Wag the Dog with Robert De Niro - Movie Review Example

Wag the Dog In "Wag The Dog" How Is The Public Relations Practitioner Conrad Brean (Robert De Niro) Unethical? In the movie, Robert De Niro has been presented as one of the most wickedness images of a public relations practitioner ever put on film. His actions in the film are dishonest, manipulative, amoral, sleazy and outright criminal. He is a ruthless spin doctor who works for the president of U.S. in help of his reelection. With respect to the Public Relations Society of America code of ethics, Niro is unethical by all counts. According to PRSA, PR professionals should protect and evolve free flow of accurate and truthful information to the public; therefore fostering informed decision-making via open communication. However, the value orientation that Niro exemplified as a public relations practitioner was that of absolutism. He did not put into consideration the effect of the actions he did for himself nor the public. He thought that the mission or any decision he had to make was only of ensuring that the president was re-elected by distracting the public from the sex scandal that the president was facing. The instances in the film that depicts his actions as being unethical include; when the president is accused or suspected of having sex with a young girl. Niro attempts to cover up those rumors and also the president’s actions (Barry, 1997). Instead, he should have used the tools available to help in the investigation of the president’s immoral behavior. In this case, Niro abuses the honesty values of the PRSA. Second instant is he is also not serving the country’s interest, and he lies by creating a false distraction for the media in order for them to divert from the real problem. When the CIA arrests Niro and White house staffer, and tells them that they know the war has ended, Niro uses his persuasive skill to convince the CIA agent that the war is legitimate. Thus, being an instant of his continued lies. Another instant is when he invents a hero of the war that was in the rear and needs to be saved making the country believe it. The “hero” is, however, a convict from special prison, which means the he is no hero. When the so-called hero is killed when terrorizing the wife of a gas station owner, he shoots him but Niro presents Schumann as a soldier who has died in a tragic plane crash. This scenario portrayed is unethical because it lies to the public. The last unethical instant is when Motss threatens to take credit for the hoax by telling the public the whole truth that Niro orders his murder (Barry, 1997). 2. How is that logic behind the phrase “Wag the Dog” relevant to the situation presented in the movie? Being an idiom or a metaphor, the phrase, Wag the Dog, means to deliberately diverting attention from the public of something that would otherwise be of greater significance. By doing something else that is of lesser importance. Therefore, by doing so, the lesser important event is slung into the limelight, drowning right attention to what was in the first place the more significance issue. By creating a new event, Niro was able to make the original event, which is the sex scandal of the president seems to be of less importance. In the film, there are stages of diverting attention of the media and public from the original event. Throughout the film, different events have been introduced by Niro in order to divert the attention of the country from the president sex scandal. Therefore, the phrase, Wag the Dog being used in the film is depicting how Niro has used different events so as to divert the original event that in the attention of the media and the public. In the film, the Dog can be seen as the public while the tails is the PR professionals behind the scenes and the government. The government is technically in control of the ideals and the people’s opinion by lying about several situations. 3. How much are we really the dupes of complex media assaults and public relations campaigns as portrayed to exaggeration in Wag the Dog? Wag the Dog, if anything is an intelligent cover up oriented film that is presented with satire that borders on the reality. It depicts to an extent the nature of a true spin and how a well-masterminded public relation media assault can do for an individual or group if given enough manpower and power. If anything, the film underscores the unbelievable weakness of the mass media while it exposes its propensity to whore itself out whenever there is a story that smacks of heroism, patriotism and sensationalism (Steven, Ramsay & Lewis 572). Therefore, answering the question of how is it real, I argue that it is very real as it the presentation of media assault by those that are powerful. Many a time’s the media have been used by powerful individuals and group to manipulate the information that is given to the public. In addition, media have been seen to whore itself to stories that have the themes of patriotism, heroism, and sensationalism as well as those that have the powerful impact to the public. Any story that is new to the public makes the media to whore onto it; thus abandoning the previous story in the air. Today the public is the dues of media assault and the public relations campaigns whereby we are not given the whole truth regarding a certain matter. We find that the governments sometimes cover up some things from its citizens through the media. Media are given certain information or deprived of the whole truth and, thus, disseminating to the people. For an instant, in 1990, the media in U.S. reported that Iraq was posing a major chemical and nuclear weapons threat (Steven, Ramsay & Lewis 572). However, before the start of the Gulf crisis, the American intelligent officials have estimated that Iran were incapable of producing any atomic bomb, not at least for five years. Regardless of this, the government told the media to report that Iraq was capable of building an atomic bomb. The government used to media to propagate that Iraq was capable of developing nuclear weapons (Steven, Ramsay & Lewis 572). We care to know the truth all the time and not using the media to propagate untrue information regarding certain matters. It is morally good for the public relation professions to give the public information that is accurate, truthful, and in a timely manner. 4. Name and describe five propaganda devices used in the movie. The film, Wag the Dog, begins with an early presentation of a dark socio-political sarcasm, which would unfold criticizing the venturesome mass media and erratic public opinion. In addition, it satirizes the society naivety and how the public’s unquestioning absorption of propaganda only boosts the media into exploiting them on a higher level. Glittering Generality is a propaganda device that has been used in the film by the director, Barry Levinson. This form of propaganda device uses positive phrases that the public is attached to so as to lend a positive image to events and things. In the film, glittering the generality has been used by Niro as he tries to divert the media and the public from the president’s sex scandal. Niro manufactures’ a war with Albania in order to distract the media’s and public’s attention; therefore, encouraging sympathy and patriotic feeling (Barry, 1997). In addition, he introduces a war hero that he knows that the public will love. It looks democratic among the eyes of the public; thus becoming a propaganda device. Transfer is a propaganda device used in the film is when Niro invents the war so that the president can heroically end the war thus becoming a supporter of ending the Albania war. It means that by use of transfer Niro used the cachet and authority of one conception and applied it to another. The media have also been used as a propaganda device whereby the media focuses on the new event that has been developed by White House. The media are used to propagate the events that have been introduced by Niro so that the public cannot concentrate on the president’s scandal. There is the use of testimonial means in order to convince the masses believe that the war is real. A good example is whereby Dustin Hoffman fakes footage of a girl and her kitten fleeing rape from the Albanian terrorists (Barry 1997). This testimonial means act as a propaganda device depicting that the war is still on. Use of satire also helps in propagating information to the public where it is shown in the film when Hoffman, who is a Hollywood producer, is called to manipulate the media. Hoffman seduces the country with the use of a patriotic song as well as the story of Old Shoe, who is a psychopathic rapist. Albanian terrorists (Barry 1997).This testimonial means act as a propaganda device depicting that the war is still on. Use of satire also helps in propagating information to the public where it is shown in the film when Hoffman, who is a Hollywood producer, is called to manipulate the media. Hoffman seduces the country with the use of a patriotic song as well as the story of Old Shoe, who is a psychopathic rapist. Works Cited Kull Steven, Clay Ramsay & Evan Lewis. “Misperceptions, the Media and the Iraq War:” The Academy of Political Science, 2004, pp 569-598 Levinson, Barry. Wag the Dog [Motion Picture]. United States: New Line Cinema, 1997. Film Read More