Manufacturing Consent is an interesting perspective on the relationship between propaganda and its audience. As Chomsky describes, about 20% of Americans are relatively educated and responsible for the decision-making roles in society, while the remaining 80% follow orders unquestioningly. This 80% fall victim to mass media. Chomsky's Propaganda Model states that politicians and the wealthy "elite" use mass media to direct the flow of information to the public, censoring and omitting unfavorable items in order to further their own gain. Chomsky notes how the American public thirsts for simple media-driven information, many choosing to remain blissfully ignorant. To illustrate his thesis, Chomsky utilizes a variety of media throughout the film to focus the viewer’s attention. One recurring theme is a recording of him giving a speech shown on large screens overlooking major venues, such as a mall and a football stadium. This effectively presents Chomsky as a domineering “Big Brother” figure and captivates the attention of everyone around the screen.
In essence, Manufacturing Consent strongly reminds me of Michael Moore's many films that use propaganda in a similar way to convey their messages. Many of the interviews are cropped and cut to convey only a tiny piece of information – such as the one with John Silber on “The Ten O’ Clock News” – much in the same way media does per Chomsky’s criticisms. The film strongly presents a single point of view without much interjection. I feel the film may be viewed in two ways: an ironic portrayal of media information control, or a genuine message by Chomsky that falls victim to it's own concept of manufactured consent - that is, we must believe what we are told by this film. Chomsky has a powerful message in Manufacturing Consent, but it loses some of its power when presented as a heavily-edited film.
I really like your reference to Michael Moore and his selective editing;it is very relevant to "Manufacturing Consent". Not only is the film's one-sided view clearly visible, but no opposing views or opinions are presented. Great connection!
ReplyDeleteI really like your use of statistics in the beginning, it really brings to light the actual influence of the media. Also the connection to Manufacturing Consent is very one sided and obvious in the video. Very well done
ReplyDelete@ Natalie: Thank you. I drew the connection after viewing the discussion between Chomsky and John Silber on "The Ten O' Clock News" featured in the movie. It seemed somewhat edited to me, so after a few minutes with Google I was able to find a word-for-word transcript of the actual event. Sure enough, what you see in "Manufacturing Consent" is chopped and cropped to make it look like Chomsky is abruptly cut off and not allowed to speak as the interview ends, which is not the case. The interviewer actually ran the show overtime to allow the two to continue talking and had to cut both of them off, not just Chomsky.
ReplyDeleteHere is the transcript if you are at all interested: http://www.chomsky.info/debates/1986----.htm
In addition to my last comment, I should also add that Chomsky was later proven to be correct in his statements and Silber was wrong. Nevertheless, I still feel that the editing of the interview was biased and misleading. People should arrive at their own conclusions rather than being forced down a path.
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