"The people will believe what the media tells them they believe" - George Orwell
Media has been a part of our daily lives for a very long time. Media offers the possibility of informing people or of brainwashing them.
It has probably been around for thousands of years since the invention of writing.
Media was a way for people to relate to an event, news, a new disease or an important person getting married – from ancient Babylon until present.
Its usefulness has been proved many times over, times in which people were kept out of the dark and up to date with what was going on around their tribe, village or city.
As time passed by, the channels of media increased from your typical clay tablet, papyrus or newspapers to movies, adverts, magazines, radio transmissions and even music.
It is to no surprise that the potential for such a tool has been recognised by many and thus they make use of the Media to send their ideas, creations, art and passions via all the channels possible.
We are all actually living extraordinary times and we are all connected in one way or another via the Media channels. You see people reading news, finding out what their brothers from across the globe are doing. Who caused an attack in the heart of a city centre and what’s the next big plan for US in the following years military wise.
If you are out of cooking ideas, adverts will help you consume new brands of breads, sweets and sodas. If people are bored, they can just tune in and catch the latest episode of The Walking Dead.
It’s a no-brainer that we are living great times and that Media helps us on our road to happiness.
Or is it quite the contrary?
As I am sure you have noticed my sense of irony, it is not entirely so.
Media with all its channels such as music, books, internet and even TV can be beneficial.
However, almost 98% of what you are being exposed to daily with or without your will is by far beneficial for you.
On Interview with Your Consciousness we will observe the behind the scene facts that relate to what is actually being said when you are reading a newspaper, watching Sex and the City or drooling at the new advert for that coupé BMW.
We will see what movies have to show and what music has to say.
As stated above, some people acknowledged the impressive strengths of the Media and a handful have decided that it can be the most powerful tool from their inventory to actually make us do what they want.
Even your high school history books are part of the Media. Kids learn like no others when they are young. So what better way than to implement messages, doctrines and false ideas into their brains since they are young? You will have the highest success rate of training a dog when it is young, not old!
The famous quote: “Your thoughts are not your own” can easily go with the fact that our exposure to everything I’ve said in the above lines results in different concepts and aspirations than what we actually want or need.
From simple words or pictures that tell us a message, we have become the receivers at the subconscious level of information and data – whether we want to or not. We are downloading this data into our brains and guides our actions accordingly without even realising it.
Talking about movies – Gattaca (1997) comes into mind. A movie with a deep psychological meaning.
People started to enhance their unborn children with altered genes in order to make sure that their off springs will have the qualities that their parents desired – such as to become pilots, doctors or musicians. Their destiny had already been decided for them.
Then there are those who are not genetically engineered and the only jobs that they can do are those of janitors or cleaners.
It is to no surprise that the main character, who obviously isn’t a genetically altered individual, struggles to become one of the elite and be part of the machine.
The lengths that he goes to in order to achieve his goal are phenomenal.
We could say that this teaches us to be ambitious and that anyone can actually do what they set up in their minds to do. This is true. However what people’s subconscious will register is the fact that we should aspire to what is fashionable and to what other people deem cool or worthy. That we should pre-program our kids to become what society considers of high value.
Interview with Your Consciousness will analyse specific movies, adverts, music and other related subjects.
I will point out beneficial parts of series and movies. What we can actually learn from our favourite movie or Friday night series.
Media has become a part of us and it is difficult to isolate ourselves from it. However we can do our best to keep at bay the negatives and at least learn how to pick up only the good from them.
By learning how identify the hidden messages it will be easier for us to avoid any attacks of brainwashing on our personality.
"Man can do what he wills but he cannot will what he wills." - Arthur Schopenhauer
Until next time,
Vlad
