Persuasive Jobs Research

The Evasion of Controversial Topics in Jobs
The film Jobs, directed by Joshua Stern and written by Matt Whiteley, was created in 2013—notably after Steve Jobs’ death (“Jobs (2013)”). The story is told through the eyes of Steve Jobs, cofounder of Apple Computers. The motion picture details Jobs’ life from attending college to the creation of the iPod at Apple. Jobs’ personal life is roughly outlined by his major conflicts, such as the birth of his illegitimate child and being removed as CEO of Apple. The film Jobs inaccurately portrays Jobs’ work and life by leaving out important details, in order to avoid controversy.
Chiefly, the writer avoids shedding light on Apple’s scandals. In defence of his actions, Arthur Rock reasons, “Don’t make me

The audience is left with Jobs’ concluding statement: “We’re going to make Apple cool again,” (Whiteley). This ending was clearly selected. Jobs’ final accomplishment noted in the film was the release of the iPod—an invention far ahead of its time. Not only does this statement end the story on a positive note, but it leaves an unanswered question: is he successful and how did he do it? The answer to this question is subjective. The film leans on the audience’s prior knowledge of Apple, not bothering to ensure that such knowledge is true, or if it is the product of Apple’s propaganda. The film takes no stance when it comes to argued topics, simply letting the audience believe what they’ve heard. When telling a story about a man’s life, very little detail about Jobs’ actual life is shown. Some controversial and unanswered questions persist that the movie fails to acknowledge, including the “...widespread speculation about whether Jobs’ decision to use [complementary and alternative medical] approaches hastened his death by postponing initiation of potentially life-prolonging conventional treatments,” (Greenlee, Heather, and Edzard Ernst). Details such as this would possibility portray Steve as a foolish man and take away from the carefully sculpted image of Jobs at the helm of a visionary company. The film carefully navigates around Jobs’ arguable aspects in order to create an delusive unbiased

In the film when firing an employee who was resisting Jobs he exclaims, “You can either get on board or get the fuck out!” (Whiteley). His disrespect toward his employees is justified by his superior vision. In most cases, where Jobs is shown being disrespectful, it is phrased in a way that makes that person seem against him when they were just defending themselves. In reality, Jobs depends on his employees, not only for their work, but for their inspiration. Jobs was actually notorious for his disrespect and plagiarism. His co-workers report, “Often Jobs would suddenly ‘flip,’ taking an idea that he’s mocked (maybe your idea) and embracing it passionately—and as his own—without ever acknowledging that his view had changed,” (Elkindy). This character trait was never displayed in the film. Jobs was shown as a genius, fueled by his own vision, but in reality he was extremely good at building upon, if not stealing, other’s work. Jobs became such a big problem when working with other people that at one time Apple’s CFO was actually regarded as “tantrum controller” (Elkindy), as reported by Jobs’ associates. While the film did touch on Jobs’ disrespect, it was always justified in some way. The film portrays Jobs in this manner so that the audience does not begin to question Jobs’