SOCY 2800 MW3

    The importance of journalism has always been the fact that they serve as the fourth estate in our democracy. The power of journalism and reporters is that they have no allegiance to a political party or to individuals. They are motivated only by their desire to reveal the truth and to deliver that truth to the public. In not other instance has the power of the press been in full display as depicted in the 1976 thriller All the President's Men. The movie shows the investigative process that led reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein to follow the failed burglary attempt at the Democratic Party Headquarters at the Watergate complex.    The story starts when The Washington Post  assigns a Bob Woodward, a new reporter, to cover this failed burglary. At first the story is viewed as a small story and is relegated to just a small part of the paper, but as Woodward begins to learn more details of the story and he finds the connections that these would be burglar...

     Nightcrawler tells the story of of a stringer (freelance journalists) who tries to earn living by recording and selling footage to the nightly news. The freelance, Lou,  gradually escalates the graphic nature and content of the footage that he shows. There are several instances in the movie that accurately show how Lou uses the increasingly violent and graphic accidents he captures for his own financial gain. The reason why Lou captures these violent and often bloody accidents and crimes is because that is what draws viewers to the news. At one point the producer of the evening news that Lou sells the footage to tells him, "If it bleed it leads,". This relationship proves to be beneficial for both parties and Lou eventually begins to give more graphic content in exchange for more pay.     One of the first acts that Lou does that shows how far he is willing to go is that he changes the position of the victim of a car accident in order to achieve a much...

      The premise of The Truman Show is simple, it follows the life of Truman Burbank a man who unbeknownst to him, has been the subject of a reality show. From birth his entire life has been documented and the island the he calls home, is nothing more than an elaborate set inside a studio in Hollywood. Everything in his life is scripted and controlled, from his interactions with other people, to his friends and families, all played by actors, nothing in his life is actually real and everyone is on the story except for him.       This unique premise gives the viewers of this show what consumers crave the most when it comes to purchasing products or using services, authenticity. Authenticity is one of the primary driving focuses that determines whether we make a purchase or use a service. It is the reason why paintings and antiques come with certificates of authenticity. We as individuals crave the original and the stories that come with it. We don't want ...

Throughout the history of mankind, particularly the last hundred years or so, society has used various different methods to try to illustrate the effect that our surroundings have on us. These methods analyze the way that the inventions that we have made have changed us not only as individuals, but also as a society and the way we interact with one another. A popular way that these analysis happen in is through movies and documentaries. Through this form of media, these creators have a way in transmitting their ideas and the data that they have found. By using these popular forms of visual media, these creators give their ideas the opportunity to spread and to reach a potentially ever expanding group of people. It also allows their ideas to be consumed by large portions of society, even if it is a subconscious level. The purpose of this blog is to analyze 4 particular examples in which the movies, miniseries and documentaries have shown the effectiveness, the macabre allure, the fasc...