SECTION A: QUESTION 1: PROPAGANDA
Introduction
Propaganda is not a new principle in mass communication in fact propaganda is a tool that has been used for many years, dating back to as far as 1718. Even though propaganda has been around for all this time, it has not stayed the same, rather it has evolved into something it was not meant for. Propaganda was not meant to influence society in a negative way however as time has gone by it had transformed into a tool used in many aspects of life rather that just what it was created for. This essay will discuss exactly what propaganda is and what it was used for, also how propaganda was applied in the making of Walt Disney’s Education for Death(1943).
2 . EXACTLY WHAT IS PROPAGANDA
As previously stated, propaganda has evolved over time, when propaganda was first created it was used to a completely different reason that it is now, meaning that when analysing different forms of propaganda, the time period of its creation must be taken into consideration. However to understand propaganda in general it should be stated that propaganda is a an effective tool used to have some sort of power and control over the people viewing or listening to it. It is something that people absorb without even knowing it just like a hidden message.
2.a Propaganda in the past
Propaganda was founded in 1622, At the time Pope Gregory the fifth come up with the idea of the Congregatio de propaganda Fide, this was the part of the church was were meant to go out and spread Catholicism. This meant that people of the church would go far and wide to spread the message of religion. This was only the beginning of propaganda. In the early years of propaganda it was not used with underlying intentions but rather to spread something that may help improve society however as the years went by religion began to be used as a form of power and control, meaning propaganda began to become a form of power and control, it was used to by kings who used fear to backup their propaganda. It can be clearly seen that when analysing propaganda in its early days it was used to spread something to believe in but then developed into something used to play on the fear of many.
2.b Propaganda in the present
Much like propaganda in the past, propaganda in the present day can also play on the culture of fear, people in the recent years have become afraid of the unknown and this is just one of the many techniques of propaganda applied in modern society. The main source of propaganda in modern society is the media, this meaning that propaganda is now used in social media, advertisements, television and most importantly politics. Propaganda is regularly seen in advertisements, whenever a company is advertising a product, they use persuasive language that makes one believe that one needs something that was never needed. Propaganda in the media is used to control what you see and when you see it, it is used to hypnotise society into believing certain things about certain subjects however the place where propaganda is used most is is politics.
3. FACTORS RELATING TO PROPAGANDA
There are many factors that relate and influence the content and context of propaganda, it all depends on where the piece appears. Factors that influence propaganda could relate to things such as media and advertising and the culture of fear but most importantly, politics.
3.a Propaganda in the media…In other words everything in the media
Today's media is heavily influential on the people who view it, social media is everything in today's modern society, everyone who is anyone has some sort of social media, which is used to make one feel one way or another about certain topics, even celebrities promote propaganda on social media, something as simple as a celebrity advertising for a product can be seen as propaganda, for example earlier this year well known celebrity Kim Kardashian advertised for a candy of some sort that helped suppress your appetite in order to lose weight(see appendix 1), that alone heavily influenced teenage girls everywhere, giving her some Hitler like power, in other words, propaganda is everywhere in the media whether it be direct like the case stated previously or whether it be something rather subliminal.
3.b The fear of change itself
The second factor that heavily influences propaganda is the culture of fear. People have always been afraid of change, this is not something new. Propaganda makers take advantage of this fear and create propaganda around it. For example during world war two, hitler and his men used survival of the fittest as one of his gimmick within propaganda, people were told that the Aryan race was the fittest and that this would help the country flourish
3.c.1 The Power
A huge factor in propaganda is power. This is said to the be main purpose of propaganda, not only is power something that everyone wants but propaganda has proved to bring it. Many factors of propaganda are used with power to convey a message, for example in advertising when companies advertise a product they make it seem as if you are powerless without it, propaganda is designed to seemingly give power to the audience without the audience realising that their power is being taken away.
3.c.2 Politics is propaganda
Even though modern day society has adopted propaganda to suit things such as advertising and it is most prominently used in politics. Just like in world war two, which happened almost seventy three years ago, propaganda is still used in politics in a modern society. It is used to play on what people fear, no one wants the country to land in the wrong hands so political parties will go the extra mile to play with society's fear of chaos. Propaganda in politics has turned into political parties replicating techniques used in hitler's time for the exact some purpose, to persuade people into voting for a certain political party because they will be able to “keep the county safe” and make it better, this being said a good example of political propaganda can be found in Walt Disney’s Education for Death(1943).
4. EDUCATION OR DEATH?
As previously stated propaganda is a powerful and influential tool that can be used to convince people to feel a certain way about certain thing and this is especially prominent in politics. When analysing the clip Walt Disney’s Education for Death(1943) it is clear to see that many of the factors and theories of propaganda are applied in this short film. It is well known that hitler had a fast rise to power and used propaganda to have a hold and have some sort of power over the people of germany. Propaganda from that time shows hitler as germany's saviour, and Walt Disney’s Education for Death(1943) is a piece of history that shows how the rest of the world began to see hitler and what he had done to germany's people. It is show that the people of germany were brainwashed by hitler's propaganda, germany though that hitler came to sweep them off their feet and save them from something big(See Appendix 2). The clip begins by showing two people bringing their newborn to be registered, he was given a name from the list of accepted names, but this is only the beginning of his restrictions. Hitler being the king of propaganda has started to brainwash children into believing certain things,he used the concept of the survival of the fittest to justify what he was doing(see Appendix 3). According to the clip it clearly shows when little Hans felt sorry for the rabbit that the rabbit was weak, he has used this as a metaphor to justify the mass genocide, saying that the people who qualified as the aryan race were seen as the fittest. This concept made it seem as if germany was gaining power when really hitler was taking it away.
As poor Hans grows up propaganda bings to limit what he sees and hears till the day he dies,this created norms in germany to the point where it was normal to train little nazis. He and many others were grown to be soldiers to fight for germany, propaganda taught him that he must fight for germany and blindly trust what propaganda shows him. The theory of power and fear within propaganda is applied in this clip, the children fear to be the weak and strive to be the strong so they do not get left behind in the survival of the fittest, or at least this is what propaganda has taught them. This created norms in germany to the point where it was normal to train little nazis.
5. CONCLUSION
In conclusion, it is clear to see that propaganda can be defined as taking power through mass communication to relieve fears of society and spread concepts that becomes the norm as seen in Walt Disney’s Education for Death(1943).