Mass communication is defined as ‘the imparting or exchanging of information on a large scale to a wide range of people.’ (Oxford Dictionary) This is seen in the film ‘V for Vendetta’ (James McTeigue, 2005) with the constant news cycle, posters plastered everywhere throughout the city and supporters of government parties such as Lewis Prothero having a large following online. The role of mass communication in V for Vendetta is to have almost complete control over the attitude, beliefs, and behaviors of society. The propaganda integrated into peoples lives spreads ideas and false information to create a sense of fear. By manipulating the thoughts and beliefs of the individuals in society, it allows the government to have better control over …show more content…
The members of the United Kingdom are subjected to posters in every street that read “Strength through unity, unity through faith” this motto is repeated consistently throughout the course of the movie. It is their justification for experimenting and killing Muslims, gays and “terrorists” from their society, they hold the opinion that diversity is a threat to their control, this idea has been translated to society with members fearing to be different, a quote from Evey being “ I remember when different became dangerous.” Whilst the extermination of these minority groups is obviously a terrible and corrupt thing, the use of mass communication has brainwashed the opinions and values of society. Faith and the belief in god have now become an extremely important aspect of life, this is because of the influence of the government. The general population now holds the belief that war and disease are not a part of their existence, because the country officially recognizes the authority of the one Christian God, however their perception of god and his message has become twisted by those in power. This distorted message of god has been spread throughout the country in many forms including radio, news and television, showing the affect of mass …show more content…
Throughout the day, there are constant stories about the government, and the parliamentary members, with the aforementioned motto “strength through unity, unity through faith” repeated continuously. The other stories not related specifically to the government, are full of lies and censored so the public can only see what the government wants them to see. An example of this being when V destroys the ‘Old Bailey’, the news says that they had demolished it themselves, and it was a planned decision. By only having one television channel, nothing that is not cleared and edited by the government can be shown to the public. An example of the government corrupting the perception of issues is the St Marys Virus. Throughout the film there is mention of this virus and the thousands of people it killed, and how the government saved them by creating a cure. The general public believes they are in debt to the High Chancellor, and as a result, he has a large following. The audience learns that it was Sulter that created the lethal virus and released it into English soil at three locations, a school, a tube station and a water treatment plant. The virus killed over 80,000 people, but this was not the true goal of the government, what they wanted was domination, to spread fear as V summarises it ‘fear
A high stress is placed on morals, beliefs and one’s religion which is fine but that starts to leak into the cracks of the democracy component associated with UK’s governing system. Another point to draw is what differentiates “other principal religions represented in Great Britain” from the almost bolded religion of Christianity. As a result, students are breed to be more uniformed. After a religious education, one will be able to give an opinionated justification of whether or not there is a God, whether or not the legalization of drugs should take place, whether abortion is moral for women (Strhan Pg.
The approach towards freedom is hard to achieve against a totalitarian government but possible to win with the people’s belief. 1984 by George Orwell and James McTeigue’s V for Vendetta portray the same idealism of the anti-heroes, Winston and V. An anti-hero is “a protagonist who lacks the attributes that make a heroic figure, as nobility of mind and spirit, a life or attitude marked by action or purpose” (“Antihero”). Winston is not courageous, peaceful, and self-centered along the path of freedom for Oceania, whereas the anti-hero, V is violent in his actions, impatient and careless in his pursuit to free London from the totalitarian government. As a matter of fact, V and Winston have the opposite behaviours; this is significant because it helps to compare the approach of the anti-heroes toward freedom. At the end of 1984 and V for Vendetta, the result of their approach is different from each other; Winston gives up on the liberation of Oceania, while V dies knowing that London is freed from Norsefire Party. In 1984 and V for Vendetta, the different behaviours of the anti-heroes, Winston and V, illustrate their approach to attaining freedom from the totalitarian government.
Through their use of allusion, symbolism and representation they portray many of societies flaws and imperfections. Such an imperfection includes the illustration of how totalitarian governments abuse the power they have acquired for their own gain, harming the people they are sworn to serve and protect. Through this abusive self-gaining government, we all are liable to become victims of consumer culture caused by the blind obedience to advertising and propaganda, being unable to form or voice an opinion of our own. But this lack of opinion can be at fault because of our own apathy, the ignorance and slothfulness that is contributed to the role we play in our society and the importance of that roles ability to motivate and inspire change. Whether you’ve read or viewed the novels or feature films I’ve discussed I have no hesitation in saying any text or film you have seen has been used in some way, shape or form to convey the criticisms of our ‘perfect’
Political communication—communication with a political purpose about human interaction—takes many different forms including novels, poetry, music, television, and film, which all have their distinct advantages and disadvantages in communicating with the public. Although some political communication intends to enact or drive social changes, some political communication seeks to maintain the status quo. The film medium, which is the subject of this paper, has a much broader mass appeal than other medias and often changes the viewer’s original beliefs and perceptions when he or she experiences over an hour straight of visual indoctrination of only one view.
