A Rhetorical Analysis of Opposition in Queen & Slim

wn / 2022
From Essays

Kenneth Burke wrote, “wherever there is persuasion, there is rhetoric. And wherever there is ‘meaning,’ there is ‘persuasion’” (1962, p. 172). Following Burke then, meaningful narratives are rhetorical texts, and we can analyze these texts better to understand our narratives and the motives behind them. Rhetoric then becomes a means to understand human motivation, and in particular social interaction. Rhetoric is typically associated with speaking and oratory communication. However, as we have seen across history, messages can be communicated via symbolic, aesthetic, and artistic actions. In other words, we often rely on means beyond language to get our point across. While more indirect and subtle, artistic communication can be persuasive in different and possibly more resonant ways. In this paper, I will analyze the 2019 film Queen & Slim to show how persuasion arises and performs as an artistic vehicle. I argue that Queen & Slim effectively persuades using a meaningful narrative, specifically using the lens of modern, Black romance to showcase inequality and the problem of police brutality within the United States. 




Burke defined rhetoric as “the use of language as a symbolic means of inducing cooperation in beings that by nature respond to symbols” (Herrick, 2018, p. 239). So when we think of the film Queen & Slim, the persuasive effort is to induce cooperation, in this case, diminish racism. As Herrick states, Burke’s interest “in rhetoric is focused on finding symbolic means of overcoming human alienation” (2018, p. 240). Fitting into Aristotle’s definition of rhetoric, persuasion requires considering all available means. To be persuasive, we must then get rid of those things that create separation, and while presenting our ideas, we must use all that is available at our disposal. In this paper, I show how the film Queen & Slim portrays the Black experience unapologetically. To present the movement against police brutality, Queen & Slim make clear it’s strengths and weaknesses. The film undertakes the bold occupation of showing the whole story.




Firstly, we must explain one important appeal rooted in the film Queen & Slim: the ethos or credibility of the creator. Several Black creators from the film industry created Queen & Slim. The director, writer, lead actors, composer, and many of the producers are Black and several other people involved with the film. Cinematically, Queen & Slim represents Black experiences, and so the filmmaking credibility must be there to make sure the voice is authentic. The film is credible because of this team, and it is persuasive through the essence of its form. Stating one of her motivations in directing the film, Melina Matsouka said: “I didn’t really feel like I grew up seeing two dark-skinned people fall in love on-screen” (The Guardian, 2020). Serving as a film for the marginalized and historically misrepresented, Queen & Slim expands the sphere of Hollywood content simply by being Black-made and featuring a Black story. Nevertheless, the story within Queen & Slim signals this call for change further by the content through which it is made up.




Burke in his rhetoric took a deep dive into the epistemology of the word substance. From this, he nominalized an idea called ‘the paradox of substance.’ Burke stated, “in order to be able to understand what a given thing is, you must first place it ‘in terms of’ something else” (1962, p. 24). In other words, the rhetoric of Queen & Slim can only be effective if it is put up against opposition. Opposition in rhetoric helps create identification. In his work on visual communication, Goodwin defines opposition as: "relations implying conflict or exclusion or negative identity between items of the same logical type” (Goodwin, 1999, p. 94). With our example Queen & Slim, there are many things to consider. The film is a story of tension. Visually, Queen and Slim are in conflict with the police, with each other, with other characters, and with themselves (guilt, anger, regret). Throughout the journey, the lens is rarely taken off of our main characters, and Queen and Slim are almost always seen in the same shot. This framing tactic brings tension into the audience, captivating views, and making room for persuasion.




From the first scene, as Queen and Slim sit inside a diner on their first date, we find out that while the two main characters share some similarities, they come from very different places. Queen is a reclusive criminal defence attorney. Slim is a family oriented grocery store clerk. On top of that, Queen initially doesn’t want Slim romantically. The movie’s defining moment and the deciding event in Queen and Slim’s lives represent the central conflict in the rhetoric of this film: the issue of police brutality against Black people in the United States. The couple is driving home from a date when a police officer pulls them over for a “traffic signal” violation. One thing leads to another, and the officer begins searching the trunk of Slim’s car. Slim asks him, “hurry up” because of the cold. It should be noted that Slim’s tone is light-hearted, rather than citizen-officer dialogue. The manner in Slim’s voice is human-human. However, the police officer takes this remark with hostility, and here begins our story. Amidst the escalation, Queen steps out of the vehicle’s front passenger seat to question the officer, and in turn, he shoots her in the leg. The officer and Slim struggle in combat until Slim seizes the pistol and kills the officer. Queen & Slim take to the road and begin their journey as outlaws.




The killing of the police officer in Ohio is of course the main premise for Queen & Slim. The screen to which the scene is presented to us is perfectly ambiguous. In other words, the crime Queen & Slim commit is not baseless, it is an act of self defence. Nonetheless, the crime through the lens of the law is gravely severe. Now in terms of opposition, the narrative presents firsthand the experience of Black people with the law, and specifically with police brutality. The pair is pulled over for virtually nothing, the officer is harsh, distant, abrasive, and he loses his temper over an innocent remark. The filmmakers provide an example of what racial tension looks like and how routine situations turn into horrible events. While fictitious, the crime scene is not unimaginable. The scene’s unnecessary violence resonates with news stories of a similar nature in real life. Here we have police brutality and racism embodied effectively in the film.




