It is obvious that nowadays, people are driven to pursue ways that will help them understand what happens around them in terms of coping with the rapid era of reform (Loveless, 2008). Thus, Hjarvard (2013) claims that “The media are, of course, also a source of information, knowledge and enlightenment, and as such propagators of reasons, but at the same time they are a well of fantasy and emotional experiences”. To my understanding, media is being used as a source of information, knowledge in a prominent way. Meanwhile, Hjarvard also argues that the media delivers delusional, unrealistic experiences. I believe that the author got the point, especially when it comes to the field of film. In order to examine whether the media not only support the idea of providing information or knowledge but also purvey enchanted experiences, one media example is singled out in this short paper, which is a movie called “The Platform”.
“The Platform” is depicted through the eyes of Goreng – a man who voluntarily enters a prison. Every day, a table full of food that lasts two minutes stops at each level, in which cellmates can eat their portion. The system looks simple, everyone at each level will have enough food. But in fact, each month, they will have to move to a new level by selecting randomly. As a result, no one is interested in dividing the portion and only cares about eating as much as they can if they stay at a higher level. As a result, the more they take, the more people in the lower level have to be starved.
As explained above, the media is considered to be a site that allows people to access the information. It seems to me that the media grasps a strong ability to build social issues that allow the public to think and talk about it. Indeed, it shows the viewers what it wants to convey. In the movie, the prison stratification has a metaphorical meaning to the “hierarchical society”. An idea about “spontaneous solidarity” is raised throughout the movie that makes us wonder if it is possible or not. The film itself contains many interesting details and provides information that viewers might not know. For instance, the detail about Don Quijote – a person who roams the journey to eliminate evil and accompany the illusory or the detail about number 333 in the Bible, in which it symbolizes Satan, for evil things. Media, therefore, is a source of information as media consumers are being enlightened throughout and after watching the movie.
Nevertheless, media is a virtual reality that provides people with a virtual experience. We live in a world where media is present everywhere with the chance of being enlightened by the information that media have brought, and being ensured that fantasy experiences of the world are also there (Jorge & Dias, 2016). Media has the power to influence a viewer’s thoughts and remind them of situations that may not be true. Imagery in the media is one kind of storytelling that does influence people’s attitudes, behavior while media audiences believe that the media is “just entertainment” (Dill & Burgess, 2012). In the movie, the idea of creating a prison with more than 300 floors is an example. Furthermore, the detail that the main character chooses to enter the prison in hopes to get a college degree is also an unreal situation that we cannot find it in real life. It is only a delusion that the director wants to convey to media consumers. The film gives viewers a virtual experience but incorporates real lessons in human life. If we were all not greedy and satisfied with what we had, then there would have no class division, good and bad people in the world.
It can be seen that the “place” that appears in the media example is The Hole – a prison. But more than that, the movie emphasizes the modern society – the “place” that we are living, in which most people who have a higher position want their position nor their power cannot be changed while the people who do not have high position have to suffer difficulties and deadlock. Additionally, it was no better occasion to release the film when the Coronavirus was terribly furious with the social division between the rich and the poor or racial segregation among Asians and the Western people. We can see this most clearly in the scene where a black man named Baharat being disgraced and humiliated by those who live in the higher stairs. Certainly, the relationship between place, race, and media is an interrelated one.
In general, it can be said that the audiences are more reliant on media for an illuminating realization or discovery of what is happening around them. Simultaneously, the media represents a virtual reality, especially media in the form of movies. To put it differently, the media is able to show people what they need in terms of knowledge and what they want in terms of entertainment.