I suppose it could be an early mid-life crisis (perhaps because I work in an office where the majority of my colleagues are younger than me), I have recently became interested in re-examining the literature I read and studied in my youth – opening dusty boxes filled with textbooks and notebooks, searching for remnants of an exuberant tween who was eager to help create a better world (lololol). As I dug through stacks of study material I unearthed my Media Studies notebook and as I read through my chicken-scratch notes found that a large portion of it is dedicated the film embedded above , “Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media” (note: click the left or right arrow to see the film in its entirety).
The film, which was screened in class as filler material, became a major influence on how I view the media. “Don’t believe the hype” is a Public Enemy phrase that gets thrown around a lot and though I always have had my suspicion on the propaganda power of media, it was this film that encouraged me to actively question the institutions and agendas behind newspapers, magazines, television, radio, and now the web.
The 1992 film follows Noam Chomsky, Professor Emeritus at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and his analysis on the role of major US media outlets in shaping public opinion. Briefly touching on Chomsky’s linguistic achievements and his political dissidence, the film mainly focuses on how the government and large media enterprises manipulate the opinions of the US public. Manufacturing Consent breaks down the mechanisms that produce the propaganda, exemplified by the attention given to the atrocities commited by The Khmer Rouge (which the US were against), and comparing it to the very small attention given to the atrocities committed by Indonesia in East Timor (which was supported by the US).
Film production-wise Manufacturing Consent presents its ideas in a pretty entertaining fashion. Directors Mark Achbar and Peter Wintonick approach to the film is an animated one, with a plethora of clips from various sources coupled with an almost Sesame Street-like segments illustrating the professors’ analysis (such as the dissecting of a New York Times article in the trailer above). This playful approach to storytelling is very engaging and make the almost 3-hours film feel like a brief informative affair.
If you haven’t, do watch “Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media” and if you would to read further into the subjects read the Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky’s book that it’s based on, “Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media“.
