Conflicts That Arise from Particular Ways of Seeing the...

TRIAL ESSAY Conflicts that arise from particular ways of seeing the world are made evident through the shaping of texts. In Barry Levinson’s film â€Å"Wag the Dog† and Michael Moore’s documentary â€Å"Fahrenheit 9/11†, it is clear that the perspectives in which the audience views the world create particular conflicts. In both texts, the conflicting perspectives arise from the way the naà ¯ve public views the world and the way that the government and media view the world through their particular agendas. In â€Å"Wag the Dog†, the plot relies on the alleged sexual impropriety of the president and the way in which particular political powers and the media intervene. In the film it is clear that the audience is seeing two perspectives, that of the†¦show more content†¦The audience is extremely aware of this through the use of the â€Å"Albanian girl† scene where through filming and editing, the American people are manipulated into believing a lie. Levinson uses dramatic irony here to emphasise this point to the viewers, who know what the public in the film do not. Brean’s assertion of â€Å"we are giving them what they want† is indicative of a public who â€Å"remember the slogans† but â€Å"don’t remember the wars†. As Brean satirises the perspective of the â€Å"outsider’s† the view in which the American people see the world is seen, especially through the use of the â€Å"Albanian girl† where the audience literally sees what the audience in the film sees and believes. As Brean uses repetition in referring to the Gulf War of ’91, the audience witnesses the verisimilitude that the public so easily succumbs to. Though, his character is portrayed in a different light at the end of the film through the death of Stanley Motts. In this scene his character shifts to that of a menacing, powerful figure. Even though the audience is aware of his significance and power throughout the entire film, the fact that he is the one that orders for Motts to be killed further extrapolates on the idea that the public is naà ¯ve to image, as even the audience watching the film believes that the character of Brean would not commit such an act. As a close-up is utilised at a high angle, high-key lighting