Become Legendary

The audiovisual text I chose to analyze is a classic Michael Jordan commercial titled “Maybe”. It is an advertisement that promotes his iconic brand Jumpman. This commercial in particular is a narrative. The plot is the story as presented in the narrative. In fact, Michael Jordan narrates the ad himself. The ad has a beginning, middle, and end and these function as exposition, development, and resolution. Credit Mznewman for that observation. It provides an interesting conflict through the narration because MJ discusses how his success came at a price. That price was extreme dedication to the game of basketball. I see his narration as exposition because he explains his beginnings and how hard he had to work to get to where he is at. The first shot shows his statue in front of the Chicago Bulls arena with all of his accolades engraved in the monument. Then it shows a series of shots that correspond with his narrative accompanied by music. The way the conflict is framed and resolved in this minute long ad is critical to understanding the story’s meaning. In the narration he starts most of his states with the word maybe. He says, “Maybe it’s my fault, maybe I led you to believe it was easy when it wasn’t.” The ad continues to capture shots of weight rooms, locker rooms, practice uniforms, and trophies. The ad is showing his progression. It shows his old high school gym, his dorm room at UNC, and some of the Chicago Bulls facility. At the end, it cuts to him standing in front of a group of ball players and he says, “Maybe I destroyed the game or maybe you just makin’ excuses.” Then in bold print against a black backdrop it reads, “BECOME LEGENDARY”. It is a very inspirational advertisement. I could write over 500 words for this audio-visual text but that would be over doing it. Apparently, I should of because the 1.5 I received didn’t getter done. Ha-ha, Enjoy.