CMST301 CMST Approaches and Perspectives

Introduction

The rise of Hollywood as the American movie industry made it possible to deliver movies on various subjects and expressions. There have been movies on relationships, myths, superheroes and scientific theories. During the Cold War, there were movies which were released to set an agenda. All these movies were a way of communication for the filmmakers and they sent a message to the audience. There were movies which promoted hate as well as movies which promoted love. The freedom of expression of the makers are on display whenever they release a movie. People too get emotional whenever they watch these movies and shed tears whenever there is a sad scene or get angry when they see a foreign country attacking their country. This is what films do to people by communicating with them (Chung & Eoh, 2019).

Discussion

There are three communication theories which is connected to the subject which is cinema being a way of communication. These three theories are dramatism, cultivation theory and agenda-setting theory. Dramatism was proposed by Kenneth Burke. According to him, human life is a drama. The theory says that human words and actions are not mere expressions but they carry messages. It is same with movies. In the films, filmmakers not only direct or produce a film but convey a message to the viewers. The movie does well if the audience can reciprocate to the message the filmmakers convey through the movie.

Almost every human being goes through a moral conflict of their own where they commit something wrong or are going to. Therefore, they always try to become morally correct every time. Presidential candidates try to come out with campaign slogans which are catchy and can capture the public imagination. It is a part of dramatism because it is appealing to the deepest emotions of men and women. Movies are made so that they can connect to the audience emotionally. That is why the viewers react strongly to films. There have been instances where movies were boycotted by the public because they were offended by them.

According to Kenneth Burke, everything is in the language used in the message which may make the audience think that everything is either right or wrong with the world. If something is wrong someone must try to make things right by giving up something. People are shown to be sacrificing their wealth and their families for the greater good of mankind in movies. This is what the audience too expects from the real world. After watching an action movie, people think that they too can fight like the hero if the time arrives. After watching a romantic film, people think that they will be getting true love. They believe whatever the moviemakers want them to believe. It is the opinion of the filmmaker which gets manifested in the big screen and later in the minds of the viewers.

The second theory is cultivation theory which is proposed by George Gerbner. He says that since mass communication medium like the television shows so much violence that people who spend most of the time of the day watching TV think that the world is a scary and mean place to live in. It is because of the perception which gets created because of too much of watching TV. This is the same with people who watch too much violent and action movies. These people suspect that there are individuals around them who are spies and can attack them. They even take preventive measures like buying guns in order to protect themselves.

The people become so doubtful of their surroundings that they never think that trustworthy people exist around them. They think that a good and just world is a myth and that everyone out there is getting ready to harm someone. It is a negative effect of communication which only takes place if a person consumes more than enough negative contents. People who like watching movies on espionage and terrorism develop negative opinions about Islam and the Muslim people. This is how cultivation theory explains the process in which negative thoughts get cultivated within the minds of the people. Therefore, people should not watch too much action and spy movies.

George Gerbner thought that television was the dominant force which shaped the modern society. He thought that the audience was getting affected by the drama that was getting broadcasted daily. Gerbner regarded television as the society’s institutional storyteller. This storyteller tells whatever is going on in the society, the right and the important. Movies is the bigger manifestation of the storyteller and let the audience know about various incidents that are taking place in the world. It means that there are various types of shows which the audience can choose from without holding on to only one type of genre. Consuming only negatively opinionated movies will make the viewers get doubtful about every other person

The theory is the agenda-setting theory proposed by Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw. The theory says that the media can affect the perception of the people regarding the reality. McCombs and Shaw had spent years in collecting evidences supporting this theory. The media affect the public in three stages. In the first stage, the media tell the public about the issues which they shall think about. In the second stage, they tell the public which are the important aspects of the issues. The third stage is about the interconnection of the issues which the media tell the public to think about.

People watch the news to get a knowledge of the events that are taking place around the world which they cannot experience in their daily lives. While going through a newspaper, people can come across news which shape the public perception. People consider that information to be important which the media tell them to consider important. Like the news media, movies too play a huge role in shaping the perception of the people. They can affect the audience emotionally and make them think about issues about which they have no idea. There are people who think that aliens are real after they watch too many alien movies.

Media can shape election campaigns and compel the public to like one candidate while dislike the other. That is why election candidates most of the time, like the media to be on their side. However, there are candidates like Donald Trump who do the opposite and go forward to malign the media. Same can be done with the movie industry where the movie critics criticise the work of a specific director to malign him or her so much that the individual lose his or her reputation in the industry. It is also a part of the agenda which a section of the industry set to target their rivals. It happens because of the high level of competition that takes place in the movie industry. It communicates a mixed information to the public (Griffin et al.).

Conclusion

Hence, it can be seen that movies can be a mode of communication and can follow the three theories of dramatism, cultivation and agenda-setting. These three theories say how the media can affect the minds of the people and shape their opinion and agenda. These media include television and news. Movies too function according to these theories as they also can shape the perception of the people if they watch too much movies of the same genre. People may get doubtful of their societies if they watch too much of negative films. Thus, people should always consume movies of various genres so that they can maintain a balance between different perspectives in their minds.

Reference

Chung, J., & Eoh, J. (2019). Naming strategies as a tool for communication: application to movie titles. International Journal of Advertising, 38(8), 1139-1152 https://doi.org/10.1080/02650487.2019.1593719

Griffin, E. et al. A First Look at Communication Therapy. 10th ed., McGraw-Hill Education, 2019.

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