From the first scenes in the movie, the filmmaker’s terms show that the character’s identities are not in line with criminal behaviour. Queen is a lawyer focused on helping the wrongly convicted and marginalized, while Slim’s character shows wholesome traits: he does not drink, he enjoys spending time with his dad, he supports small, black-owned businesses, and remembers idiosyncratic details about weak social ties in his life. These details while small represent the filmmaker’s portrayal of Queen and Slim as good-hearted, law-abiding, and communal citizens, and ultimately the police mishap is detached from their normal living path. It is not difficult to identify with characters of this nature. The filmmaker’s display here that crime is not sought after, it happens. Through dialogue, body language, and scene coordination, the filmmakers show us that their conflict with the officer is an extraordinary event, an isolated incident. In other words, this kind of crime is not a part of the character’s fundamental identities. On these grounds, the audience is offered some identifiable material, while at the same time, our story is sent down a thrilling and unexplored path.




To further emphasize the early and important scene in Queen & Slim, we can turn to Burke’s pentad to understand how the filmmakers have framed the scene to convey a particular message. The filmmakers portray the conflict in a scene-act ratio. The character’s actions are distorted by the tense situation. The police officer’s hostility, the side of the snowy highway, the lack of witnesses around. Again, this is the filmmaker’s framing of life happening to people, rather than the other way around. Burke said of scenic ratios that there is present "a view that diminished the role of free will and rendered conclusive the material conditions in which decisions are made” (Herrick, 2018, p. 244). Through a scenic ratio, the filmmakers make clear that Queen and Slim’s freewill was diminished, their fate spiralled, prominently because of the forces, institutions, and structures that maintain police brutality.

However, by no means is the story of Queen & Slim, morally sound. The film does not portray a perfect lineage of moral events. There is almost a continuous “for” and “against” battle with Queen and Slim’s crime. Their crime turns into a public and political event, some are motivated by Queen and Slim and believe they are innocent, for their act was only self-defence and the police officer has a history of racism in his department. On the other hand, those against Queen and Slim want to see justice brought to the dead police officer, regardless of race. For example, the young man in the South is what we might call “too inspired” by Queen and Slim’s revolution, and consequently, he shoots a police officer himself during a protest. The filmmakers here adopt an emotional appeal to show opposition within the same side of a movement. Black’s against blacks. Through the confusion and spirit of the protest, the young man makes an awful mistake. Queen & Slim allows us to see yet again an accident of crime, and it is most remorseful in light of the young man’s age. What is most emotionally powerful and likely to create resonance from this film is the first-hand view of the crime offered to the audience. Normally in society, we are the ones at home reading the headlines. The filmmakers offer a chance to see what happens, for example when the young man shoots the police officer, his face drastically changes to show surprise and horror. The filmmakers offer the idea that these stories we have become so accustomed to seeing are deeper and more complex than they might appear to be.




The tension present in the film Queen & Slim poses complexity and severity at the heart of the matter of police brutality. Filmmakers deployed emotional appeals to display the many sides to crime. However, as has been stated, the two main characters are merely criminals by accident. While the narrative’s road trip is necessary to the plot, it also serves as an effective method to display large stretches of culture. Over the distance of the trip, we learn more about Queen, Slim, their families, and their budding romantic relationship. At the same time filmmakers once again put forward scenes of under-represented, geographic, and cultural locations. While the story unfolds and the couple runs from the law, the filmmakers find room to educate audiences on the diverse culture of American and specifically Black culture. Visually, the rhetoric is expanded by the myriad of geographic locations: ranging from New Orleans neighbourhoods, Florida marshlands, stretches of southern pastures, a blues dance club, and more. On top of the diverse imagery is an eclectic score provided by Devonte Hynes. The audiences, now following Queen and Slim in their romantic, outlaw voyage, are offered both visual and auditory pieces of Black culture in America.




The driving force in Queen and Slim’s journey results from fleeing the scene after killing a police officer. While a large-scale team of law enforcement attempt to get after them, many people are in support of the couple and their cause. From those that actually help them escape, to the eruptions of protest across the country, the filmmakers show that ethics goes beyond the law. When the pair dies tragically in a final attempt to escape, movement supporters idolize them as martyrs. While for many people, within the scope of the film, this is another manhunt in the news, another story to be interested in for a few days and then forget about. The excellency in this film’s storytelling lies in the fact that we are invited to join Queen and Slim on their journey, as insiders. The filmmakers translate a grim and delicate subject into language we can see, hear, and feel.




Works Cited

Borchers, T; Hundley, H. Rhetorical Theory: An Introduction (p. 175). Waveland Press, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

Burke, K. (1962). A grammar of motives : and A rhetoric of motives. World Pub. Co.

Goodwin, D. (1999) Toward a grammar and rhetoric of visual opposition. Rhetoric Review, 18:1. 92-111

Hans, S. (2020, January 20). Interview: Melina Matsoukas: ‘I didn't grow up seeing dark-skinned people fall in love on screen. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/jan/25/melina-matsoukas-interview-director-queen-and-slim

Herrick, J. (2018). The History and Theory of Rhetoric. Routledge. New York