Representation of war in media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Representation of war in media - Essay Example The media is said to assume a dichotomous coverage of the war where the conflicting sides are portrayed either as good/evil, innocent/guilty, heroic/despotic, united/fragmented and other descriptions that tends to put one side on the positive light and assassinate the character of the other. (Martin, 1993) This paper seeks to analyze the film Jarhead with regards to the way it represents war. I will be laying out the relevant concepts by providing a historical context thru the use of two other films namely Platoon and the Green Berets. I will then proceed into a contextual analysis of the Jarhead film and illustrate its significance thru the application of the audience theory. It is hoped that this paper could show how the media can affect the psyche of the audience with regards to war and conflict. According to Martin and Pedro (2006), author of the book Rethinking Global Security: Media, Popular Culture, and the War on Terror, the utilization of the media for the war effort has been one of the focus of PSYOPS which is an integral part of modern military affairs. This can come in the form of using printed leaflets, radio and television broadcast and even internet press release all of which try to persuade enemy combatants to surrender peacefully and avoid further harm. The use of the media is not directed towards enemy combatants alone, they are also directed towards the populace of the projected protagonist side. Slater (1991) relates that military officials have long recognized the benefits of using the film industry to influence public opinion due to its wide reach and popularity. In the United States, the Pentagon has a special department called film liaison office that works with Hollywood in making war movies. The relationship is as follows: Hollywood gets to use military equipment such as tanks, helicopters, aircraft carriers, troops and even live munitions for free. In return, the Pentagon is given the right to approve the script and edit it so that the U.S. military is portrayed in a positive light while the enemies are depicted as evil and abusive. The relationship has other uses as well such as propaganda for recruitment. Martin and Pedro (2006) observe that the military "know that when positive images are portrayed in movies and television shows, they see huge spikes in recruitment. The military is really pressing to get into these pictures". 2.2 The Green Beret and the Vietnam War One perfect example of how the military establishment and the film industry worked together for propaganda purposes was in the film The Green Berets which was a cinematic portrayal of the lives of U.S. soldiers during the Vietnam War. The cinematic treatment of the Vietnam War took time to develop because American society was very sensitive about the discussing the war which created deep divisions, exhausted the treasury and sacrificed many of its soldiers but ultimately resulted to their defeat in spite of numerous successful military campaigns. It does not mean, however, that there was no film produced during the war. (Studlar and Desser, 1990) The Green Berets (1968) was the only film addressing the Vietnam War produced while the war occurred. The film was directed by and starred John Wayne,

Political Instability in Egypt Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Political Instability in Egypt - Essay Example Mubarak has been oppressing the rise of rebellion for many months in order to keep the centralized power. This clearly relates to Mill’s On Liberty, as the dictator is trying to maintain harmony and status quo. He clearly uses this to for explaining the necessity of a political sovereign state (Mill). Furthermore, he insists on a sovereign leader with absolute power that would bring security and calmness to people. In addition, he himself insists on this fact, since he witnessed a civil war that tore his country. The evil that lurks in unlimited power is the focal point of Mill’s argument. Undoubtedly, Mill’s argument for absolutism is due to the fact that the state of nature is indeed war (Mill). Mill’s main agenda is to show that, rationally, men will seek peace against the state of nature of conflict behavior. Mill’s bold attempt to convince the fact that men are creatures of peace in a state of nature is, nonetheless, a difficult thing to prove since mankind is struggling in constant warfare (Mill). Thus, Mill’s explanation of conflict is complex and hard to comprehend since, even in perfect conditions, certain man will rise to occasion to challenge authority (Mill). It’s human nature to seek pride, glory and fame; without doubt, humanity will continue to be engrossed in these acts because it can never be satisfied. Clearly, the author’s task is to show that the nature of men is complex. Mill’s theory elaborates that men are instrumentally designed to seek rationality in all instances for their best self-interest (Mill). Thus, this is the reason for the general tendency of mankind to desire power after power until death strikes them. The competition does not rise from the general scarcity of resources but Mill does not imply that. He implies that when distributed equally, even if insufficient for fulfillment of community needs, resources will never be sufficient for the satisfaction of certain p eople’s quest to obtain more power (Mill). People in their state of nature tend to have mistrust and compete for natural competition of power. Thus, the people of Egypt have revolted because of lack of free elections, high unemployment, corruption that plagues the country, and restriction of free speech. Egypt was less than a month away from holding parliamentary elections after Hosni Mubarak was ousted from power earlier this year. The natural competition for men to elect a leader that can protect their interest is crucial for Egypt (Brennan). Mill states that if the leader under power cannot provide his people with sustenance, a rebellion can threaten to change the status quo (Brennan). Clearly, Mubarak failed to give his people the free democratic elections he promised earlier. For many decades, the mass majority of the populous was surprised to see Mubarak’s party known as the National Democratic Party win by huge margins (Jensen, 2010). Many began to question the true cause of these results and accusations of vote rigging, fraud and bribery have been the focal point against Mubarak’s campaign. Hence, according to Mill, a revolution is almost guaranteed when individuals have little or no impact in the politics that govern themselves (Mill). Another key element Mill discusses in his work is brilliantly illustrated in this particular scenario. It is the fact that individuals are likely to rebel if unemployment plagues the region. This scene can be brilliantly depicted