Contemporary film and the representative anecdote of ‘unmasking’: Coping strategies for a narcissistic society

Abstract

Kenneth Burke's concepts of the “representative anecdote” and “equipment for living” are prolific tools for rhetorical and media criticism. As applied to the discourse of contemporary film, these methods reveal an underlying story of “unmasking” which effectively provides equipment for living or coping strategies to an audience struggling to deal with the problems associated with narcissism in today's society.