Taylor Balatsias INTL 3111 Robert Arnold 22 April 2014

The world is increasingly becoming digital. Although this brings many positives, and in fact helps make ways of life more efficient, it is also a travesty of sorts. Is it possible that society depends on technology too much? There are many technophiles who would bash this notion completely. I am not discrediting the good that technology brings to the world; I would simply like to offer a juxtaposing opinion, call it a warning of sorts, on the extent to which we let it absorb our lives. I would like to examine how society receives information. More precisely, I would like to assess media. Through media, a large population of people can be reached, and given a good deal of information- fast. Truly the system is beautiful, and still transforming yet. However, if this field is so great, then why is this question important to consider? I believe that, if abused, technology can be detrimental to the population. Instead of helping, educating, and benefiting the public it could instead mislead, manipulate, and dominate them. So it is necessary to analyze another question, Is media getting out of hand? It seems as if it is a blessing on paper. However I believe that media, and its producers, have too much power over the population. To argue my point, I would like to take a look at a South Korean dystopian film, Old Boy, by director Park Chan Wook and George Orwells novel, 1984. I believe that the film parallels the narrative, and offers respectable contrast.

Both fictitious pieces have very realistic novelties and allegories I would like to bring to surface. I have planned to use George Orwells ideas as a lens to closer examine the powerful effects of media on society. Hopefully by cross referencing the two works, I can provide a clearer picture on how media can be used to control, manipulate, and gain power over individuals by damaging them both psychologically and sociologically. Orwell uses his novels to warn his readers, in a futuristic imaginative way, of a dangerous digitally trusting world. He warns us of a society blind to the power of social media. While Orwells novel might seem exaggerative and allegorical, it is easy to see the connections between the kinds of oppressors (in this case, the government) and our own world. A real life example would be an analysis on the media tactics shortly after the terrorist attacks on September 11th. This analysis will show the raw and sheer treacherous effects of the media on people. Forget the intent to misinform or propagandize, but consider the unconscious use of linguistic resources to subtly establish and reinforce the American dominance, which in this case is the manipulator. Control. Power. These narratives are those of domination, accrued from media rheostat. This is evident in 1984. Everything that is filtered through to the people, through media, reinforces the Party rhetoricmaking the party dominant. Winston says that as long as a persons perception of the truth can be externally verified (through media), than even a lie can become truth (Orwell). Such is the Partys method of control. This dangerously luring power is what I would like to call attention to, in both storylines. After all, it is said that whoever controls the media, perhaps control the people.

There is a sense of vulnerability displayed and exploited in both 1984 and Old Boy. I believe the vulnerability in both of these cases allowed way for forms of total supremacy. In Old Boy director Park Chan-wook is very poetic. The main character often refers to the world as the bigger prison. At the beginning we are presented with the quote, Be it a grain of sand or a rock, in water they sink the same, which reflects that Oh Dae-su does not know whether he did something small or big to Lee Woo-jin in order to get imprisoned. One line that is repeated several times in the film is, Laugh, and the world laughs with you; weep, and you will weep alone. A quote that is true about finding answers, You cant find the right answer if you ask the wrong questions (Oldboy). This is another theme in 1984. Obrien has the power over Winston, because he holds the answers, the answers to the questions Winston does not even know to ask. Obrien exploits this vulnerability, and he makes clear of Wintons incapability of overcoming him. This is also prevalent in Old Boy. Through out the film, Oh Dae-Su is constantly trying to figure out who captured him, and why. But he cannot seem to figure it out. He is at the mercy of Lee Woo-jin, because he has the answers Dae-Su seeks. In both cases, the oppressor is the only one capable of letting the under dog free. Also, while imprisoned for fifteen years, Dae-Su is given medical and hygiene treatment by his captor. In 1984, the Party gives Winston the same. In both cases, the symbolism is evident. Both captors hold the power of the individuals health. Their life is in their captors hands bringing them to their mercy. Never again will you be capable of ordinary human feeling. Everything will be dead inside of you. Never again will you be capable of love, or friendship, or joy of

living, or laughter, or curiosity, or courage, or integrity. You will be hollow. We shall squeeze you empty and then fill you with ourselves (Orwell 256). I would like to compare this control identity motif in 1984 to the same present in Old Boy. Lee Woo-Jin has dedicated his life to consuming O-Dae-Sus mind. His goal is clear and simple. He puts together a plan of vengeance and revenge, in order to make him see himself through Woo-Jins eyes. His careful meticulous plan is to make Dae-Su hate himself, to see his wrongdoing, and to honor Woo Jin. In grade school, Woo-Jin fell into an incestuous love with his sister. One day, a drunken troublesome Dae Su caught Jin and his sister, acclimating that love. He tortured them with ridicule; spread the story to their peers, which forced Jins sister into severe depression. She commits suicide, and Jin vows for revenge. His plan is to strip Dae-Su of his own identity, everything that he has once thought about him, washed away. Jin brainwashed Dae-Su and makes him fall in love with a woman. Then he captures again both Dae-Su and his lover (this parallels Obrien capturing both Winston and his love, Julia). In the final scenes of the film, Park reveals a seriously wicked plot twist. The lover, of whom Dae-Su would give his life for, is in fact his daughter. He has committed the crime that he once so heinously persecuted Jin for- incestuous love. So how has media played a dominant role in the efforts of destroying ones identity? In 1984 Orwell introduces various technologies, mainly the telescreen, to spy and control the public. They use propaganda, slogans, video clips, and other things to enforce their power role, and trump the individual. Although a story, this is comparable to real life as well. In one of our classes, professor Arnold showed us a

clip about how media can control minds. It was a marketing clip in which a company hired two designers to create a product (logo, name, slogan, etc ). The company used subliminal messages through media, in a controlled environment, to do a sort of brainwash experiment on the designers. They wanted to test the power of media. The scheme was very detail oriented and quite elaborate. But through pictures, words, scenery, and proper timing, they found a way to use the power of media to control their target. This is a real life example, that I believe also parallels 1984 and Oldboy. In the film, Jin puts a television in Dae-sus room. He controls the stations Dae-su watches, and uses them to mind control him for the 15 years he is imprisoned. By having complete regulation over the information someone is filtered, ultimately one can gain complete power. When Dae-su is released, Jin uses certain images and words to secretly brainwash him into going certain places and inevitably looking for his kidnapper. Media is a very powerful thing. I do not argue the wonderful strides technology has made, or the popular opinion that it has increased efficiency and bettered our lives. I just worry that perhaps it is doing it too much so, and has way too much control. If media can be used to persuade buyers to buy certain products, or if it can trick us to believe in certain things are we losing control of our own choices? If all personal choice is lost, do we lose our identity?

Works Cited George Orwell. Films Media Group, 1984. Oldboy. Dir. Chan Park. Tartan Video, 2007 Jeon, Joesph Jonghyun. "Residual Selves: Trauma and Forgetting in Park Chan-wook's Oldboy." Academia.edu. N.p., n.d.