Representations and Truth
...team project a view which is vastly different from reality but which will get them ratings. This can be seen in the Siege when Mike suggests to Marty that ‘we could have a Rambo situation’ when the gunman has been relatively calm. This manipulation of the situation can be seen when Marty wants a flak jacket so he can crouch down and create the sense that he is in the line of fire to tell the story- when in fact he is 5km from the house. The urge to get a story out and better the opposition, even if it means creating the ‘truth’ exists. When Emma tells Brian that they can only find a psychology student to comment instead of a Professor, Brian approves it but wants it to look credible and so conducts it in front of a bookcase. The caricature of the characters, in particularly Mike Moore shows the true extent of current affair-style programs. Mike Moore’s egotism and naivety is exaggerated through the use of caricature. We expect him to be knowledgeable yet in fact he is naïve and dependent on people like Emma. “We’ve spelt it [siege location] out phonetically for you” His exaggerated hairstyle and mannerisms are a satire on hosts of current affairs shows. Likewise when Emma tells the gunman to leave the phone off the hook, supposedly for his good so he can get his thoughts together, it is obvious that it is to protect the exclusive for Frontline, even if it denies the gunman help. The Frontline episode Add Sex and Stir reveals the cynicism of the media in the push for ratings. Like The Siege, the sensationalism in this episode is rampant and is best summed up by Martin. ‘Ancient current affairs recipe my grandmother gave me, you take any story, add sex and stir’ The episode shows the lengths that the media will go to for ratings even if the truth is lost along the way. Brooke claims to be interested in exposing an injustice in women’s sport where a netballer was allegedly excluded because she was not a lesbian. The facts are distorted when Brooke inserts a question she didn’t ask coupled with a re-enactment of lesbian scenes which supposedly occurred. ‘Once you’ve spoken to her…just get her out of circulation’ which highlights the emphasis Brian places on protecting the ratings and also so the veracity of the story can’t be questioned. The situation’s irony also reinforces the modification of the truth. The program offers her a holiday on the basis of their high moral standards of not engaging in chequebook journalism when in fact it is to shield her from other networks. The parody of Mike continues, as we are shown that the host is not conveying the truth rather, it is the editors and backroom staff. This can be seen in the ignorance on Mike’s part when he appears on Burke’s Backyard. Similarly the double standards are painfully obvious as Brian goes after the story because he knows sex sells; whereas when it is suggested a high profile male sportsman is gay Brian is not interested because he claims the audience doesn’t want to know. The selective editing that Brooke uses, such as post editing interviews is summed up by the netball team captain and how it blurs the truth. ‘You reported half the story. You beat up the rest’ We can see that extent to which the Frontline team is willing to stretch the truth in a bid for the ratings. This is shown through the biting satire and ironies as the staff, manipulate each other and the story to take personal credit for it. The truth is buried under stories designed to attract viewers not convey the truth as it claims. The Truman Show, through the manipulation of Truman Burbank, (Jim Carrey) highlights the power of absolute control over one man’s life as we are confronted with lies and deception at every turn. The Truman Show is a biting satire at the way in which the media has cocooned us in a world of illusion with the justification of censoring us. Truman has lived in Seahaven Island, an elaborate studio mock setup, since his birth when “1.7 billion people tuned into his birth”. This is the only world that Truman knows and through an incredibly thorough system of deception the line between illusion and reality has become non-existent. The island is populated completely by actors while seemingly a natural element such as the environment is controlled behind the scenes by the ratings-driven producer Chri...