Auto-Tuning: The Limits of Language

In Plato’s Gorgias, Socrates and his pupil, Chaerephon, speak with Gorgias, Polus and Callicles on the subject of rhetoric. When Socrates asks Gorgias what exactly rhetoric is, Gorgias replies that it is the art of speeches. When pressed further, he contests that it is also “being able to persuade by speeches judges in the law court, councillors in the council, assemblymen in the assembly, and in every other gathering whatsoever, when there is a political gathering” (Plato 452e). Plato does not seem to appreciate rhetoric because he finds that not all rhetoricians are just men who bring about justice through these crowds whom they wish to persuade.

While Gorgias and Socrates speak of crowds such as assemblies and courts, a modern crowd that can be persuaded today is the television viewing community. Millions of people watch television each day, and many of this audience watch the news. The news informs viewers of local and political concerns, many topics that rhetoricians spoke of in ancient Greece. Citizens need the news in order to know and understand the large events happening within their communities. Gorgias would appreciate the fact that newscasters must practice the art of speech, rhetoric, to divulge their messages to their audiences. However, Socrates would not enjoy the biases of the networks and their news, such as CBS and Fox News. While their job is to inform the people about facts, newscasters present the stories in an unbalanced way contingent upon their views and opinions.

James L. Kastely may argue that newscasters cannot help this biased reporting because of the fact that they are human, and their languages constrict them to this type of limited communication. Kastley claims in his article, "In Defense of Plato’s Gorgias," that humans are born into a world that already has misconceptions and man-made ideologies that humans accept as natural because they know the world in no other way. Languages that humans create reflect the misunderstandings that have already been created. Kastley states that it is “the nature of language to be inadequate to a complete representation of ourselves and others” (105). If language is flawed, then humans’ communications to and with one another are inevitably flawed as well. 

Andrew Gregory and his team of friends and family have created YouTube videos, “Auto-Tune the News,” which exemplify the limits of language and how one can manipulate these limits so that they become a parody. The theme song states, “Everything sounds better auto-tuned” (“Auto-Tune the News #2”). While this statement is a joke that makes fun of the current popular music industry, it is also telling of the way people communicate. Some find the news to be too boring to watch; however, Gregory plays with this limitation and makes the news fun and humorous by creating rhyming lyrics and a beat to go along with the stated information. He auto-tunes news anchors’ voices so that it is more appealing to listen. When Katie Couric tells her audience that arctic ice is melting quickly, the auto-tuned version makes it funny and more interesting. The YouTube video makes fun at Couric’s cliched pun when she seriously states that if humans do not take swift action, “we will find ourselves on very thin ice” (“Auto-Tune the News #2”), a phrase that gets repeated within the beat of the song and carried over into the next news segment, highlighting its corniness. 

These YouTube videos cater to a younger audience who may not necessarily watch the news on a regular basis. While they are meant to be funny, they also bring attention to the limits of newscasters’ rhetoric. Sometimes, in order to get the message across and to capture the audience’s attention, a little auto-tuning can go a long way.

"Auto-Tune the News #2: pirates. drugs. gay marriage." 21 April 2009. 10 Sept. 2012. Web.

Kastley, James L. "In Defense of Plato's Gorgias." PMLA 106.1 (1991): 105.

Plato. Gorgias. Trans. James H. Nichols, Jr. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. Print.