McDonald 1

Haley McDonald

RC 1000

Birgel

February 24, 2020

Reflection Letter

Dear Professor Birgel,

My goal for this paper and what I want my readers remains for them to see the

connection in the power of influence both to Maddie and in their own life. I took a lot of time

writing this essay and changing things thanks to changes suggested by my peers. Much of the

truths in this paper are things that I wish I would have heard when I was younger, or even

understood. I also really enjoyed having to watch Netflix as homework. There was nothing that I

truly did not enjoy in Unit 1. I did not think that I would really enjoy the show as much as I did! I

also really enjoyed writing a paper from my perspective where I can use I and me, instead of a

different voice.

The people around you have such an immense impression on you that I do not think

some people realize. It is such an interesting thing to consider the people that have shaped your

life, experiences and personality. For me my family has an extreme power over my life and has

shaped me to become who I am today. Friends and relationships that I have had also have

changed me for the worse and better. THis information is what I want you to focus on in this

paper. I also want you to focus on the cohesiveness of all my paragraphs as that is something I

have struggled with in the past. Some things that I considered because of writing this paper and

things that I think other people should also consider are: Do you like the people that have

changed you? Do you not like just how much power people have over you? Writing some of this

really helped me reflect on my own life.

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I have never been absent in this class. I also believe that I earned an A or B. I worked

very hard on this paper and did a good amount of research to help me understand what I was

discussing. For Project 2, I am excited to experiment with a new way to express ideas about

rhetoric and Imposters.

Thank you,

Haley McDonald

The Power of Influence in Shaping Character

“But the truth is, our minds are easily swayed by external forces. Like it or not, we are all

products of our environment.” (Cru) Imposters is a show whose central idea is change. The

main character, Maddie, is a female con artist who marries men and then disappears, taking all

of their money. 3 out of the countless men and women that she conned all ban together to find

her and bring her to justice. Their names are Ezra, Richard and Jules. While the three ex-lovers

try to track her down, Maddie falls for a new mark. Patrick turns out to not be who anyone

thought he seemed to be and threatens to derail everyone's plans. Many characters in

Imposters change their attitude, personality and area of life drastically because of one person.

For example, Ezra goes from the ultimate family friendly character, who is a pushover, into a

con artist in a matter of months. Maddie also changes a great deal. She considers running away

from her life as a con artist because she fell in love with one of her marks, Patrick.

Influence shapes the direction of this show. I think that the Doctor has the most influence

out of anyone in the show because of the immense power he holds over all of the characters.

What he says directs most of the characters in the show and I would also say that most of them

are scared of him. A principal of Nichiren Buddhism states that “our own inner life state mirrors

itself in our environment.” (Lickerman) In simple terms, we are changed by the people around

us. I can see this in my own life, as how others act and feel greatly determines how my mood is.
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For example, one of my best friends has been down lately and whenever I am around her, I find

myself much more sad and depressed than I was before. Similar to how I changed around

certain people, Ezra changed when he was around Maddie in Imposters. He started conning

normal people instead of following the code that Jules, Richard and him came up with. He did

this because he was so desensitized to it due to him seeing conning happen so many times. I

also think that Ezra experiences the sort of high that Maddie experiences when she gets away

with a con. Ezra lost his innocence when Maddie conned him. He got much tougher and

smarter. But, he also turned into Maddie, stealing from people who didn't deserve it,

disregarding the code.

I think that change and influence from a person can be good or bad. For example, since

coming to college and becoming friends with basically all extroverts (me being an introvert), I

have become so much more outgoing. I would consider this a good change, because it is

shaping me into more of the type of person that I would want to become. My sister is still in high

school and her friends have also changed the way that she acts. She goes out to parties and

drinks a lot more and is so much more bratty and rude than the people around her. I would

consider this more of a negative change because she isn’t really old enough to be in some of

the situations that she is in. There are positive changes in Imposters also. Ezra’s changes more

negatively because he compromised his morals in order to gain more money and to feel the

thrill of it. (“Ladies and Gentlemen, the Doctor is in”) Maddie’s change I would consider positive

because she realized how bad conning people was and she considered running away in order

to experience real love.

Many characters in Imposters changed drastically through the course of the show. Their

changes were both good and bad but they all ultimately occur because of the influence of

someone around them. Through writing this, I have ultimately learned that you need to choose

the people that you surround yourself with wisely because they are parts of who you become.
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Who you are surrounded with shapes the very core of your being, so if the people around you

do not share your core values, you need to consider what that means.

Works Cited

Adelstein, Paul and Adam Brooks, directors. "Ladies and Gentlemen, the Doctor Is in".

Netflix, 7 Feb. 2018, www.netflix.com/watch/80192586?

trackId=14170289&tctx=0%2C8%2Ceaa0582f-fbe8-4991-b2f4-13a9044a957f-

53313674%2C4c48208a-56c7-45ca-934f-

3ff84bf5c122_44916591X3XX1582687770491%2C4c48208a-56c7-45ca-934f-

3ff84bf5c122_ROOT.
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Adelstein, Paul and Adam Brooks, directors. "My Balls, Dickhead". Netflix, 7 Feb. 2018,

www.netflix.com/watch/80192579?trackId=14170289&tctx=0%2C1%2C60154cad-

1f70-4cb3-ace0-6abbf47707d2-55704808%2C4c48208a-56c7-45ca-934f-

3ff84bf5c122_28303299X3XX1582687769489%2C4c48208a-56c7-45ca-934f-

3ff84bf5c122_ROOT.

Chu, Melissa. “Why Your Environment Is the Biggest Factor in Changing Your Life.”

Inc.com, Inc., 21 Aug. 2017, www.inc.com/melissa-chu/its-possible-to-design-your-

environment-to-help-yo.html.

Lickerman, Alex. “The Power of Influence.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers,

www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/happiness-in-world/201505/the-power-

influence.