Natthawat Pujeeb 544 12174 24 Based on the media theory “power of the audience” provide three ways of reading the film World Invasion. Stuart Hall has argues that every media message is made up of code or sign which can be controlled and modified by all those media producer (Director Jonathan Liebesman in this case) to provide and display ‘preferred meaning for those who are in power’ to audiences. However, Hall continues that all audience are not all naïve and believe everything they being told to, but each audience will consume the media and understand each matter differently depend on their own context. Hall classifies media consumers to three main categories. Firstly, Dominant-hegemonic, those who accepts, believes and values the ‘preferred meaning’ the media shows without question the motive or agenda behind, which will be used in this essay to represent most main-stream-audience with white eyes who understand ‘World Invasion’ purely as a glorification story of U.S. marines who sacrifice their life to save the world, and fight for survival of humanity. Secondly, Negotiated audience, who accept the basic message but disagree on certain or specific point, which will refer to the ways of those who understand essences of ‘World Invasion’ the director tries to perceive but also realize that the movie tries to demonstrate things happened in Iraq war . Lastly, Oppositional audience, who consume the media with critical mind with full understanding of the ‘preferred meaning’ but reject it and comprehend the meaning on another way, which will be referred as those audiences who read this film in anti-imperialism way which could be said that the US. (in the real world, not in the movie) is nowadays. One importance thing to be considered is the quote “It’s not war, its survival’ that being used in the poster and advertisement of the movie . A quote that clearly identify how Jonathan Liebesman chosen to mainly narrate the story, which is to specify that events of alien’s invasion that happened in the movie is not a normal war as a normal conflict, but to be something fatal, something that could wipe out our peaceful daily life and necessary has to be deal with (in short, the same feeling The US provide with the war against terrorism). This will lead us to the first ways of understanding the movie, which according to Hall, would be Dominant-hegemonic. We can start along with SSgt. Michael Nantz’s story, a weary veteran, regretful as he lost his squad in Iraq (a background deliberately selected to show links between two wars, one with US. against aliens in the movies and one with US against terrorism in the real world.) With the search and rescue operation his platoon took consecutively show us the glorious and values the marines have. How effectively-organized line of command, strictly discipline soldier and how all this become an institution we can rely on, while not forget to remind us that marines in particular are still humane and still have an emotionally feeling for each others. Their sacrifices, bravery, attachment for each other and their commitment to complete the mission and save the world is the main values The second way, a way that negotiated audience would do, is to look at World Invasion as it is the ‘United-states-based movie’. The movie never actually mentioned any other place rather than the USA or any other factor than American’s. In the beginning of the movie, there was news which mentioned that alien’s spacecraft was landing all over the coastline city, but that’s all, the movie never refer to how other countries, such as Mexico, Chile, France or Japan, dealt with these aliens. The United Nations, which supposed to be the main actor to handle such world-crisis, is also ignored and the focus of the whole story goes down to the brotherhood and bravery of US marines. This US-based perception is importance especially when we consider that the USA holds the world’s largest military establishment. We could imply from the movie that the other countries, which didn’t have as much effective and heretical military force as the USA would be completely destroyed and occupied by the aliens. This has led us to the conclusion which the movie trying to suggest, that America is the centric of things, both in the movie, and in the real world. The movie tries to assert USA as a sole-protector of the world, as US’s media is the one who reports about the aliens, the US’s scholar is the one who develop a knowledge of what those aliens come for is our water, and as sergeant Nantz is the one who found out how to kill the aliens infantry and how to strategically destroy their command and control system, this is to say that, after the marines takes back Los Angeles, they will start sending out troops to other parts of the world and with the knowledge and power the US acquire through devotion and sacrifice of their bravest men, the us will be the protector of the world. Thirdly, we can take a point of view that ‘World Invasion’ is struggle to present its story on ‘conventional way’ and neglect to face the modern-complex and unknown factor which could take away US’s character of ‘World leader’. The Director diligently narrates things in convention-warfare, the concept of colonization for resources, the fight of normal infantry, the brotherhood of men, the bravery and, the effectiveness of an organized-troop, etc. This is because the movie tries to frame the story to be limited in the conventional way that the USA got used to. How comes the aliens who possess the technology to travel across space only have automatic rifle as their weapon, or a drone that could be stopped just by easily destroy the mother ship? . The movie totally overlooks these factors and continues to describe things in the old, comfortable and boring way. They not even mentioned nuclear as a part of their strategy (as to imply that US can deal with this and they will not use such wicked weapon?), they suggest that civilian has no use in term of military combat (as Joe Rincon just picked up a gun, killed one alien and then got shot back immediately.) as they are not well-trained and not as skilled as US. Marine, they also imply that the female-soldier is not as effective as male soldier as every move the female character have done in the movie was insignificant compare to male character. This could be says that the movie try to corroborate that the US’s way which being used nowadays is the best and could settle with any crisis, even if it’s from the hostile extraterrestrial life. To summarize, we can review ‘World Invasion’ in three different ways according to ‘Power of the audience’ theory. First, we can take this movie as a representation of bravery and devotion of American men, a soldier who will fight any danger it comes to this world and humanity through the value or heroic, friendship and brotherhood. Secondly, we can draw an aspect of this movie as a ‘US-centric’ as if this country is the only foundation of any value humanity would honors. Lastly, this movie is the struggles to suggest that the old-styles-way is the best and most effective way and we should live our life depend on this kind of conservative things; there is no need to alter our way to deal with things and absolutely no need to revolute anything as we can handle everything in the old-effective -way.
Posted on: Wed, 28 Aug 2013 06:56:54 +0000
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