There are endless points of view out there, and everyone on the Internet can have a voice.
We talked on a Quackcast some time ago about agendas and anvilicious messaging in some movies, and other fiction.
I've become interested lately in the marketing and messaging involved in movies and entertainment as well as politics. The hype surrounding some of the biggest movies and then the managing of audience reactions and controversy around these releases is pretty fascinating. Not necessarily a positive sort of fascinating, but fascinating nonetheless.
There are similar machinations at play in the world of politics, that are just as fascinating, but with higher stakes that make them more worrisome and scary.
Commercials are trying to sell us stuff. And the propaganda arms in politics, business, and entertainment are selling us stuff, too - and sometimes selling us a point of view.
Watching some of the efforts to explain away issues that people might have with movies and politics often reveals twisted logic, and this increasingly used technique of blaming audiences (or citizens/constituents) and hanging labels like ‘sexist’, ‘racist’, and ‘foreign collaborator’ on any criticism of the status quo (or the latest Star Wars movie!)
When high profile news people and entertainers are brought on board (or critics and bloggers), it can give me a creepy feeling. Intuition is sometimes all we have to go on. And if we're being beaten over the head with a message constantly, it can drown out that little voice inside that tells us something's not right.
And questioning what you're being told does not make you a racist, or a sexist, or a foreign agent!
Different points of view are healthy, and it's a beautiful thing to have discussions, consultations and even disagreements over all kinds of issues - having a point of view is excellent!
But an agenda? A dishonest take, based on serving some powerful interest? That creeps me out!
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Here ends my little series on points of view!
Take care, and have a fine Thursday!
Banes
Points of View - Propaganda and Marketing
Banes at 12:00AM, March 22, 2018
2 likes!
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Zaptoid56 at 2:34PM, March 22, 2018
I am at the ready....mother has promised a brownie..without sprinkles..should i answer..
Banes at 2:32PM, March 22, 2018
I have composed a half of one question for you for that $10!
Zaptoid56 at 2:19PM, March 22, 2018
Banes, I expect to be interviewed on Quakcast when I make my $200,000 donation...the first $10.00 comes this Thursday. I have my phone at the ready...
Banes at 2:06PM, March 22, 2018
@ozone - I think I misread your comment at first and assumed you were agreeing with me. My smugness was at optimum levels! If I get an alert that tells me to get in the basement in a cast iron tub, I will do it! But generally, I will hold the attitude of the skeptical baby in this news post!
Banes at 2:01PM, March 22, 2018
@Zaptoid - ... nah. Yer cool. XD
Zaptoid56 at 1:34PM, March 22, 2018
I'm a transgender Nazi spy living near Chernobyl. Dare you challenge me Banes?
Banes at 1:27PM, March 22, 2018
@Tantz - Putin Puppet or Russian Bot? You decide! :D
Banes at 1:26PM, March 22, 2018
@KimLuster - thanks KL! It's funny; with all the hysterics about Russian influence, there has been not a peep about increasing security on the voting machines and the proposed paper-ballot approach was completely ignored. Because, of course, Russians did not change the voting machines. As near as I can make out, the "Russian influence" amounted to a bunch of clickbait-type ads and...well, I won't ramble on, haha. Let's just say that I've tried to keep a healthy skepticism and pretty much assume nobody in politics or media is telling the truth.
Tantz_Aerine at 11:45AM, March 22, 2018
Banes, you're a russian troll and this article proves it. Questions are the enemy.
KimLuster at 10:00AM, March 22, 2018
Interestingly, I was watching Will and Grace last night, and I finally wondered if I'd had enough of agenda pushing. If the very-conservative town I live in is fine with gays (for the most part, you're always gonna have some individuals...), then the U.S. certainly is. I don't need a comedy show I like very much talk about how awful Trump is and how he's going to turn back the clock on gay rights (even behind the veneer of comedy, if it's constant, it just gets numbing after a while (one of the reason I quit browsing Cracked website too))... Probably one of the reasons advertizing itself doesn't work on me very well! :D
KimLuster at 9:54AM, March 22, 2018
Love your articles! Yeah, this is a catch-22! In a free society, with free market and free speech, how do you really stop this type of meddling? Even if politics... Besides the hacking and changing vote numbers claims (which I don't buy), what did Russia really do besides (allegedly) use commercial software available to entire world to influence people's opinions? Is that it?! I have people next door who get on facebook everyday and do the same thing!! How do you stop that kind of thing without hamstringing the freedom that allows it to begin with? Seriously, how?
Banes at 6:42AM, March 22, 2018
@Albino Ginger - Hahahaha!
Banes at 6:41AM, March 22, 2018
@oz - Oh, no doubt! And it's the universal consent (even up here in Canadian media) of the Russian election interference that I was getting at, haha. International intrigue and shenanigans are de rigeur, of course. Is that the term? De rigeur? Or did I just make that term up? Maybe I meant 'a la carte'. The Truth is out there - but there's baloney out there, too!
Albino Ginger at 3:28AM, March 22, 2018
Banes You F#%king sexist / racist piece of POOP! How dare you question what you read and hear?! What kind of agenda are you pushing here?!!
Ozoneocean at 12:44AM, March 22, 2018
In politics it's true though, there ARE foreign agents involved. I think the "intuition" thing comes into play when something just seems so wrong that it's hard to believe it's real - like all the Russian election interference. But the unfortunate fact is that kind of interference and political craziness is pretty common in many paces in the world and North America has largely been spared from it for a long time, but when it happens to you; listen to the warning voices, it really is happening. :(