Wag the Dog Critical Analysis - Essay Example

Wag the Dog How public relations practitioner (Robert De Niro) is unethical Robert De Niro was unethical because he blocked the free flow of accurate and truthful information. It is evident that the president was indulged in a sex scandal, a few days to the election. Robert De Niro showed his unethical character by blocking the flow of this information to the public through diverting the attention of the masses. It was unethical since he was required to allow or facilitate the flow of accurate and truthful information. Secondly, Robert De Niro was unethical due to inability to promote healthy and fair competition. The president was facing competition from other contestants, and he had a little chance of re-election. Therefore, Robert De Niro favored him by deploying other tactics and campaigns to portray him as the best. This was seen in his campaign slogans. Thirdly, Robert De Niro had a conflict of interest, which was unethical. He developed propaganda that favored the president leading to his re-election. However, the conflict of interest emanated when he felt jealous that the media did not recognize him as the person behind the president’s re-election. This made him want to call the press to tell the truth about the president re-election leading to his death. Fourthly, Robert De Niro did not strengthen the public trust, but instead fed them with lies in favor of the president. This is because he lied to the public that the president was a clean man, despite the sex scandal that was fresh in the people’s mind. When the people realized his lies, he changed the tune and fabricated information regarding the missing people in Albania. Lastly, Robert De Niro failed to foster informed decision through open communication. He was dancing to the tune of the president because he did all that the president wanted. He was not open to receive information from other people who were also interested in finding a solution to the problem. Relationship of the movie to "Wag the dog." Wag the Dog may be interpreted to mean diverting the public attention from the truth or something important to a less significant issue. In the movie, the most important point, which was going to determine the outcome of the election, was the sex scandal that befell the president. It was in the public, and everyone knew it. However, Wag the Dog was realized when attention was diverted to the fake constructed was about Albanian terrorists. The aim was to divert the attention of the media to dwell on the false war and stop spending time on the sex scandal. However, this did not do much since the CIA detected the fake annotation and never wanted to fail the people concerned because it would harm them. Because of this, the CIA announced that the war was over. At this stage, the media was no longer focusing on the war because no information was emerging. All the attention shifted to president’s sex scandal as election also gained momentum. However, another wag the dog also appeared This involved invention of a “hero left behind the enemy line” (Dmcreif 16). Again, the media shifted their attention to the emerging scenes of those portrayed as soldiers left behind. All these left the president with freedom to influence the perception of the public that he was the best for the job and to maintain security and look after the welfare the soldiers On the other hand, “Wag the Dog” may also imply defeat or smarter than the other. In the movie, the president, and Robert De Niro seem to be smarter. This is evidenced in the way they influence the media and the propaganda machines. The public re-elected the president because they had no choice, and the media had portrayed him as the best candidate (Dmcreif 12). The media had a significant influence on the perception of the people to favor the sitting president. Plausible of the movie Although the film seems to be fiction, some of the information relayed happens in the everyday society and government. For instance, the sex scandals among the government officials are not something new, it happens every day and the same media that sometimes hides also exposes them. The politicians are always self-centered and serve their own interest. Hence, they are willing to do everything at their disposal to ensure they remain in power. Although the movie is portrayed as comic, it presents the truth in the modern society. Similarly, media is a manipulative object to the mass. People always believe whatever they see and hear from the media without considering the reality. Because of this, politicians such as the president use media to influence the public opinion in their favor. The technologies such as media create alternative realities that support others for self-enrichment. Moreover, the films from Hollywood are used in creating an illusion. The inability of the public to examine the contents as well as to question is the genesis of the politician’s strengths. They realize our weaknesses and begin to use media and films to plant their agenda seed in us. Propaganda devices used in the movie First, propaganda is defined as biased information or misleading aimed at promoting a political point of view or goals. In the movie, propaganda is rampant ranging from devices to information used. Card stacking This involves working on a given issue in favor of someone. For instance, making B 3 bomber and going to war in Albania was a way of destructing the media and the public from the president’s scandal. It was meant to shift the attention to war and forget the sex scandal. Bandwagon The information relayed such as “don’t change the horse midstream” is a propaganda meant to favor the sitting president (Dmcreif 8). It implies that the sitting president is better than anyone contesting. Hollywood Hollywood acted as propaganda device because it was used to manufacture fictional film that does not exist to influence the mass. For instance, Dustin Hoffman formulated fictional character, an American hero who served in an unimagined war. This affected the people. Media Media disseminated false statements to the public that favored the president. Similarly, the media was influenced to air other stories that did not touch on the president hence continuing the president’s political view. Lies The public was fed with lies to divert their attention from the scandals that befell the president. The lies such as the war in Albania and the bombs are to deceive the mass and vote the current president Enthusiastic statements The media relayed passionate statement that favored the president. The statements depicted him as the man and hero who deserved re-election. He was also relayed as the strongest man and better option making many to vote him. These were all propaganda to fulfill the cause initiated towards re-election. Work Cited Dmcreif. Wag the Dog. 2015. Online < http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120885/synopsis?ref_=ttpl_pl_syn> Read More