Propaganda Essay Example For Students

Propaganda Essay The effects of film on WWII propaganda Without the advent of the medium of film to wage a war of propagandaboth the Axis and the Allies of World War II would have found it difficult togather as much support for their causes as they did. Guns, tanks, and bombswere the principal weapons of World War II, but there were other, moresubtle, forms of warfare as well. Words, posters, and films waged a constantbattle for the hearts and minds of the masses of the world just as surely asmilitary weapons engaged the enemy. Persuading the public became awartime industry, almost as important as the manufacturing of bullets andplanes. Both sides launched an aggressive propaganda campaign to galvanizepublic support, and some of these nations foremost intellectuals, artists, andfilmmakers became warriors on that front. Propaganda in the broadest sense is the technique of influencing humanaction by the manipulation of representations. These representations maytake the spoken, written, pictorial, or musical form. Since the cinema uses allfour of these types of representations, a filmmaker would seem to wield a lotof power as a propagandist. If he so chooses to use his power to its fullestpotential. The essential distinction lies in the intentions of the propagandist topersuade an audience to adopt the attitude or action he or she espouses. Thisis ever so prevalent as Hitler gained support from his nation to exterminatethe Jewish people from Germany and Europe alike. He adopted such supportby using his Nazi propaganda films as a weapon of mass distraction andmanipulation of the people of Germany. If he had not idealized the Germansoldier as a hero, and bestowed nationalism in his people, and blamed theeconomic problems of German on the Jewish race then he never would havebeen able to accomplish what h e had in such a short amount of time. Themost famous Nazi propaganda film is Der ewige Jude (The Eternal Jew). Der Ewige Jude was engineered by Hitlers Minister of Propaganda. It was created to legitimize the exclusion, and the ultimately the destruction,of an entire people. It depicts the Jews of Poland as corrupt, filthy, lazy,ugly, and perverse: they are an alien people which have taken over the worldthrough their control of banking and commerce, yet which still live likeanimals. The narrator tries to depict the Jews behavior as rat like, whileshowing footage of rats squirming from sewers and leaping at the camera. Using the montage editing technique so as the juxtaposition of the shotswould imply to the viewer to connect the rats with the Jewish people. A verysimple and effective technique that is still used today. The films mostshocking scene is the slaughter of a cow, shown in bloody detail, by agrinning Rabbi- and it is followed by, of all things, three innocent(presumably German) lambs nuzzling each other. Which is yet anotherexample of the editing techniques that Pudoukin discussed. Hitler also provides the emotional climax of the film, with footage ofhis speech to the Reichstag from 1939. When preceded by sixty minutesdescribing the Jewish problem, and followed by thunderous applause, Hitlersprophetic warning takes on even greater significance: If the internationalfinance-Jewry inside and outside Europe should succeed in plunging thenations into a world war yet again, then the outcome will not be the victory ofJewry, but rather the annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe!(AdolphHitler). The importance of this groundbreaking propaganda is oftenunderestimated. Someone might characterize the film as a X-ray of thedecision making process that led to the Holocaust. It can also be argued thatthe film is seen as the official promulgation of Hitlers decision, and that it together with the feature film Jud Sub- deliberately was used to prepare bothperpetrators and bystanders for the extermination of the Jews. The producer Joseph Goebbels knew all to well how to create a filmthat would not only grasp the publics attention but also a film that wouldtransform them into a flock of sheep, upon which he could lead them intowhat ever belief he wanted. The masses of German people would standbehind Hitler no matter what happened. Why wouldnt they? Germanpropaganda films depicted Adolph Hitler as a kind, family man. Everyonehas seen the pictures of Hitler walking around with little Aryan children. Across the lawn of a house, or through a field, while the German shepherdwalks around and protects the child. Such a very noble and chivalricideology. When actually the fact was he was starving, slaughtering, and without mercy murdering 6 million Jewish men, women, and children. None ofthe films that the Ministry of Propaganda ever made depicted any of that. Why? If they had, no one would have joined a cause for something like that,and they knew that if they were to commence with the plains of the Genocid ethey would have to have the people and its army behind them 100%. Through their propaganda they did, and what a achievement just that is. Tochange the beliefs of a nation. Looking For Alibrandi Analysis EssayConclusionIf one compares the directness and intensity of the effect that thevarious means of propaganda have on the great masses, film is withoutquestion the most powerful. The written and spoken word depend entirely onthe content or on the emotional appeal of the speaker, but film uses pictures,pictures that for eighty years have been accompanied by sound. We knowthat the impact of a message is greater if it is less abstract, more visual. Thatmakes it clear why film, with its series of continually moving images, musthave a particular persuasive force. Film is a very effective tool in waging awar. With out it, it would be hard to get the people to stand behind you andsupport your cause. Without the people it is hard to win a war. Thus I feelthat with out films contribution to the propaganda effort the WWII wouldhave been very, very different. BibliographyDer exige Jude: Quellenkritische Analyse eines antisemititschenPropagandaf ilms, Institute Fur Wissenschaftlichen Film, Gottingen,1995,p.134Ellul, Jacques, Propaganda: The Formation of Mens Attitudes. New York:Alfred A. Knoph, 1965. Hippler, Fritz, Der Film als Waffe, Unser Wille und Weg, 7(1937),pp.21-23. Propaganda, Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2000.Words/ Pages : 2,454 / 24