Representation of war in media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Representation of war in media - Essay ExampleThe media is said to assume a dichotomous coverage of the war where the conflicting sides are portrayed either as good/evil, innocent/guilty, high-flown/despotic, united/fragmented and other descriptions that tends to put one side on the positive light and kill the character of the other. (Martin, 1993)This paper seeks to analyze the pic Jarhead with regards to the way it represents war. I will be laying come to the fore the relevant concepts by providing a historical context thru the use of two other films namely Platoon and the immature Berets. I will then proceed into a contextual analysis of the Jarhead film and illustrate its consequence thru the application of the audience theory. It is hoped that this paper could show how the media can affect the psyche of the audience with regards to war and conflict. fit to Martin and Pedro (2006), author of the book Rethinking Global Security Media, Popular Culture, and the War on Terror, t he utilization of the media for the war enterprise has been one of the focus of PSYOPS which is an integral part of modern military affairs. This can come in the gain of using printed leaflets, radio and television broadcast and even internet press release all of which picture to persuade foe combatants to surrender peacefully and avoid further harm. The use of the media is not directed towards enemy combatants alone, they are also directed towards the populace of the projected protagonist side.Slater (1991) relates that military officials have yearn recognized the benefits of using the film industry to influence public opinion due to its wide image and popularity. In the United States, the Pentagon has a special department called film liaison office that works with Hollywood in making war movies. The relationship is as follows Hollywood gets to use military equipment such as tanks, helicopters, aircraft carriers, troops and even live munitions for free. In return, the Pentago n is given the right to approve the script and edit it so that the U.S. military is portrayed in a positive light date the enemies are depicted as evil and abusive. The relationship has other uses as well such as propaganda for recruitment. Martin and Pedro (2006) observe that the military have it off that when positive images are portrayed in movies and television shows, they see huge spikes in recruitment. The military is really pressing to get into these pictures.2.2 The Green Beret and the Vietnam WarOne perfect example of how the military establishment and the film industry worked together for propaganda purposes was in the film The Green Berets which was a cinematic portrayal of the lives of U.S. soldiers during the Vietnam War. The cinematic discourse of the Vietnam War took time to develop because American society was very sensitive about the discussing the war which created plentiful divisions, exhausted the treasury and sacrificed many of its soldiers but ultimately re sulted to their defeat in spite of numerous triple-crown military campaigns. It does not mean, however, that there was no film produced during the war. (Studlar and Desser, 1990) The Green Berets (1968) was the only film addressing the Vietnam War produced while the war occurred. The film was directed by and starred John Wayne,