Review

The movie “Wag the Dog” was filmed in 1997 under the director Barry Levinson.

The Main characters are Stanley Motts, played by Dustin Hoffman, Conrad Brean, played by Robert De Niro and Winifred Ames, who was played by Anne Heche. “Wag the Dog” was nominated for 2 Oscars and other 12 nominations, but only won two nominations.

The movie starts with a sex-scandal, because the President from the United States is accused of fondling a young girl. This happens just some days before the elections. To cover this mess up, Brean also known as “Mister Fix it” is hired to create a story and put the President under a bright light. To do so, Brean invents a war against Albania and says that they have dangerous bombs. To make this story believable a Hollywood producer, Stanley Motts is hired. With his crazy and creative ideas they successfully create a fake video showing an Albanian girl running away with a cat in her arms. The people believe this story and so the sex-scandal is left in the dark. It was important to get the attention away from the scandal, because the story takes place only some days before the election.I am not going to reveal the end, because the idea is that you watch the movie.

“Don´t change horses in midstream” is the most repeated quote in the movie. It appears in every advertisement on television for the president. This movie is a very clever and well-planed movie to wake up everyone’s interest to keep on watching it. It is very interesting to watch once, but I would not watch it again, maybe because I am not into this genre. To understand “Wag the Dog” you have to be a little bit informed about the situation played in the movie. I would have not thought that the sex-scandal was real, because I have never heard about it before. It only left one to think about if the whole movie is true? Is there some kind of Brean who invents stories to make the President look good? This are some of the questioned that raised just after watching the movie.

All in all I recommend this movie to be watched, but not necessarily by everyone, because it depends on what movies you or your friends are into.

Characterization

Characterization

Stanley Motts is a character from the movie “Wag the dog“played by Dustin Hoffmann.

Motts is a successful movie producer who lives in a big villa in Hollywood. Because he is so famous he has many connections in the film industry. This is very helpful to create the hoax that Brean, another character from the movie, who has the ideas to make the president win the election. For example: when they create the fake video of the girl running with a cat somewhere in Albania.

His appearance already gives the impression that he is an artist, because his hair is messy and his clothes are mostly comfortable and fancy.

His behavior does not is accepted by everyone, because he is very arrogant and knows exactly what he wants. For example: when he has to decide which cat to choose for the fake video. He also let the president wait on the phone, because he thinks that he is better than the others.

When he does his work, producing movies, he is very enthusiastic and creative. He even gets obsessed with his creation and works even at night.

His behavior with other people is not good, because he does not really care what their name is, or what their opinion is.

Alien Contact (Michael Crichton)

1)      Text abstract from the Novel “Sphere” written by Michael Crichton deals about a man named Norman that has to write a report about aliens. He asks members of the US government, who have an interesting attitude towards the possibility of alien contact.

The first man that states his opinion is an Undersecretary of State. He asks how they might negotiate with aliens if they can read our minds. This attitude is very negative, because he is only thinking about money and violation of human right.

The second man, a White House staffer, says that it will be a media moment when the president talks personally to an alien. His attitude towards aliens is only focused on how it is a perfect situation for their country, because it would be something that will never be forgotten, if the president ever gets to talk to an alien.

A Major-General from the Pentagon sees the alien rather as a thread for their country than a positive occurrence. The first thing he asks is whether aliens might have powerful armaments and if the U.S´s nuclear weapons are strong enough to destroy them.

In general the attitudes of the member of the U.S government towards alien contact is rather negative, because they are afraid of how powerful aliens might be. Its only positive aspect is getting remembered as the first nation to have contact with aliens and to negotiate with them.

3)    a)What role would the media play in the event of alien contact?

Media would spread the news all over the world, that the U.S president is the first person to have contact with an alien and maybe even to negotiate with them. This way other country will look up to the U.S.A, because of this success and the advantages they will have. The U.S.A will get remembered as the first country to have alien contact.

b) Explain the importance of “media moments” for politician in democratic countries.

All politician want to be successful and the only way to achieve this is by using the media for spreading the good job they have done. For example if a president has alien contact for the first time it will always be remembered and everyone on the world will know this breaking news, thanks to the media. Media moments like these are especially important for politician in democratic countries, because they need the support of the people to get elected again or to stay elected. The only way to inform people about what good things they want to do to the country or good things they have done is by spreading it using all media sources they can.

