When Magic Johnson revealed that he was HIV positive and that he would retire from basketball as a result, the revelation was a shock to the public for a number of reasons. First, Magic Johnson was a well-known and well-loved sports figure whose illness would create sympathy no matter what that illness was. Second, the mere fact that a sports figure, expected to be the picture of health, would contract such a disease was a shock. Third, the fact that the disease was AIDS and was fatal was a further shock. A final and very important reason for public consternation was that AIDS is a disease that happens to "bad" people and that can never happen to someone well known, wealthy, healthy, and essentially "one of us." The infection of Magic Johnson challenged these assumptions and made the public reconsider its attitudes as well as its own careless behavior.Richard Rodriguez, "America Discovers AIDS Is Real." Los Angeles Times (November 10, 1991), 22. ic proofs according to the three. A more recent reading, though, suggests a hierarchical arrangement so that the three major subdivisions of artistic proof give way to two major categories, enthymeme and example. Logical, ethical, and pathetical appeals become subdivisions under both enthymeme and example. Deductive reasoning is enthymeme, and inductive reasoning is example, and logical, ethical, and pathetical appeals are part of every reasonable argument (Bizzell and Herzberg 146). Baker, Judith A., Cyndi J. Lepley, Satya Krishnan, and Kathryn S. Victory. "Celebrities as Health Educators: Media Advocacy Guidelines." Journal of School Health (November 1992), 433-435. Magic Johnson undertook to spread the word about the AIDS virus and to warn young people about the dangers. It was noted from the time of his first announcement that the fact that he had brought this into the open had served to change the behavior of many people. Indeed, it is believed that the revelation by a celebrity that he or she ha |
