There has always been a correlation between media and politics. Media, a medium of communication and expression with our external environment, often intertwines with philosophy, anthropology, politics and even sociological phenomenons. They tell stories of human behaviour and can often be used as a tool that can positively raise awareness of complex issues or be used to spread misinformation. It can also be intertwined with current affairs as inspiration for fictional worlds or told factually in non-fiction representations.
Media is also an essential player in the functioning of a stable and well-functioning democracy. It ideally serves several essential roles, with its primary purpose to inform the public, providing them with the education needed in order to make thoughtful decisions regarding leadership and policy. It acts like part of the system of checks and balances for any potential governmental error. It helps to set the agenda for public discussions of issues as well as provides the people with a forum of political expression, where anybody with access to the internet, and (a country with little censorship policies), is able to voice their thoughts and opinions, be it for better or for worse.
As our global climate morphs with the increased usage of social media, new applications rising and falling, like Tiktok, the emergence of AI, and creative AI opportunities,
“The diversity of content disseminated by new media has created opportunities such as the ability for more voices to be heard.”
How the Media can be Affected by our Environment
The media may often be severely influenced by the current trends of the climate’s landscape.
This can surreptitiously be seen in how the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) spurred Australian movie producers to favour feel-good films, shelving violent movies instead. Repeated throughout history, people have always favoured uplifting films following a global crisis. This can be seen from the dominance of slapstick comedy with Charlie Chaplin, and Laurel and Hardy, who rose to fame in the decade following the Spanish influenza outbreak of 1918, as well as the success of Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire musicals following the devastating impact of World War II. This goes on to prove that cinema-goers have a strong desire for films that uplift them following the tragedy of global crises, according to Australian film producer David Lightwood:
“For over 100 years, the same thing [has] happened after every disaster … entertainment and the arts … predominantly lean towards making people feel good,
“We are going to want heroes again … [and] we’re going to want the modern version of Love Actually.”
Lightwood mentioned that people desire to be optimistic and believe in something again after a global crisis, almost like being given hope for some new beginnings, or a hero-figure to idolise and draw inspiration from.
Even the recent ‘Barbie’ movie, hailed as a fun, escapist movie, was the first post-pandemic movie for millions of filmgoers and attracted 22% of U.S. moviegoers, who bypassed other post-pandemic releases, even ‘Oppenheimer’, which was another major film slated to be released on the same day. #Barbieheimer, a cultural phenomenon and marketing strategy of counterprogramming that contrasted two incredibly tonally different film releases, still saw Barbie perform much better than Oppenheimer. It was said to have raked in a total gross revenue of $1.34 Billion dollars, an incredible feat, and the biggest debut ever for a film directed by a woman. In contrast, despite also doing significantly well after the pandemic, Oppenheimer earned over $912 million worldwide but did not surpass Barbie’s popularity.
Margot Robbie takes the lead as our favourite childhood doll in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie
The flashy hot pink film of the doll numerous little girls spent playing as a child brings out our neural connections to the past. As life became increasingly stressful and uncertain during the pandemic, we enjoyed the feeling of nostalgia and comfort in what is often familiar and known, as well as taking our minds off the harsh realities of a pandemic and a recession. This playful escapism ‘helps to take us away from any discomfort in our present/fear about the future and take us to a place where we feel safe’. In this case, it’s in our childhood homes playing with the Barbie doll. A movie like Barbie, especially with no jump scares or gory scenes to shock us, makes it a perfect feel-good comfort movie that can offer us a sense of safety away from the harsh realities of the world. This only shows how our current political climate and environment can help shape the media genre being produced.
The Media’s Correlation with Politics
Films can also often offer insightful takes on political phenomena.
Marvel movie Captain America, for example, very correctly illustrated the role Marvel comics played in propaganda for the war effort during WWII.
The Marvel comic books had constantly portrayed the United States as the victorious actor in the war, both visually and politically, whilst the Axis powers were often depicted as the antithesis and the villain of the United States. The comics were also the perfect propaganda campaign to convince more people to join the war effort and to encourage Americans to purchase war bonds to fund it. .
Given that the prominent people who were against the war effort were often mothers and youth, this made these comics the perfect medium to infiltrate the family unit and shape one’s perception of the war. The Captain America comics were initially only read by children, and this pro-war propaganda helped them shape their initial beliefs regarding war. The Sentinels of Liberty advertising tagline also invited kids to “Join Captain America in his war against spies and enemies in our midst who threaten our very independence” This allowed children to be mobile forms of propaganda themselves as they wore badges to signify their involvement in the Sentinels of Liberty.
Captain America Sentinels of Liberty Enamelled Copper Badge
March 1941 Issue of the Captain America comics features Captain America punching Adolf Hitler square in the face.
