Photomontage in the 20th Century - Essay Example

Noam Chomsky, an American Linguist mentions the creation of necessary illusions that are made to isolate the public reducing them to apathy, He says that there are two social groups that are targets for propaganda, the first of them he calls the political class, ‘this is 20% of the population which are individuals that are educated, articulate, and take part in society as social leaders teachers, intellectuals, etc. The second group is 80% of the population whose main function is to follow orders, and not to think’ (2006, 22).

Let’s think about a social group who has been watching the mainstream news and base their opinion on what has been said by their preferred news readers, or what the general public will make of a professionally signified advertising campaign, the ones in power will then start crafting the public opinion based on fabricated and imprecise facts. Which will result in a threat to the integrity of society? In political propaganda, diverse techniques have been developed in order to control how the masses should engage with specific products or ideas, or even how the society should think about specific social groups, political parties etc.

The critical perception is also enabled by the overall composition which is reduced to its essential elements. This accentuates its political content and the overall effect is more concentrated and forceful. The way in which propaganda can be used to influence a society is also linked to the father of public relations, Edward Bernays, who used the ideas of his uncle Sigmund Freud to manipulate the public mind with the hypothesis that psychoanalytical ideologies and the manipulation of the society were necessary, as hidden deep within human beings were dangerous and irrational desires and fears, and if not controlled, humans could act very irrationally because of the unpredictable emotionality.

An example of this is Germany under the Third Reich, by not having the correct people influencing and controlling their actions, their instincts were unleashed, resulting in the barbarism against the Jews.