In general, rebellion is considered as an act of disobeying laws and norms in society, and existence refers to something or someone that is living or present in the actual universe. Albert Camus once said, “In order to exist, man must rebel, but rebellion must respect the limits that it discovers in itself – limits where minds meet, and in meeting, begin to exist.” What rebellion has to do with existence? It is true that rebellion is an action of disobeying the norms. However, there are reasons for humans to violate such norms, and the reasons could be because they are unable to conform to these norms, or even worse they are completely excluded from society (by the norms). As result of these limitations and exclusions,
Take a second to think about the word propaganda. What comes to mind? Do events such as World War II or The Cold War? According to The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, propaganda is a noun which means “the systematic propagation of a doctrine or cause or of information reflecting the views and interests of those advocating such a doctrine or cause.” In other words, propaganda, in this particular definition, is viewed as the deliberate transmission of an idea or document that a group of people believe in. This definition suits the description of propaganda in the novel 1984 by George Orwell. The Inner Party is pushing the concept of “Big Brother,” the ultimate leader. But words can have multiple meanings and can leave room for interpretation. In an alternate definition, from The Analysis of Propaganda by W. Hummell and K. Huntress, propaganda is defined in a different manner:
Bonnie Crabb Humanities 340 Rough Draft Literary Criticism Can you imagine walking where the streets are dark and cold with no glimmer of excitement and joy as security cameras watch your every move? Alan Moore certainly could. In fact, he felt like he was living in such a place. He saw 1980s England as a fascist society where the lower class were being oppressed. In Moore’s graphic novel, V for Vendetta, he depicts that point in history through the story of future London under the Norsefire Regime.
V’s vendetta against the government is legitimised after the audience discovers that V was tortured and experimented on by the government. When V obliterates the Old Bailey no resulting human causalities are shown in order to minimise the explosion’s negative impacts. After V’s offensives on the Old Bailey and Jordan Tower, the audience is immediately shown the government propaganda response to the attack which the audience knows to be false, distracting the audience from resenting the atrociousness of V’s acts and instead turning their anger towards the government for lying. As previously mentioned, Prothero and Lilliman are made to be villains resulting in the audience having little for compassion for them when they are murdered by V. The one person who was remorseful for her actions, Daisy, is killed painlessly with an injection and has her apology accepted by V, illustrating that V only uses violence on those who do not recognise the fault of their actions resulting in his methods appearing to be fair. In order to advance their agenda by striking fear in the population giving them an excuse to increase control, the government blamed a virus, that they purposefully released and had the only cure, on terrorists. Similarly, the government performed human experiments on civilians whose only crime was not conforming, to eradicate any threats to their dominance. The film intentionally portrays the gravity of the human experiments and biological attack as greater than V’s killing of those who have done serious wrong, and his destroying of empty buildings. Moreover, the gravity of the government’s actions is increased by causing the audience to again negatively associate them with the Nazis, who too performed human experiments and,
In the novel 1984 and the film “V for Vendetta”, the protagonist for both stories are captured while performing various acts of rebellion against the totalitarian government, of which is controlling their city. In punishment, the government tortures them with harsh, inhumane methods that are similar to those used in dictatorships during the 1900s like the USSR under Stalin’s rule. However, both protagonists are tortured by different sides, and by people from completely opposite ends of the political ladder: one a government agent, the other a rebel. Although the themes disclosed in relation to the purpose and meanings of torture are similar, the overall message and final opinion that is expressed and conveyed to the recipients are complete opposites.
Propaganda “is a mode of communication aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position”(Stokoe) It is ever present throughout human history, and it isn't always a bad thing. Governments and industries alike use propaganda to push an agenda. Most people equate the word 'propaganda' with lies and leaders such as Hitler and Kim Jun Il. It is undoubtedly true that when a government decides exactly what is said to the people there is room for corruption and general doubt about the motives behind the information released. Regardless of whether the motive is 'good' or 'bad', propaganda, the controlling of the output of information is used to control those who hear or view it. Political campaigns use propaganda to win elections. They exploit current issues, and past events to paint a picture that, while it may be slightly true, completely exaggerates the issue or situations. This is done in order to persuade the voter to change their mind about the opponent, or reenforce their opinion. In cults vulnerabilities ar...
Explore the characters. Are they believable and round, or flat and one-dimensional? Does the major character ( the protagonist) change? What causes the change?
The film, V for Vendetta, directed by James McTeigue set in between 2028 and 2028 the settings were used to support the action of V wanting revenge on the government, by blowing up the Parliament. Throughout the film, V shows the audience why she would of wanted to carry out this plan and this is through the use of symbolic settings. The three settings that were prominent in convey the action were the Larkhill which showed how the people being discriminated felt against the government, London which showed how the people of London felt and how the Chancellor treated the community and finally Gordon’s house which showed rebelling against the government.
The definition of mass media is “a means of communication that reaches large numbers of people in a short time, this can consist of the use of television, newspapers, magazine, and radio”, and within the last decade the internet as well. (HarperCollins) The media can actually be a minor or major effect on individuals depending on how or what their view is on the particular subject or matter. The effects it plays on individuals and societies will depend on the exposure to the subject matter at the time, but it effects all ages from young to old.
In our democratic society, mass media is the driving force of public opinion. Media sources such as Internet, newspaper, news-broadcasts, etc, play significant roles in shaping a person’s understanding and perception about the events occurred in our daily lives. But how much influence does the mass media poses on our opinion? Guaranteed by the First Amendment in American Constitution, the media will always be there to inform us about the different events or issues they feel are important for the public. The media constantly bombards us with news, advertisements, etc, wher...
Mass media and social media are technology all around us. They are ways of a mass communication that reach a limitless amount of people. Media has changed the way the world thinks. Mass media refers to TV, magazines, newspapers, pictures and Radio. Social media refers to any kind of internet logging like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google, amongst others. Mass and social media surround us and tell us what we should be or should do. This can lead to constructive behaviors or it can lead to the destruction of lives caused by how the media relays these messages. Ultimately leaving the diversity of people falling victim to mass and social media. Not one person can make that sole decision. Consequently, changing how people think. Consequentially, changing the way the public looks at presidential candidates.