The United States of America is one of the only country’s on earth that has the right for freedom of press enshrined in its constitution (U.S. Const. amend. I). If you take a second to stop and think about that, we are one of the only countries who have truly ‘guaranteed media freedom’, that is something very special as well as something that is paramount to maintaining a functioning democratic society. It seems as if we almost take for granted the myriad of different sources and outlets that we can pull from and learn from. In this writing I will present you with two different ideologies that weigh in on the media system in America today, one from a liberal’s point of view and one from a conservatives point of view.…
In many great texts concerning the politics, it can be observed that the context in which the piece was created greatly influences the ways in which values and themes are presented and the form in which it is produced. Major ground shaking events have the power to transform paradigms of individuals and whole societies, and in turn morph and influence the themes a text created in the same time period implores. Warner Brother's 2005 film "V for Vendetta" and George Orwell's 1945 novelette "Animal Farm" both deal with concepts present in the political climates of their times and the problems associated with them; the cost of apathy towards injustice, propaganda and its influence, and the crippling aspect of fear. The representation of the themes present in the two texts contrast and compare in many ways due to the diversity in the contexts under which each was created and the universal continuity of the themes present. Orwell's 1945 text was created at the end of the Russian social revolution that left the once optimistic Russian people in tatters and under the boot of a brutal fascist regime, while the Hollywood movie was created post 9/11 in a time where people turned to their government for protection from unknown threats, willing to sacrifice their liberty for safety. It was situated in a future dystopia as opposed to Animal Farm's historical setting and warned of what could be the outcome of choosing to blindly follow the neo-conservative politics of film's time such as Bush's and Thatcher's parties. Both texts make political statements that are influenced by the historical and personal context of their creation and contrast and compare greatly in form and values.…
V For Vendetta is a fictional movie following a fascist government in London. The main character, V finds himself fighting back for what is right using terrorist tactics, alongside his army of civilians. The government continues to overpower the people of London so V thinks the only way to stop them, is to destroy them. He says the powerful statement “People should not be afraid of their government, the government should be afraid of the people.” This sparks the plot so V stands up for the innocent people that are being silenced by this vicious government.…
*Norsefire, the political party that reigns over England after a nuclear holocaust attempts to control the population through propaganda in the media. In the movie it seems as though everyone has a television in their home and there is only one channel, which is controlled directly by Norsefire. In 1984 the ministry of truth forces lies upon the people of Oceania. The ministry describes how there are always food shortages and wars in order to evoke fear among the citizens living under Big Brother’s rule. Norsefire and Big Brother use the media to manipulate the public’s views on life. Big brother changed the past in order to create a future that would benefit themselves and it’s no different in V for Vendetta. In reality hundreds of thousands of people were killed by Norsefire but the people believed it was a virus because they also tried to change the past. It seems the media is not only used as an instrument of fear but it can be used as a form of mind control, brainwashing the unsuspecting citizens.…
George Orwell’s novel “1984” and James McTeigue’s movie “V for Vendetta” both show dystopian cultures. In “1984” no one realized how much they were being mistreated by the party except for Winston. On the other hand, in “V for Vendetta” V makes the people of Britain aware of how the government is negatively impacting their everyday lives. Both the novel and the movie demonstrates how leaders use fear to control societies, various types of revolution, and how hatred is directed.…
The film I focused on for this essay, V for Vendetta, was filmed and produced in 2006 by Warner Brothers.…
When I first saw the movie ‘V for Vendetta’ (2006 James McTeigue) I didn’t know anything about it at all. Despite the very complex and confusing story line though, it was a very enjoyable and engrossing film. This Sci-Fi Action film is set in the near future in London and is about a terrorist, V (Hugo Weaving), who with the help of his friend Evey (Natalie Portman) plans to blow up Parliament, just like his hero, Guy Fawkes. V has many similarities to Guy Fawkes, from what sets out to do and donning a Guy Fawkes mask and long, dark cape.…
Since the dawn of mass media, there has been an evident change in people’s lives. The global productivity increased due to faster news developments and decreased, for more entertainment gives a society less productivity; nonetheless, there are certain specific pieces of media that have had a massive impact in modern society. It is very important to understand that different types of media have different repercussions in society. As time goes by, said forms in media will also be prone to change because of many factors that exist in the modern world For instance, newspapers have turned people into a morbid and negative society because of the vast amount of deaths and relative “bad” news. This essay will have the focus on film for it is the newer media and most of the world has access to said media. An exemplar is Christopher Nolan’s film The Dark Knight Rises. This modern neo-noire film is the perfect epitome of how media promotes a sense of opinion in cultural values and affects people’s comportment on a micro level.…
