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Schule > Englisch > Ausarbeitungen, Interpretationen und Zusammenfassungen > Advertisement and media > Discussion: Films are great tools for manipulation, brainwashing and propaganda.

'Films are great tools for manipulation, brainwashing and propaganda.'

A propaganda film is a movie which strategically aims at politically manipulating its audience. This can be achieved through form and content, either openly or hidden. But where do brainwashing, manipulation and propaganda start? And if films have that power, what are the signs to watch out for and how can audiences protect themselves?

To begin with, manipulation through mass media isn't a recent phenomenon, but has been 'successfully' used for over a century. Germany was for example one of the first nations to recognize the power of the film industry and how it could be used to promote their national causes. During World War I, Germany expanded its film industry and produced pro-german films in order to glorify the war and to emphasize the importance of German patriarchy during those times.
Furthermore, the fact that movies produced in Hollywood in 1918/19 were mainly all anti-German, proves that during the same period of time, different sides used films to get their political cause across. Why? Because it was an effective method.

These days, movies and mass media in general are still used in the same way as they were during the wars of the 20th century. Brainwash however, also known as mind or thought control, is a technique which many people paradoxically wouldn't consider as one they encounter on a daily basis.
But if one considers the fact that, for instance, the perception of how a woman should look like in order to fit into a certain standard, has changed correspondingly to the image shown on-screen in the last few decades, brainwash still seems to be a very contemporary phenomenon.
Even though films and other media influence their audience in a very much more subtle way today than compared to how they did in former days, they nonetheless do so very effectively by messing with the viewers subconscious.
Since most people nowadays don't even notice how and when they are being manipulated, it is very difficult to know the difference between what you're told is right and what really is.

To conclude, one can say that while a lot of information used in movies and in the media in general may be based upon facts, people should stop taking everything they're told at face value. One should also emphasize that critical thinking is very important nowadays, and that questioning every piece of information you're given may be tiring at times, but will turn out to be very useful in the long run.

Sources:
Wikipedia.com
Wired.com

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