Ray Bradbury’s piece evaluates the effect that technology has on people and society. “Bradbury's indictment of what he regarded as the mind-numbing qualities of television may thus be extended more generally to the hypnotic effect of fast-paced visual expression and the carpet bombing of the marketplace with advertising and propaganda.” (Smolla 907). The people are dull drones to society and are bombarded by information that they cannot process. They have no motive or ability to question the ban on literature, the status quo of happiness, or intellectual freedom (Sisario 201). Intelligence is ruined by the fast pace of society.
David Lerner seeks to warn us of the ever increasing loss of control in our lives caused by external forces such as governments and corporations. He does so in his poem ‘Mein Kampf’, through the use of metaphor, allusion, simile, and hyperbole. It can also be said that Lerner wants us, the reader, to move away from the Gary Snyder aspects of poetry and move to a more realistic and rational manner of thinking. The main aim of advertising is to make us forgo our common sense and rationality, and believe whatever companies are telling us. Most of us are aware of this about advertising and yet we still get suckered in to their effects.
Simply put, the culture industry is a factory that mass-produces inadequate cultural goods. Through film, television, music, and magazines, the masses are brainwashed by their consumption. The products created by the culture industry might seem to differentiate people, however they force people to behave in accordance with their pre-determined and indexed level. The result of this is a general public that is easier to shape and manage. I believe this can be strongly tied into the Marxist ideas of commodity fetishism and false consciousness as the culture industry creates repressive and alienating effects through products and commodities.
Thus, Shelley warns that the destructiveness of Man’s intrinsic desires for knowledge stems from the change in values. Scott’s film Blade Runner on the other hand, extrapolates the same negative stance towards Man’s hubris in a different context, one shaped by materialistic ethos. This drastic shift in time, where commercialism now dominates the world, is conveyed through the numerous low angle shots of advertisement billboards and blimps to illustrate the extinction of the values present in Shelley’s time. As a result, Man’s inexorable desire has shifted from knowledge to corporate greed and caused the world to become a Romantic dystopia. Tyrell’s
“Amusing Ourselves to Death” Foreword, Chapter 1 and 2 Summarized In Neil Postman's "Amusing Ourselves to Death", he suggests that our society has become dependent on gathering our information from media and we are becoming powerless. He goes on to show that television is the primary means of information and is converting it into entertainment. Postman begins with a foreword that’s summarized as the comparison of views written about in “1984” by George Orwell and in “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley. Both authors write about two different imaginary Utopian societies. Orwell fears a dictatorial state prohibits information (i.e.
Both the text 1984 and the film V for Vendetta are satires that criticize humanity, society, and individual thought. Orwell and Brothers both make an effort to criticize each of their government’s practice of manipulation. For example, “Ignorance is Strength” sheds light on the oxymoronic messages the government expresses that manipulate their people. It shows that the government wants people to be ignorant and not to second think their actions or what is being fed to their minds, particularly. Thereby, it makes the government superior and in control of what people know about itself, its affairs, and even what they know about themselves.
The theme of Consumerism is again brought to the fore, as it shows how losing individuality, and giving into to mass-conformity and consumerism is the only way to fit into society when he. The futile cycle of human lives in a materialistic world is portrayed in this poem, underlining all of the shallowness and facades in society, showing us how lonely and emotionless a person’s life can really be due to consumerism. The main poetic techniques employed within the poem, involves the use of imagery to display the shallowness of life through the descriptions of Human life as a game show; family as an advertised product; Stars like kids at the circus; the cemetery as an underground city. The Epigraph at the start of the poem, is also effective in communicating the central point to which the whole poem revolves. In addition, the use of language through metaphors, personifications and similes all contribute to the theme of consumerism.
In William Lutzs’ essay “With These Words, I Can Sell You Anything” , he explains how advertisers use weasel words in advertisements. These words are misleading and often times leave it up to the consumers to fill in the blanks. This type of technique often lead the consumer to believe the product will do exactly what that want it to do. Many contemporary cosmetic ads use some of the techniques that Lutz addressed in his essay. Some of those techniques include: the use of unfinished comparisons, unfinished claims, scientific words, and the use of words that make consumers forget about the product and focus on something bigger, better, and more attractive.
On an essay by Aldous Huxley, Words and Behavior, Huxley argues that human being use words for their advantage in order to conceal reality, while inflating language. Looking into the language inflation from a social perspective, it is very evident that language inflation has affected the aspect of human era. Examples now-a-days are clearly seen in the assortment of advertisements which abuse of the inflation, exaggeration, of language to promote their products. Furthermore, language inflation is seen in government and politics, especially in the speeches given by politicians. At times the words have become so sophisticated that people don’t even know what they mean, and nonetheless the authenticity behind the words used.
He acknowledged that trying to rationalize, identify a scapegoat, create invisible boogeymen, all lead us to what he “ psychological cataracts ” which has that blinded us from the truth. He was also critical of the superficial waving of patriotism—how appropriate, since 9-11,when the US flag is seen everywhere, and used to promote consumerism and a blind following to a foreign policy that has reduced us to buying duct tape and plastic to