In the last few years, America has undergone a significant cultural change. Previously, almost no criticism of the media reached the public, except for some of the complaints of business interests and conservatives. The media controlled the "means of communication" and it used that power to censor virtually all discussion of its own role in shaping events…
The overall topic of my research is the Vietnam War, but I will be exploring more in depth how the media illustrates not only the war but also the effect of the war on the homeland of the United States. During the Vietnam war there were many problems facing soldiers, citizens, and the United States as a whole country. The media has the power to bring all of these problems and truths to light in ways such as films, so in my paper I will see how the media has captured the history of the United States during the war and its’ effects into modern day films in order to inform the public of the brutal time period.…
In the second section of the video, we fixed our gaze on the the depiction of American people in relation to their core values in Hollywood motion pictures. Conceivably, the first American ideal that awakens our interest is freedom. “Kill the messenger”, whose compelling storyline surrounds the fight of a journalist for freedom of speech, is unquestionably a furtile attempt to illuminate the aforementioned basic belief. Along with “The search for freedom”, which extolled the virtures of freedom of expression, the movie powerfully reinforced the view that people have the right to think, act and express their opinions at will so long as their right does not infringe that of others.…
Assignment: As the documentary Miss Representation explains, “The media is now the message and the messenger.” Every day, we take in countless hours of media that influence how we view others and in turn how we view ourselves. It is our responsibility to consume media in an intelligent way AND fight back against negative messages put forth by the media.…
The film ‘V for Vendetta’ (2005), one sees the power of words in the statement “I am an Idea, ideas never die” (V for Vendetta, 2005), this statement elevates one to create their own thoughts and opinions to convey meaning and consciousness to abroad society, and that is demoralized, and in some cases deemed as taboo subjects. Ideas reveal the power of language, how it can be used as a weapon of destruction or peace, words never die if they changed the world, this is in relation to the death theme. Great leaders and philosophers who have died are not necessarily forgotten due to their contribution in making the world a better place for all by using language as a target for all to listen and do. What one says defines who they are and how they…
What is the meaning of terrorism and the mass media? According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary online, the meaning of terrorism is the systematic use of terror as means of coercion. Terrorism has spawned heated debate. Instead of agreeing on the definition of terrorism, social scientists, policy makers, lawyers, and security specialists often argue about the meaning of the term (White 4). We can agree what that terrorism is a problem, but we cannot agree on what terrorism is (White 4). According to Alex Schmid (1992), terrorism is not a physical entity that has dimensions to be measured, weighted and analyzed. It is a social construct; that is, terrorism is defined by different people within vacillating social and political realities (White 4). The definition of any social construct changes with the social reality can be nebulous, or it can be threatening when one group imposes its version of reality on another (White 4). One of the primary reasons terrorism is difficult to define is that the meaning changes within social and historical contexts (White 6). Changes in the meaning occur because terrorism is not a solid entity (White 6-7).…
The media is a tool in which we represent the world, it is also a powerful tool in which the world is represented by us; the media has power and authority. Adolf Hitler, the brutal chancellor of Germany in the 1930s sought a drastic social change in Germany at that time. He claimed that Jews were the cause for their misfortune and planned to wipe them away for good. Apart from the brutal forces he used to obtain this, the media also played a huge role in the process. The media was used to inform as well as manipulate. According to Adolf Hitler, his motive was to ‘purify’ the German culture. Because books are ways to inform and educate a society about an issue, he started by burning books that did not conform to his ideology; he also banned production of such books. Freedom of speech and expression in Germany at that time was only limited to people and organizations that shared his beliefs. He started a propaganda campaign few months after his rise to power in 1933, which was led by the public enlightenment and propaganda minister, joseph Goebbels. He figured that in order for propaganda to be persuasive, you have to play to people’s emotions. His propaganda was simplistic for it to be understood quickly, emotional to capture their attention, repetitive for remembrance as well as uncompromising to forcefully get people to oblige. He used slogans such as “one people, one Reich, one leader” in order to unite them; this was more than a propaganda, this was a mass mind control. He also realized that in order for a reform to take place, you have to get to the sources of things. He then turned his attention from adults to children, maybe because it can be sometimes difficult to alter an adult’s belief, but children are much more vulnerable and ready to believe anything. He realized that shaping a child’s mind while growing up could maybe lead to a permanent belief about an issue at the adult’s stage. He supported children’s books that conform to his ideology, racist books…