Rhetorical Analysis 3: Art

The argument being made here is that when we look into the mirror, we see problems and distortions that really aren't there. The main audience Picasso is trying to reach is teenage girls, though it may be for all women in general.

For me, this painting is amazingly emotional. The girl has a look on her face that isn't quite sadness...it's more like disappointment. However, she is lovely, with a beautiful skin tone and flowing hair. Her reflection is something out of nightmares. It is twisted, discolored, and misshapen. The girl is by no means perfect, but she certainly isn't as terrible as her reflection. I think Picasso is also appealing to logic in this painting. If this girl can be beautiful in real life and yet be disappointed in her reflection, perhaps we are all beautiful in real life regardless of our reflection.

I think that this argument is suffcient. The expression on her face and the radical difference between the truth and the reflection is enough to convince any audience of his argument. And I think his argument is typical. Everytime anything is argued, in magazines or commercials or whatever, we are expected to relate to the models. Whatever is true for them can be true for us. Picasso employs the same idea here. His argument has also been found to be accurate, most people do have a distorted image of themselves. It is also completely relevant. Every girl in the world could confess to having a similar experience.

Overall, I believe that Picasso's argument works. He reaches into the deepest darkest part of a woman and puts it on display without shame, which is why the girl is naked. He understands the pain that every girl has felt at some time or another with their own reflection. And he manages to comfort and show us that although we are not perfect, we are better than what we see in the mirror, and we are beautiful.