Till It Happens to You

In class today we learned the meaning of Chrono’s and Kairos which are both Greek words.  As we discussed, Chrono’s is the natural flow of time while Kairos is the right or opportune moment to make an argument or persuasion.  Kairos is used throughout the novel Missoula by Jon Krakauer in multiple ways.  One case that is relevant for today’s class period is the fact that an athlete was the assailant in the Washburn and Johnson case gave Kairos to the prosecutor because of the fact that an athlete had just been prosecuted (Donaldson) which helped bring Johnson to court and demonstrated that there was no sense in letting him get away with sexual assault just because he is an athlete.  On the other hand, the defense could use Kairos here by arguing that a college athlete is a driven and educated person who would not sexually assault anyone, or on the other hand, give the argument that Washburn only regretted having sex with Johnson which is why she is taking him to court.  Kairos can be used either negatively or positively depending on how a prosecutor or defendant spins the situation.  These are ideas that we probably all have a sense of familiarity to due to the common knowledge provided by television series such as Law and Order: Special Victims Unit which displays the back and forth arguments that result during a court case.

The introduction of Kairos made me think of how figures within our society could possibly make a change and put an end to sexual assault.  For instance, Lady Gaga co-wrote a song with Diane Warren for the documentary film The Hunting Ground which deals with college campus rape in the United States.  The song is called “Till It Happens to You” and is a call for movement against the act of sexual assault on college campuses across the country.  I found this to be relevant to Kairos because the film and the song are being used during a time when sexual assault is extremely present on college campuses in order to educate people on the subject and cause awareness.

**The film The Hunting Ground can be found on Netflix and more information can be found at http://thehuntinggroundfilm.com/

**”Till It Happens to You” by Lady Gaga can be found on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmWBrN7QV6Y