Wag the Dog The movie Wag the Dog was produced in 1997 and is about how politic influences the media and so influences people. The slogan of the movie “Wag the Dog” is a pan, as normally the dog, which is the bigger and smarter part wags the dog. Said the other way around it is the small and unimportant part which is normally leaded by the media, now waging the big part the mass without that one realizing it. In the movie a Hollywood film producer is hired to build up a fake war in Albania to distract from a sex scandal of the recent president, who once again plans to candidate, in elections time. The idea behind is to tell that some albanian terrorists tried to smuggle an atomic bomb into the United States, through the Canadian border and as nobody really knows what is going on in a small country somewhere in-between Europe and Asia, which such a rich war history, people start to believe what they see.
Britain had recently removed its troop from the area around the canal, so Nasser decided to nationalise the canal and impose a toll which he could use to fund the dam. Many countries would be influenced by how Britain reacted to this and relied upon Anthony Eden and the conservative party to make the decision. Anthony Eden became prime minister as a member of the conservative party after serving as foreign secretary during World War II. He decided firm action was needed against Nasser’s nationalisation of the Canal and decided to act independently against him, this decision was bound to annoy the USA who were currently involved in the Cold War with Russia, Eisenhower was furious at Britain and at the start of November America pressure fuelled a run on the pound, so that 15% of Britain’s gold and dollar reserves quickly disappeared. As Eden made this decision, many blamed him directly for the outcome rather than the conservative party.
Bowling for Columbine Michael Moore’s award winning documentary of 2002, Bowling for Columbine, sets out to determine why America has such a high rate of domestic gun violence. Cunningly exploiting interview techniques when speaking with Marilyn Manson, Moore attacks the news media, suggesting a prevailing culture of fear which exists among the American public. Similarly, in another interview with Matt Stone, the director highlights the interviewee’s sense of trust and power, this time confronting the fatal flaws which are evident among the American government and education systems. The director conducts interviews in order to aid his portrayal of different groups and individuals. When Moore conducts interviews with people whom he intends to foreground as trustworthy and intelligent, the atmosphere is very relaxed and laid back.
Shortly after, Wilson cut off diplomatic relations with Germany. On March 1, US newspapers carried the shocking news of a secret offer made by Germany to Mexico. Intercepted by British intelligence, a telegram to Mexico from the German foreign minister, Arthur Zimmermann, proposed that Mexico ally itself with Germany in return for Germany’s pledge to help Mexico recover lost territories: Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. The Zimmermann telegraph aroused nationalist anger of the American people and convinced Wilson that Germany wanted war with the US. Wilson also applied the principle of moral diplomacy; Wilson wanted the war to be fought for a worthy cause, Democracy.
During the early 30s America’s foreign policy began to change. President Franklin D. Roosevelt knew that war was unavoidable so even though America was neutral, he began to make preparation for a war. Franklin D. Roosevelt began to build up the military and to recruit people for the long expected war. During the next few years, changes were made to the Foreign Policy. One of the changes is that America began the Lend Lease Act which rented military weapons to Britain and later the Soviet Union and China.
They also bring up the issue of the deceit and lies the network tells, seeing as their motto is that they are “Fair and balanced” and they are anything but. Outfoxed shows this using video footage of an anonymous caller to show how he was blackmailed, and the use of repetition of the lines “Fair and balanced” whenever they reported on only one side of the story. This furthers the idea that Fox are deceitful. The film Outfoxed shows these issues in a way which makes the audience feel hurt and deceived by the Fox news network. While this is being said, it also causes to audience to question the reliability of the film as they to are doing the same thing that they are reprimanding Fox about.
We expected before the big scandal of him being an intelligent, honorable, athletic man who looks like a decent family man. However, we were completely wrong. Our expectations of a public figure can be right or wrong, but when it comes to tabloids and the media, our expectations of the celebrity can change instantly. People, who constantly expect too much from a public figure, want their expectations to be made. If not, we start being judgmental and that’s where the problems arise.
However, the media is ushering in a cultural revolution, which is threatening the social and cultural integrity of the nation. The vulgarity displayed in the advertisements, the serials and the music videos should be checked because they reach the audience directly in homes. Their role should be to spread love instead of cultivating
I think the only positive here is that, nowadays, people seem to be much more cynical about what they read in the press or hear on the television. In particular, when it comes to the tabloid press, people know that they have to take what they read with a grain of salt. In other words, they read knowing they may be being lied to. Perhaps it is even greater concern that we have become so accepting of this form of censorship. The only thing that can be done to alter this situation is for the government to regulate the industry so that there is no longer a monopoly on media ownership.
Seeing violence on the screen and then doing violent acts themselves have happened too many times in the world to be dismissed as a coincidence. This shows that there is a definite link between media violence over the film media and violent behavior by people. Therefore, the media is able to influence our mindset and control us. However, it would be too extreme to paint the media industry with a tainted paint brush. The new media platform such as Facebook and twitter promotes exchange of information and also a more convenient platform for people to express their thoughts and views about something.