped me to see that. As a take away from this speech I honestly will not fear old age anymore. It has plagued me ever since I was young but I could never figure out why and now that I am self aware I can rid myself of a fear that is unwarranted and honestly very silly. Applewhite taught me growing old is not the end of beauty or brain function it is just growing.
Applewhite is effective in her speech in many ways but one of her best moments is her opening. From the beginning to 0:25 she uses a couple questions to her audience such as "What's one thing that every person in this room is going to become?Older." (Applewhite) which starts her point that this bias goes against every single person and starts to get it into the audience's heads how truly important this topic is. In the opening she also brings up how people fear getting old which is Applewhite's way of starting to show societies fear and bias against the old and getting old. Another thing Applewhite does as a speaker is when at 4:45 she brings up a fairly socially normal concept of having a senior moment and turns it around by saying "when I lost the car keys in high school I didn't call it a 'junior moment' " (Applewhite) and "I stopped blaming my sore knee on being 64. My other knee doesn't hurt and it's just as old" (Applewhite). This is powerful for her speech because it turns the norm around to show how truly wrong it is. Applewhite's audience could actually be anyone since everyone grows old and most everyone has these stereotypes, even those who are already in that old age range. Lessons to learn from this video are that growing old does not have to mean giving up on your dreams and living in a home as Applewhite talked in detail about how ambition kept people sharp until the end, and that society has to look in on itself to change all the prejudice that it has created for itself. Applewhite could improve her speech by giving some sources to all of her facts or maybe more credibility to herself. One question to ask Applewhite is was there anything else that really opened her eyes to ageism?
Applewhite's speech relates to the American dream because a critical point of the American dream is equal opportunity for everyone, Applewhite is just looking for equal opportunity for the old. People come to America searching for that equality and opportunity in everyday life, and even though it is not reality yet it is still the basis of the American dream for people to never be judged on something they cannot change. People always judge the old even if they are still smart and active they are only seen as old and Applewhite wants to change that in spirit of the American dream. This relates to the global dream because everywhere in the world people grow older and there is a similar general attitude of that meaning they are useless because they are old but the global dream is also based off of peace, equality, and longevity. It is a dream of every country to have people survive longer but that means getting older bringing the need for equality for all ages. Applewhite's speech is similar to Obama's Keynote Address to the 2004 Democratic Convention because he talks a good bit about equality because it is one of the fundamental ideas for America and Applewhite's speech is made to draw attention to the inequality so it can be fixed and everyone can be equal as Obama and many Americans want. "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson also explores many of the inequalities Applewhite mentions such as racism and homophobia, but not ageism. Stevenson does go into some similar points though such as how these prejudices are just to maintain the status quo.
I enjoyed Applewhite's speech because being prejudice towards the old is not something normal people think about. Applewhite's speech made me take a step back and examine everything around me because I knew she was right and that society had tricked me into thinking the same thing about pretty much anyone over 60 and I did not like it. Society can be this world's greatest threat if we do not try to fix some of the problems it has created and this speech further helped me to see that. As a take away from this speech I honestly will not fear old age anymore. It has plagued me ever since I was young but I could never figure out why and now that I am self aware I can rid myself of a fear that is unwarranted and honestly very silly. Applewhite taught me growing old is not the end of beauty or brain function it is just growing.