The Propaganda Game Film Difficulty Ranking: 2
How dangerous do you think North Korea is to the world? Secondly, do you think you are an open minded person? The Propaganda Game exposes life in Korea and the propaganda we and North Koreans see every day. Is one side right? Can we find the truth? Read on.
Why Watch The Propaganda Game?
- To learn about North Korea
- See how powerful propaganda can be (in this case it shows the propaganda we see that shapes our view of North Korea, and also the propaganda the citizens of North Korea see)
- It will open your mind as you think about Cultural Relativism: the theory that beliefs, customs, and morality exist in relation to the particular culture from which they originate and are not absolute
- It’s on Netflix
The Breakdown
The Propaganda Game starts with shots of what appears to be life in a typical Asian city. There are people meditating in parks, kids roller skating over ramps, and everything looks like it comes from a tourist brochure.
The shots are of course of life in North Korea. For a nice juxtaposition, the director layers western news reporters reports of life in North Korea over the top. It is clear that something is wrong as the pictures of North Korea obviously do not match up to the propaganda pushed by western media.
This is what film maker Alvaro Longoria explores in this film: propaganda. He points out that there are two players in the propaganda game, the North Korean government, and western media. Both are perpetrating myths and both myths are pretty much opposite. I’ve set out both myths below:
- The western media perpetrate a myth that North Korea is a rogue state which poses a nuclear threat to the world and subjugates all of it’s citizens against their will.
- North Korea perpetrates a myth that the west (in particular the U.S.) are the fault of all the problems in the country and that the whole world idolises their leaders and look towards North Korea as a beacon of the revolution.
Though the amazing shots and interviews we get in North Korea we can make our own judgements.
Conclusion
The most important message of this film is that we should always keep an open mind. Blindly accepting a point of view we see in the news can hide the truth. This goes for both the people in North Korea and the anyone who follows western media. We are all subject to propaganda, so we must always remain vigilant in trying to find see all sides of the agenda. In this case, there is no truth. Check out the trailer below.