As the political climate morphed and changed over time, the message of the American ideal that the Captain America comics perpetuated did so as well. From enlistment propaganda, American patriotism and anti-Nazi propaganda in WWII, it has evolved into ideas of security and the discourse between the fundamental notions of due process of law, fairness, and the presumption of innocence in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. This mirrors the timeline in which the political climate has evolved, as it fundamentally mirrors the happenings of The Patriot Act straight after 9/11, which lowered the threshold for law enforcement to obtain intelligence and information against suspected spies, terrorists, and other enemies of the United States. The Patriot Act evoked criticism that it violated the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution by allowing the government to access the private information of US citizens. The Captain America franchise mirrors this criticism by having the Winter Soldier movie debate on the balance needed between freedom, safety and deterrence by talking about the security state, how appealing it is, and how often boundaries can be crossed way too quickly.
Screencap to Captain America, The Winter Soldier
The Captain America comics have also mirrored in-real-life happenings and touched on the Watergate scandal, a major political scandal in the United States that involved the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 and led to Nixon’s resignation. This scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration’s attempts to cover up the involvement of the United States in the June 17, 1972 break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington D.C. at the Watergate Office Building.
Frame from Marvel’s 1974 Secret Empire Storyline where Captain America unmasks the leader of the conspiracy, presumed to be Richard Nixon.
A particular issue portrays Captain America unmasking the leader of the Secret Empire, who was heavily implied to be the President of the United States. The subversive organisation’s leader had tried to ruin Captain America’s reputation and committed suicide once he was unmasked. This comic was first published in 1973 when the sitting president, Richard Nixon, was embroiled in the Watergate Scandal. The writer for this comic, Steve Englehart, had specifically intended this issue as a metaphor for the Watergate case and the Nixon era.
Another popular Marvel movie, Iron Man, is also a cautionary tale regarding America’s involvement in the military-industrial complex. Tony Stark, played by Robert Downey Junior, is also based partly on real-life industrialist Howard Hughes, an eccentric billionaire who helped contribute to the military war effort.
Vintage Picture Of Howard Hughes
Iron Man also encapsulates the idea of the debate on the privatisation of defence weapons. The reluctance of Tony Stark for government oversight over the Iron Man weapon, together with his epiphany in recognising his role as a defence contractor in funding terrorist organisations and then shutting down his weapons manufacturing company in the first movie, often also intertwines itself with politics, often mirroring real-life events where whistleblowers have helped to expose military contractors funding terrorists and from how corrupt contractors have often been found to have hired Taliban guards and caused the US to have funded the very groups they were supposed to oppose.
Screencap of the first Iron Man Movie
Contrasting Marvel and the idolisation of superheroes in media, there also came alternative forms of media like The Boys and Watchmen, which overturned the conventional archetype, subverted the superhero genre and critiqued superheroes instead through a progressively cynical lens. The Boys and Watchmen portray superheroes as propaganda and imagines society as its worst. Superheroes, once over-idolised saviours that would have saved society from its grittiness, come to the realisation that they were the problem in the first place. Corrupt, violent and office-seeking, it mirrors the cynicism people have towards real-world politicians – Watchman, during significant anti-Washington hostility during the Vietnam War, and The Boys, in a form of a critique of the glorification of social media, pop culture, and celebrities.
They parodied events that happened in real life, with A Train’s sports drink commercial mimicking the Pepsi advertisement that Kendall Jenner did. It mocks the insensitive nature of attempting to utilise the issue of racism and police brutality to capitalise and commercialise on it.
Screencap of THE BOYS (left) and Kylie Jenner’s PEPSI Commercial (right)
A parody of Captain America, who represents the American ideal of patriotism, the American identity of freedom and standing up to bullies (standing up to Germany in the context of WWII), Soldier Boy completely turns the American ideal over its head by amplifying its dark side , portraying what a military man would behave like if he were a product of his time, with highly unadmirable traits of violence, toxic masculinity and racism. But with a less willingness to condemn him, he is also a product of a different generation. He puts a more realistic spin on the idolisation of the American hero. Both shows imagine a darker, grittier world, almost an insult to the ideal of heroism portrayed in Marvel movies, with their version of the characters being corrupt, hedonistic and violent individuals. The comic version of Soldier Boy is portrayed as the opposite counterpart to the series version of Soldier Boy. Instead of the toxic masculinity of that era, he is portrayed as cowardly and naive, the antithesis of America’s chosen image as a robust global superpower, and almost as a caricature or a mockery of the strength of the American hegemony.
Depiction of Soldier Boy in The Boys series as compared to the comics version
Another popular series that is heavily intertwined with politics is Attack on Titan (進撃の巨人). The manga artist for this, Hajime Isayama, had already come under massive controversy for his nationalistic and anti-Korean beliefs, which have also appeared in his work. It was discovered that the supporting character for the manga, General Dot Pixis, was also based on real-life Japanese General Akiyama Yoshifuru, who was responsible for ruthless and inhumane crimes against Korean and Chinese prisoners of war. This warranted a thousand death threats against the manga creator, Isayama. It only goes to show the importance of media and how it is still crucial in channelling past political grudges.