A Czech War of the worlds

1. Summarize

The text “A Czech War of the worlds” published on Spiegel Online on the 4^th of January 2008 deals about a hoax that was shown in 2007 on a certain Czech weather channel.

Six artists from Prague created a hoax and showed in on a weather channel by hacking a camera in Bohemia. The hoax is a digital explosion in form of a big yellow mushroom that expands in the air. Many people panicked, thinking that a war had started and called desperately the channel to inform themselves. The artist could have been sent to jail for three years because of doing this hoax.

2. Explain the title of the article

The title of the article “A Czech War of the worlds” refers to the Orson´s Welles´s radio hoax “War of the worlds”.

Orson Welles´s hoax created a mass panic, because it is about Martians attacking the earth. People really thought that it was true and not part of a story. That success is similar to the mushroom cloud created by six artists from Prague. Both were believed by the people and archived their aims; to get attention and to panic. The big difference is, that Orson´s story shocked more and almost killed many people. It was also created 70 years ago, so people only had one source, the radio, to inform themselves. The Czech war of the worlds was made in 2007 so people had the possibility to check if a new nuclear war has started with other sources like the internet. The title fits to the radio hoax, because there are many similarities and both needed a lot of creativity to be made believable.

3. Speculate on possible reasons for the differences

The original War of the Worlds by Orson Welles´s was broadcast in 1938 years, while the “Czech War of the worlds” was shown in 2007. Even though the Orson Welles´s story was only broadcast through the radio, it caused more panic than the other hoax, which was broadcast on television. This was because people back in 1938 only had the radio as a source of information, not like nowadays that we have the internet and others. Seventy years ago people didn´t know as much as nowadays and easily believed in anything.

An Online Hoax

Timeline:

-          Megan Meier was teased about her weight in seventh grade. She also tried desperately the acceptance of the popular girls.

-          Megan and Lori Drew´s daughter became best friends.

-          Ms. Drew takes Megan on family vacation. She also knows that Megan takes antidepressant medications and that she had a MySpace page

-          Megan was transferred to Immaculate Conception at the beginning of eighth grade.

-          She no longer wanted to be friends with Lori Drew´s daughter.

-          Found a new group of friends, lost weight and played volleyball.

-          Ms. Drew creates a profile on MySpace with the name “josh Evans” and begins to flirt online with Megan.

-          Three months later “he” insults her and tells her that the world would be a better place without her.

-          Other people also send mean messages to Megan.

-          Megan commits suicide

-          Six weeks later the parents learnt that Josh Evans never existed and that it had been created by Lori Drew.

“Explain why Ms Drew wanted to “mess with” Megan” + Summary

Megan Meier was found dead in her closet after she commits suicide because of an online crush, Josh Evans, who said mean things to her.

The weird thing is that Josh Evans does not exist. He is a fictional character created by Lori Drew, the mother of Megan´s ex best friend.

Megan became best friends with Lori Drew´s daughter when she was in seventh grade. She was bullied because of her weight and wanted to join the popular group from school. Her parents transferred her at the beginning of the eight grade to another school and Megan told her best friends that she does not want to be friends anymore. Megan lost weight and became friends with other people.

Then she met Josh Evans, a 16 year old boy, over the internet and fell in love with him. After three months of online-flirting he told her that the world would be a better place without her. She commits suicide. Megan took antidepressant and Lori Drew, who created Josh Evans, knew that.

Lori Drew wanted to mess with Megan, because Megan did not wanted to be friends with Lori´s daughter anymore. The Drew´s family had taken Megan´s family on vacations, so I think that Lori was very disappointed and angry with Megan. She may have thought that Megan only was her daughter´s friend because they invited them on vacations. So Lori wanted to take revenge by playing with Megan´s feeling. I do not think that Lori expected that end, but it is very childish and immature of her for doing that action.

Media ethic – Parameters

Parameters		Definition	Example
Public interest		News reporter or media contributions should be of public interest and of some concern to the people who are consuming them	Amy Winehouse’s last escapade vs. the truth about the Cologne disaster
Privacy	Collides with public interest. People want to know everything about famous people. Their privacy gets violated.		The problems that Britney Spears had. The pictures that were taken of her.
Neutrality	Only objective information, not subjective. The media should not manipulate or brain-wash the people. It should only inform		Tabloid newspaper may contain the point of view of journalists.
Taste	Serious newspaper including well structured articles and catchy headlines. It should catch the attention of the people.
Truth	Reporters may invent stories so that the newspaper is sold better. False information may be added or even whole stories may be invented		Rumors

Hoaxes (HW)

1. Comment on the activities of the “Yes Men” (Do you think their activities make a difference? Could you think of a similar hoax being used on sth. in Germany?)

