Today we've discussed the ways in which marxist thinkers may interpret the media, and how they see the media to be working within society. This started with the debate of whether we are controlled by force and fear or if we are controlled by ideas. Force and fear may be seen as the government having control over us where as ideas may be things such as religion governing our lives.
A marxist approach was then put on the media industries, for example the ways in which the music and film industries operate, having a large controlling company at the top of the industry, ultimately deciding what goes on within it in a type of pyramid of control. One big dog and as you go down in levels of control the amount of people in that sector grows.
Companies who wish to keep a high level of control also eliminate opposition that could cause a tilt in power by buying them into the label, and once ownership is gained they can control what type of media is put out by these up and comers, therefore being able to kill off any oppositional thinking that may have been present within their work.
This was finished off with the blue pill red pill clip from the movie "the matrix." We saw that in this movie the director seemed to want to make the audience aware that there are two worlds, one which blinds us into thinking we have control over our lives and the real world, where we are just slaves to a powerful society, putting in our work to keep it going.
This view of society was expressed in a number of covert ways, hidden by the metaphor of ‘the matrix’ itself. Within this scene the matrix is seen to be the world in which Marxists say we believe we live in. Morpheus quotes ‘it is the world which has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth’ referring to the matrix here, showing that the society in which this movie is set is hiding something from its people. Karl Marx, the original Marxists thinker, also believed that the way in which society is built and how it works is done so in a way that maintains the hold of power to be with the rich and keeps the less wealthy feeling as though this is a normal life to lead, hence keeping them hidden from the truth as it is done in the matrix too. Neo can be described as being our conscience, the things which make us think every now and again that this is an unfair world and that capitalism is not something which was made up but rather something that really does repress the lower classes of society. This view can be supported through Morpheus saying to Neo ‘you’ve felt it your entire life...there is something wrong with the world, you don’t know what it is but it’s there.’
Good reflection on the lesson.
ReplyDeleteI'd lile to see a little more depth in your discussion/analysis of the blue pill/red pill scene from The Matrix making use of the marxist theory you have been learning about. refer to handbook for useful quotations etc.
See main blog for tasks set for Homestudy.
www this is markedly better than before and explains far more clearly the relationship between the text and the theory you are applying to it.
ReplyDeleteebi to improve this further on the micro text analysis level, you could examine in Morpheus' dialogue and compare with Marxist doctrine. On the macro level it might be worth discussing the tension between our 'heroes' being Marxist rebels and the ideology of Hollywood, the big producer making vast sums of money from its audience.