Dot Pixis modelled after Akiyama Yoshifuru (left) and Gabi Braun, a character from the famous anime Attack on Titan (進撃の巨人), with the armband raised controversy over with its similarities with the Jewish Star of David. (right)
Attack on Titan had also come under fire for its controversy regarding its references to the Holocaust. Gabi Braun, a character from the famous anime Attack on Titan (進撃の巨人), was an Eldian character in Attack on Titan who was seen wearing an Eldian armband. The armband had raised controversy over its similarities with the Jewish Star of David and the Holocaust. This was in the context of the show, where any Eldian not on Paradis island would be segregated into a different class and discriminated against by the Marleyans for the crimes of their ancestors, much like what happened to the Jews during the Nazi Occupation. References were made to real-life political happenings to further elaborate on their point of discrimination. It had also included fascist and militarist themes. By delegating all the fear and hatred to the Titans as a “common enemy”, it reiterates the definition of fascism by well-known political thinker Carl Schmitt, who defined an ideal fascist society as one that accepts injustice, conflict, and misery as unavoidable, and seeks to redirect citizens attention to a common adversary to prevent civil wars, which in this case, would be the titans itself. This can also be shown in many popular media representations like 1984, where Emmanuel Goldstein was often introduced as the Enemy of the People, based on the concept that having a common enemy often helps to keep the people of Oceania united.
This philosophy is also heavily illustrated within the society in Attack On Titan, where the totalitarian government had persuaded the people that their hardship is often due to the humanoid titans that were oppressing them and heavily exploits this narrative to justify the militarisation as well as the increased power of the monarchy and the inner walls. Attack on Titan portrays war and conflict as a continuing factor in an almost cynical lens that conflict is almost an inevitable factor amongst ethnic cleavages with substantial differences; this fits into the Hobbesian theory regarding the causes of war, which primarily explains that due to the lack of international society, the international system is predominantly understood to be permanently anarchic. This also fits into classical realism, an international relations theory from the realist school of thought. It asserts that states act in their self-interest and want power for self-preservation. It more or less adopts a pessimistic view of human nature. It argues that humans are not inherently benevolent, but self-interested and act out of fear or aggression. This fits in exceptionally well with the macabre theme of the show, where it eventually concluded with the yeagerists, and Eren Yeager’s eventual philosophy, that it was virtually impossible for Eldians to co-exist with the rest of the world, and after exhausting all options, believed that genocide was the only solution. The cynical nature of this final solution reiterates the philosophy that human nature is naturally distrustful, fearful, cynical and territorial. There is little end in sight to the consequences of large-scale war and the devastation that it would cause.
The show was also officially banned in China for its excessive depictions of violence, though more suspect that the show’s story of rising resistance to the authoritarian system might have played a more significant role in the banning of the show, with the impression that the Chinese government does not want the citizens to harbour such ideas.
The Eldian armband controversy offers an opportunity to discuss the representation of sensitive topics in fiction. It often serves as a reminder of the delicate balance between creative expression and social responsibility in media.
Media can also be a significant form of soft power to influence politics. The Korean Wave (Hallyu), the global popularity of South Korea’s cultural economy exporting pop culture, entertainment, music, TV dramas and movies, has significantly impacted the country’s GDP. The expansion of South Korea’s cultural industries has boosted its domestic economy significantly, with the country’s export of cultural goods and services having grown exponentially, almost a forty-time increase from $188.9 million in 1998 to $7.5 billion in 2018. It has even prompted South Korean corporations to recruit more cultural content creators like writers, film directors, television producers, and music composers as crew members. The overall number of employees increased from 575,060 in 2005 to 644,847 in 2017, almost 3% of the entire job market, which was more significant than the sizes of the semiconductor, computer and telecommunications sectors in 2017 — an immense contribution to its GDP. It also caused a ripple effect as other industries, like tourism, cosmetics, food, fashion and electronics, have significantly benefited from the Korean Wave’s global success and subsequent economic growth.
Soft power, a term coined by Joseph Nye in the late 1980s, describes economic and cultural influence, as opposed to coercion or military strength, which lies in the ability to attract and persuade geopolitical influences. This contrasts hard power, which is the ability to coerce and grow out of a country’s military or economic might. Soft power arises from the attractiveness of a country’s culture, political ideals and policies, in this case, the Hallyu wave from Korea, which has had a tremendous impact globally from increasing tourism, from how Dae Jang Geum (DJG), a popular TV-series and boy-band BTS that led to screen-tourism in South Korea and attracted many international visitors to its filmed locations. The K-pop Boyband BTS now considered the most significant musical act in the world, was even credited by the Seoul Metropolitan Government for significantly boosting the tourism industry.