The aim of the activities of the “Yes Men” are in my opinion to create an utopia. It is complicated to decide whether it is a good idea or not, because for example the fake New York Times with the false news that the Iraq war is over is in my opinion to delicate to make a “joke” out of it. I think that their intention is that people at first believe that the article is true and feel happy and safe. Then they realize that it is a fake and start to think about how great it would have been if the article was real and the Iraq war would have really come to an end. This also applies to the other activities from the Yes Man.

In conclusion I think that the activities of the Yes Men make a difference, because it puts the reader in a perfect world (utopia) and dramatically they change from hopeful & happy to guilty and discontent.

I think that the news about the end of the war could also be used in Germany between others which I do not have in mind right now.

1. Find a definition of the term “hoax” and choose one hoax to present in class.

 

Definition of “hoax”:

1. An act intended to deceive or trick.

2. Something accepted or established by fraud or fabrication

Synonyms:
1. deception, fraud, fake, imposture, humbug.

A kind of hoax could be magic. Everything is fake and people sometimes believe what they see, even though it is all unreal and impossible. Some people even pay a lot to know the tricks.

Michel Cambon – World Press Freedom Day (Cartoon)

The cartoon was drawn by Michel Cambon and published by the World Press Freedom on an unknown year. The illustration was created in response of censorship of the freedom of speech and is directed at those who censored the freedom of expressionism.

The cartoon consists of four men with different nationalities behind bars and four different tags pointing at them with a message. They are sitting in a prison cell with an unhappy expression on their faces. The first man is tagged with “Disturbing the Peace”, the second with “Attack Against Head of State”, the third with “National Security Violation” and the fourth with “Bad Weather Report”.

The caption states that the shown men were put into prison because of different actions or things they said, which reinforces that the freedom of speech is very restricted.

The cartoon points out that there is no freedom of speech and if it is violated and someone says or published something without respecting the limits, he/she will end in prison. It is not known what exactly these four men did for example to disturb the peace or how the second attacked the head of state, but the fourth man was put into prison only because of giving a bad weather report.

The message of the cartoon is well-made, because it is shown directly what the artist wants to say, without metaphors or complicated symbols. Ironic was also build into the cartoon, with the last man. This ironic shocks the most, because it is ridiculous how someone can be send to prison only because of givin a bad weather report.

All in all the cartoon achieves its purpose and can be understood by almost anyone.

Iraqis Around the World Celebrate U.S. Withdrawal, Rebuilding Plan

Summary

The newspaper article “Iraqis Around the World Celebrate U.S. Withdrawal, Rebuilding Plan”, from The New York Times, which was written by F. Wunderlich, deals about Iraqi refugees having hope for their country, because of the Withdrawal of the U.S.

Five million of Iraq refugee are hoping for a better life now that the U.S. withdrawals from Iraq. They know that Iraq will not be the same as before, but some of them are planning to return to Baghdad to start a new life, look for their family and friends. But there are also those, who do not want to return, because they did not left anything behind. Most Iraq refugees are still living in the same country but far away from their family. The rest is practically spread all over the world; Syna, Jordan, Europe and only 2,000 in the U.S. They are not allowed to work, so they life from the black market and they have no human rights therefore they live in bad conditions and poverty. Because of the Withdrawal some refugees have now hope for their country and the Iraqis will be free to choose their own future.

Analysis

The given article is clearly from a National newspaper, because the headline is serious, not like in a tabloid, the picture does not want to cause attention and is used to illustrate the text. The language quality of the text is medium-high, serious and objective. All the information is based on statements of different people, whose names and ages are given, which can be used as sources.

Bloody Sunday

The 30th of January 1972 was a very tragically and important day in Ireland.

The so called “Bloody Sunday” happened on this day in the city Derry, Northern Ireland.

On this day Ivan Cooper wanted to do a peaceful protest for the citizen rights. The protest got out of control, because some teenagers began to throw stones against the British paratroopers, who were there to control this protest.

The police start shooting and killed 13 demonstrators and 14 were heavily injured.