Watch as Tim Curry even calls out one of the misdirections directly through dialogue. A red herring is a figurative expression referring to a logical fallacy in which a clue or piece of information is or is intended to be misleading. A speaker who uses the red herring fallacy makes an argument that distracts from the discussion at hand. Fallacies related to logos Smoke screen or Red Herring, avoiding the real issue or a tough question by introducing an unrelated topic as a distraction.
#RED HERRING FALLACY IN MEDIA FULL#
This type of trickery is a trope of the genre, and red herrings play an important role in the efficacy of this manipulation. The Clue film is chock full of wonderfully comedic misdirections, as one would expect from what is ostensibly a spoof on the entire murder-mystery genre. Practically every good detective story will mislead and manipulate you into thinking you have everything all figured out, only to pull the rug out from under you with the true reveal. For example, an argument against raising salaries might go something like this: We cant raise salaries, but we still provide great benefits for our employees. If you explore the mystery genre, you will find countless examples of red herrings. Case Studies Red herring examples in movies Now that we know why this technique matter, let’s take a look at a few more examples from successful films.
#RED HERRING FALLACY IN MEDIA SERIAL#
Of course, by the end, it's revealed that Old Man Marley is the furthest thing from a serial killer. Although red herrings are irrelevant ideas, they are not random. For example, we could be arguing about whether being vegetarian is more ethical. Media-trained people tend to throw red herrings at journalists, to avoid painful questions. It is therefore a discussion technique that is often used in the political arena. There are a couple more scenes between Kevin and the South Bend Shovel Slayers to help support this suspicion. A red herring is an irrelevant idea used to divert an argument away from its resolution. Red Herrings are arguments that seem relevant to an issue but actually are not. The more sensitive or outrageous the red herring, the harder it is to resist.