South Korean Boyband BTS at the White House (left) and at the United Nations (right)
The Hallyu effect had also contributed tremendously and contributed to around 0.2% of Korea’s GDP in 2004, and amounted to approximately SGD 2,568,258,000. It also had an estimated SGD 16,892,820,000 boost to the economy. Boy band BTS has also been recorded to attract around 800,000 foreign tourists to Korea each year and is estimated to stimulate SGD in spending each year, helping to promote the exports of Korean products. Korean Boy Band BTS even got invited to speak at the 75th UN General Assembly. With the term coined as ‘boyband diplomacy’, BTS was invited to speak at the White House to advocate against anti-Asian hate crimes.
“We were devastated by the recent surge of hate crimes, including Asian American hate crimes,”
“To put a stop to this and support the cause, we’d like to take this opportunity to voice ourselves once again,” said member Park Jimin.
Though some might wonder at the effectiveness of using boy band members to promote political messages, this only shows the impact of South Korea’s soft power and how celebrities and idols can often be used to tackle pressing social issues and invite individuals to take action. BTS is a highly influential group, with statistics postulating that their absence from military service, though temporary, might result in a loss of billions of dollars for South Korea. The band members were also appointed as South Korea’s presidential envoys. Korea’s soft power has had tremendous effectiveness in bringing in tourism and influence.
So much has the effectiveness of soft power had a significant impact on the world, that even China has invested into its soft power initiatives, through foreign aid and development in Africa. China has made a systematic effort to expand and give a more outstanding profile to its soft-power policies in Africa ever since the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in 2020. China has engaged in health and humanitarian assistance for academic, professional, and cultural exchange with Africa and has even been involved in its media outlets.
Cultural festival boosts exchange between China and Nigeria
China has had a significant influence over Africa’s media, extending soft power and the extent of its hegemony in the region. They do this by training African journalists as well as editors in Chinese programs that coach the avoidance of criticising African presidents and ministries as well as Chinese officials, purchasing ownership shares in African media houses and nudging their editorial practices towards the Chinese model as well as through the sale of Chinese technology to Africa that allows for the government to more closely control digital information by blocking sites and shutting down internet access. According to Dr Weksa, some African media professionals also seek to preserve their independence and journalistic standards as watchdogs of state officials, which results in them pushing back on Chinese influence in African media.
China also interferes with its own media outlets for political purposes, with media censorship being a considerable issue. China has one of the world’s most restrictive media environments and heavily relies on censorship to prevent foreign messages from reaching its citizens, both in the news, online and on social media. China had even separated their version of Tiktok, Douyin, from the rest of the world for content regulation and censorship. All these attempts at extending its soft power are attempts at trying to set itself up as a leader on the world stage in opposition to the West and the United States. It has been effective because many in Africa now view Beijing very favourably, where it vies for influence with Washington. In South Africa, 61% of respondents see China’s influence in the world as positive. The percentage was 82 per cent in Kenya and 83 per cent in Nigeria, proof that using the media to establish soft power is beyond compelling.
Tiktok has also been an application that’s been postulated to be used by China as part of its cognitive warfare campaign, so much so that the United States’ Joe Biden movedto ban TikTok, while the FBI raised national security concerns over fears the app could mould public opinion and exploit user data to shape preferences, biases and beliefs Meanwhile, a new study by Chinese military scientists even named Tiktok as one of several high-tech companies involved in propaganda campaigns against Russia. Media as a medium for psychological warfare is a new, insidious phenomenon.
The Wall Street Journal and others have observed that the nature of the algorithms is far more intricate on Tiktok than on Instagram. This can come from pushing videos that encourage an obsession with mental illness and addiction to porn and violence for kids in America. China’s Douyin could be said to have a different application altogether, as Douyin a much more conducive for kids to grow up with, further prompting allegations surrounding the Chinese intent behind TikTok.
Numerous other countries also boast about using media as a form of soft power. Other than the Hallyu trend in Korea, the United States also brags about Hollywood amidst its American military propaganda, globally recognised brands and companies, and its quest to spread democratic values.
This only goes to show the extent to which geopolitics, soft power and media are intertwined, so much so that
Soft power can also play into geopolitical tensions, such as in the case where China banned South Korean cultural content due to simmering tensions between itself and South Korea over the installation of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missiles on an American military base in South Korea – resulting in “The status of Korean products in the Chinese consumer market has plummeted due to the sharp drop in exchanges between Korea and China over the past three years.”
All in all, be it to advance their own gains or as an intermediary, media has always been, and will always be crucially intertwined with geopolitics, either exacerbating the other’s effects.
