{"id":17816,"date":"2023-02-23T06:20:38","date_gmt":"2023-02-23T06:20:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mediashower.com\/blog\/?p=17816"},"modified":"2023-02-24T06:28:41","modified_gmt":"2023-02-24T06:28:41","slug":"today-we-celebrate-our-independence-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/today-we-celebrate-our-independence-day\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Today, We Celebrate Our Independence Day&#8221;: Why a Cheesy Sci-Fi Movie Speech Still Works"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>TLDR: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">President Thomas J. Whitmore, played by Bill Pullman, gave a passionate speech in the movie <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Independence Day<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that inspired the world to fight alien invaders. It\u2019s since joined the ranks of the most iconic movie speeches of all time, because it\u2019s inclusive, it inspires change, and it offers hope.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>So What? <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You might remember <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Independence Day <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">as a cheesy sci-fi film starring Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum, but there\u2019s more to the speech than meets the eye. Communicators can study it to make their own communication more effective.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><center><iframe title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9t1IK_9apWs\" width=\"640\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/center>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The movie <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Independence Day<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, made in 1996, is not exactly a timeless classic. It\u2019s not on most \u201cbest movie\u201d lists. It tells the story of an attack by extraterrestrials who want to annihilate Earth.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The U.S. and the rest of the world decide to fight back, and at the apex of the story, when captains played by Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum fly off to destroy the alien mothership, the American president (played by Bill Pullman) gives an inspirational speech to the nation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This speech was never meant to take on any importance other than firing up the cavalry in the movie to save the day, but it has taken a place next to other famous movie speeches like Mel Gibson\u2019s famous monologue from <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/mediashower.com\/blog\/inside-the-famous-speech-from-braveheart\/\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Braveheart<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> because of its passion and powerful delivery.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here are some insights about the speech that communicators can take away to better inspire their own audience.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>It Includes Everyone<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the movie, the speech was delivered on July 4th. Even so, Pullman\u2019s character <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">includes all nations in its significance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe can&#8217;t be consumed by our petty differences, anymore. We will be united in our common interests,\u201d he says as a preface.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He then continues, \u201cShould we win the day, the Fourth of July will no longer be known as an American holiday, but as the day the world declared in one voice, &#8216;We will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight! We&#8217;re going to live on! We&#8217;re going to survive!&#8217;\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Great communicators unite everyone around a common purpose. They\u2019re inclusive. Even better than fighting a common enemy, as in the movie, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">achieving a common goal <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">empowers a group to bring everyone under the umbrella, accomplishing more than they thought possible.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>It Brings Change<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fun fact: the speech was so powerful, it changed the movie\u2019s title.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before the speech was written and filmed, the movie <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/celebrity\/independence-day-speech-the-story-behind-bill-pullmans-big-moment\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">was going to be called<\/span><\/a> <i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ID4<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Doomsday<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> because Warner Brothers owned the rights to the movie title <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Independence Day<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The writers specifically referenced the words \u201cIndependence Day\u201d in the speech as an attempt to wrestle the title from Warner Brothers, and it worked.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>It Borrows From Other Greats<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The speech may have seemed timeless and important because both the writers and Bill Pullman studied other famous speeches before it was written and delivered. Although writer Dean Devlin said he wrote the speech in five minutes as a placeholder and thought it would be replaced later, he had in mind the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/poetrysociety.org.uk\/poems\/the-st-crispins-day-speech-from-henry-v\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">St. Crispin&#8217;s Day speech<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> from Shakespeare\u2019s <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Henry V<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pullman said he modeled the delivery after a speech <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jfklibrary.org\/learn\/about-jfk\/the-kennedy-family\/robert-f-kennedy\/robert-f-kennedy-speeches\/statement-on-assassination-of-martin-luther-king-jr-indianapolis-indiana-april-4-1968\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Robert Kennedy gave<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> when he learned of Martin Luther King Jr.\u2019s assassination. The takeaway here is that if famous speeches inspire you, try to capture their spirit and power in your own communication.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><center><iframe title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/A2kWIa8wSC0\" width=\"640\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/center><\/p>\n<h2><b>It Has Allusions\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No, we didn\u2019t say <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">illusions <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">or <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">delusions<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, like the idea that the world\u2019s military could defeat an extraterrestrial threat. The speech contains an <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">allusion<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, or a reference to another famous work.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While Pullman doesn\u2019t deliver the line exactly like the original does, he paraphrases Dylan Thomas\u2019 famous poem <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night&#8221; when he says, &#8220;We will not go quietly into the night.&#8221; Allusions give added depth to your words, calling on timeless wisdom and allowing you to stand on the shoulders of giants.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>It Offers Hope<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The world created by the movie was facing long odds in defeating the alien threat, but Pullman\u2019s speech offered hope to the American military and others around the world who were taking on that threat.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The speech ends with the iconic line, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cToday, we celebrate our Independence Day!&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After that, in true blockbuster movie fashion, the military forces were successful, the alien threat was destroyed (at least, until the sequel), and all the hopes of Pullman\u2019s speech were fulfilled. Hopeful words are more inspiring than pessimistic ones, and should be the focus of great communicators.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>It Made People Want More<\/h2>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Independence Day <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">had enough staying power that <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Independence Day: Resurgence<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> was made in 2016 to give fans more of the franchise. The famous speech by Pullman was part of the draw that helped the first movie make almost $900 million on its release (more than ten times its budget).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When you communicate in a powerful way, not only will your message land, but people will want more.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you need help creating high quality content that will drive traffic and keep people wanting more, Media Shower can help. <\/span><\/i><a href=\"http:\/\/mediashower.com\/blog\/content-marketing-calculator\/?__mscta=2855_95082_162\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Take a look at our Content Marketing Calculator to instantly calculate your content marketing Return on Investment.<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/mediashower.com\/blog\/content-marketing-calculator\/?__mscta=2855_95082_162\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-17821 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/1-7.png\" alt=\"CTA Content Marketing\" width=\"680\" height=\"240\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/1-7.png 680w, https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/1-7-300x106.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Thomas J. Whitmore, played by Bill Pullman, gave a passionate speech in the movie Independence Day that inspired the world to fight alien invaders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":109,"featured_media":17820,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[459],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17816"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/109"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17816"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17816\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17818,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17816\/revisions\/17818"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}