On the night of October 30, 1938, “War of the Worlds”, directed and narrated by Orson Welles shook up the United States. Over one million people listened to his broadcast on the radio of an adaptation of The War of the Worlds, a novel written by H.G. Wells. Through a series of news bulletins, Welles was able to tell a story of an alien invasion occurring in New Jersey. The broadcast frightened many of the listeners, believing that the broadcast was a real life situation. Although the broadcast of “War of the Worlds” was not intended to scare Americans, its effects were like none seen before. People went crazy, fearful that their lives were in danger. While many cannot pinpoint the exact reason for why “War of the Worlds” had such a great aftermath, reasons may include that it disrupted the already established anxieties that Americans held and that with the power of the radio, Americans had become accustomed to believing everything that was broadcasted to them. Today, …show more content…
Broadcasted on October 30,1938 on the radio, the broadcast caused much panic because of its believability. Unlike ever before, the effects of the radio broadcast were displayed as people feared for their lives as they believed that a real alien invasion was happening through the news-bulletin formatted layout of the broadcast. The effects of “War of the Worlds” led Americans to realize the impact that the radio had on their life, how what they listened to controlled their lives without them even knowing it. Although the radio isn’t as popular today, media holds a powerful part in the lives of all Americans. With the growth of social media, the media is a bigger influence than ever before. While the effects of “War of the Worlds” are most likely to not happen today, the radio episode that was created innocently had lasting effects that are an important part of United States
Chapter twenty three showed how much the bomb truly affected the minds of Americans, we began to have almost irrational fear of a constant bomb threat, truly showing how deeply the bomb was felt in all aspects of
The great critic and supporter of Great Britain President Franklin Roosevelt, at one of his “fireside chats” speaks about the problems of discord and disillusionment from WWI. The aim from the groups that tried to bring discord and disillusionment was to create confusion, indecisiveness and eventually a state of panic regarding America entering WWII. Roosevelt states, “new forces are being unleashed, deliberately planned propaganda to divide and
often, people had a glimpse into the very negative nightly from their homes. Many families with fathers.” When the war was publically telecasted, individuals got the genuine perspective of the truth. After seeing something as traumatizing as that it scared many Americans to not trust the government. In the event that the government had been coming clean, it wouldn't have been such a manipulating occasion since we knew.
The footage also highlights how the government used propaganda to instill fear in the common American household and justify the military actions the government took. The film presents a stark reminder of how the government used the threat of nuclear war to manipulate the public and justify their actions during the Cold War.
Because of this confusion, “War of the Worlds” has been deemed a notable occurrence in the mass media culture. Radio was a meaningful form of mass communication for many listeners. Often times, listeners formed a relationship with the voices heard on the radio. Although this relationship had very little personal connection, it was still relied upon heavily. Listeners trusted the voice on the radio to inform them.
Fighting till the end was a much more glorified action rather than obeying the commands from the enemy. This mindset remained throughout the Pacific War, resulting in millions of deaths, especially with the Japanese. In addition to the violent war strategies, the use of propaganda began to flourish during the war. Chapter 2, “Know Your Enemy”, allows the reader to further understand what the films, booklets, and other forms of publicity were composed of.
The radio affected America by putting everyone on the same page culturally, and affected how music and news were received by American families in the 1920’s. The radio broadcasted to music and news to an over 10 million homes by 1929. In a 1929 report prepared for RCA by Owen Young, then Chairman of General Electric, he wrote that the radio had, “helped to create a vast new audience of a magnitude which was never dreamed of… This audience, invisible but attentive, differs not only in size but in kind from any audience the world has ever known. It is in reality a linking-up of millions of homes.”
Joseph Rotblat, 1995 Nobel Peace Prize recipient, stated, “I have to bring to your notice a terrifying reality: with the development of nuclear weapons Man has acquired, for the first time in history, the technical means to destroy the whole of civilization in a single act” (“Joseph”). Nearly fifty years before Rotblat’s warning, the world witnessed devastation when the United States dropped the first atomic bombs on Japan during World War II. Over 200,000 people perished. Just five years after these tragic days in history, Ray Bradbury, one of the most inspiring artists of the twentieth century, conveys a view similar to Rotblat in his short story, “August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains” (“Ray”).Throughout this story, Bradbury dramatizes the American Dream as an American Nightmare resulting from
“Everything we see hides another thing, we always want to see what is hidden by what we see.” Rene Magritte. When you read this quote you can think of the deep symbolism in Lord of the flies. In the book there are many things that have different meanings, such as the fire means hope and how the lord of the flies is a sign for evil. They each have deeper meanings that can be related to WWII (but also) as well to modern America.
One hundred years ago nobody heard about the news or current events from Facebook or the newest tweet. Until fairly recently the most up to date news had to be heard through the grapevine or read in a newspaper. Since the creation of the internet and the mass media that comes with it, information can now be spread all the way across the world in the time it takes to hit the enter button on a computer or phone and upload it to the internet. Some people think that this is a bad thing because so many things that are uploaded can be either false information or simply information that is misleading and could teach individuals the wrong thing. However, if mass media is used in the right way it can be beneficial to the accessibility of valuable information,
Specifically how the horrifying images brought American citizens to protest in the form of sit-ins and marches. These actions effectively pressuring the government to end the war. Therefore by shielding the public from images such as the photo first described the opportunity to possibly end the war sooner was taken away. The statement is also made that the true job of the media is not to narrate, to write a story, but to simply tell the facts free of bias. That by the media conforming to the “video-game” narrative of the war they went against their own purpose
Not all of America responded kindly to FSA’s photos and documentaries, or to the New Deal for that matter. Many claimed photographers and filmmakers along with Eastern bureaucrats sensationalized and “exaggerated the damage of the Dust Bowl, had vilified an entire region in order to score political points for the Roosevelt administration” (Dunaway, 2005, pp. 54-55). Though many alleged FSA photos were politically driven, Stryker held steadfast to his ideals and denied they served as government propaganda (Gordon, 2006; Brennen & Hardt, 1999; Stange, 1989). Some have argued the photos themselves were not propaganda, but became propaganda because of how they pushed a specific ideology on the public.
H.G. Wells' novel “War of the Worlds” is effective in creating fear, but the radio broadcast had more effect in creating fear of the unknown. Listening to the peoples screams such as, “keep back!” all together at once gave fear more of an essence. When you read aloud to yourself, you see it as one person saying it, all together sounds more fearful because of the number of people. The panic in their voices also makes the fear have more effect: “Just a minute, something is happening!”
The war of the worlds is a radio show written by Orson Wells told on halloween eve. The war of the worlds radio show written by Orson Wells told on halloween eve is a radio show that caused lots of chaos with alot of people. On the radio show of the war of the worlds lots of people where lost and confused on what was happening.