Jackie Robin
"I don't know everything, I'm just a kid."
Pathos: Connecting to the audience
This is where the Pep Talk goes from great, to genius. Who relates to kids? Kids, right? Who relates to Kid President? Adults. Another child is not going to understand why the world is boring to KP, in fact most kids think everything is fascinating. Kid President touches indirectly on war by proposing why we aren’t on the same team in this game of life. No child would understand that was what he meant by, “if life is a game, why aren’t we on the same team?” They’re taking it literally while adults take it figuratively. The beauty is that neither way is better than the other because they both give the same message. That is why this Pep Talk isn’t great – it’s genius.
Overall, Kid President may have just been playing around with his brother in law, but he really touches on valid, inspiring topics. He uses rhetoric without even realizing it and I think that is why this video is loved. He is a mature and smart kid probably because of what he has been through with his OI, but his wisdom is truly remarkable.
While spending hours typing up sporadic thoughts I had after watching Kid President’s iconic YouTube video “A Pep Talk from Kid President to You,” and attempting to hit on some golden writing, I was hitting quite a few speed bumps. After a long break, the first thing I did when I came back to my computer was look up a little about Kid President, himself.
A Pep Talk From Kid President To YOU!
Kid President's name is Robby Novak and he is a 9 year old charismatic, hilarious, and admirable young gentlemen who is a patient at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. Since birth, Robby has had the rare condition of Osteogenisis Imperfecta (OI) and he will have this chronic condition for the rest of his life. Basically, OI is a fancy term meaning his bones break easily. I couldn’t believe this video went viral and never in any description had I seen, or in any conversation I had about him, was there mention of this little guy’s condition. In A Pep Talk from Kid President to You, he does dedicate the video to his friend Gabbi, who is pancake loving girl currently fighting cancer, “LIKE A BOSS!” Still, I just thought that was a friend of his, not a friend he met while being in the hospital with her! Maybe I overlooked that a little bit, but for such a moving video about Life, without mentioning his own about being in and out of the hospital, took my breath away even more. Why? Why is it that when a child with such ambition in life can turn the heads of adults that have lost their motivation to be a good person? Hopefully, I can answer that.
While I definitely think A Pep Talk from Kid President to You hits on a lot of rhetoric (ethos, pathos, logos), I think those points were touched upon almost accidentally. Prior to doing my research on Kid President’s personal life, I actually thought maybe his dad or brother helped script this with intentions of making an inspirational video that could go viral. I was wrong… Watch The True Story of Kid President to see how playing around with his brother in law is how he wound up a YouTube sensation.
Robby doesn’t talk about his OI in his pep talk because he says it isn’t about him, it’s about you. While you may initially think his audience is for kids, Robby says he especially likes giving these messages about being a better person to adults. Some of his favorite pieces of advice are, “give somebody a reason to dance,” and “if it doesn’t make the world better, don’t do it!” I’ll dance to that buddy.
So what is it that makes the video so inspiring? Besides an adorable little boy, the content and message he gets across is really inspiring coming from such a youthful mindset. His overall message is that no matter where life takes us: a classroom or football field, and no matter who we are: child or adult, we need to put bigger differences aside in order to make the world gooder.
Ethos: Credibility
The only outspoken credibility Robby gives himself in the Pep Talk video is just calling himself Kid President. Obviously, we associate “President” with a very credible person, liked or not they obviously worked very hard up to the point of presidency. Kid President doesn’t spend time trying to convince anyone to listen to him, because I don’t think he really cares and if someone were to discredit him, he probably wouldn’t know. However, I think the lack of credibility actually helps his argument. He is speaking wisdom you hear from your grandparents but he’s grasping their life lessons at such a young age in order to continue applying them to his life. This lack of credibility (being a kid) is helping the message relay to viewers because they can almost ask, “How does he know so much, so young? He’s right, why is he so right?!”
Logos: Logic, supporting evidence
He speaks so simplistically and with such bliss that I couldn’t see even Kim Jong Il even arguing with him after the pep talk. He uses examples such as Robert Frost, Michael Jordan, and Journey to explain that sometimes you have to take the road less traveled, don’t quit, and never, ever stop believing in your dreams (unless your dream is stupid).
After KP’s adorable introduction, he says, “Two roads diverged in the woods and I took the road less traveled and it hurt, man! Really bad. Rocks, thorns, glass! Not cool, Robert Frost.” Kid President is ‘indirectly’ quoting Robert Frost’s poem, The Road Not Taken. The message of the poem is that when we make a decision we almost always cannot go back and change it – therefore it is life changing, no matter how small the decision is. KP is reiterating that we can make positive impacts every day by just doing something small for someone. However, he downplays the poem because the road (life) can often throw things at us that “hurt, man!” Kid President is just joking at the end by poking fun at Robert Frost for not warning us about the bad things that come along with the decisions we make. Again, his incorrect quotation of the poem leads us to believe he isn’t credible, but I argue again that he still is. He’s maintaining his innocence!
Another quote that Kid President uses in his Pep Talk for supporting evidence is Journey’s hit song, Don't Stop Believin'. “It’s like that dude Journey said…” the Pep Talk shows the text on the screen while Kid President reads along, “Don’t stop believing, unless your dream is stupid. –Journey…I think that’s how it goes, yeah.” True, we should not stop believing in our dreams but this little kid doesn’t even know the lyrics! No one cares; he’s still cute and hilarious.
And the best part of the video is when Kid President uses Michael Jordan as the prime example of what would have happened if he had given up. “What if he had quit [in high school] when he hadn’t made the team? He woulda’ never made Space Jam! And I love Space Jam.”
Touché KP, touché.
Obviously, MJ's peak wasn't making Space Jam, it was just an awesome addition to his success. But I think it is a good point because once you are successful in one thing you can continuue being successful in lots of things.
IF YOU CAN PROVIDE HUMOR AND CONNECT AT AN EMOTIONAL LEVEL, PEOPLE WILL REMEMBER INFORMATION MUCH LONGER.
-Shawn Achor
KiD PRESIDENT
JUMBO SHRIMP
ALMOSTREADY
PROBLEM SOLVED
expect the UNEXPECTED
FUTURE HISTORY
extra ordinary
