The
essay “The Braindead Megaphone†written by George Saunders present both a smart
as well as complex commentary regarding the United States culture. The title of
this essay is a metaphor that is well-built, which is comparing the U.S. mass
media to a guy who is at a party and is in possession of a megaphone. Saunders
claims that although the things that this guy is saying is dumb, everyone who
is in the room is listening to him since he is the loudest individual speaking.
They end up responding among themselves from what he is saying.
Social
factors, as well as technologies are increasingly significant to my sense of
whom I am, where I am, as well as what is going on in the world. Whom I am is
tremendously determined by the people who form my social circle, that is,
friends, classmates, and family. Technological development in communication
field has resulted into social media platform where I socialize with other
people. “But I think we are in an hour of special danger, if only because our
technology has become so loud, sleek and seductive, its power of self-critique
so insufficient and glacial†(Saunders 18). Most of the time, the things that
my friends talk about are nonsensical as Saunders in “The Braindead Megaphoneâ€
refers the media noise machine. Saunders uses the phrase “braindead megaphoneâ€
metaphorically. A megaphone refers to a big funnel-shaped instrument that is
utilized for amplifying as well as directing one’s voice. However, in the above
phrase, Saunders refers to the device as “braindead.†This implies that the
megaphone is not functioning properly. Saunders utilizes “The Braindead
Megaphone†to represent the U.S. mass media, which, despite having a great
voice globally, it normally offers the public half-baked truths, therefore
dumbing down their usefulness to the society, “hasn’t our mass media always
been sensationalistic, dumb and profit-seeking?†(Saunders 17). The problem
with the mass media is that it is not informing the media about the truth, but
it is rather feeding the public with lies for the motive of making money.
In
the article “Partial Recall,†Daniela Schiller is a neuroscientist who is
exploring the relationship that exist between pain as well as memory. Daniela
Schiller’s work is a response to a number of works that have been done by
different artists which ranges from comic to tragedy. Nevertheless, memory is
the loose themes in all the works. While living in Ukraine during the
Holocaust, Daniela Schiller was captured by the Germans during WWII and was
sent to a labor camp. Her father, who also survived the war, had deep emotions
and would never talk about the memories that he had with the Germans during the
Holocaust. Daniela Schiller’s curiosity on what had happened to her father
later formed her careers’ focal point, “But I grew up with that fear in the
background. What was he hiding? Why? How do people even do that?†(Spector). At
the end of the story, the author argues that pain and trauma should not be
suppressed, but one should release the pain through emotions, such as through
crying, “I think it’s good to cry—you should bring back memories and relive
them. And since you are not in the war anymore, it might be a good experienceâ€
(Spector).
In
conclusion, there is a relationship between the articles “Braindead Megaphoneâ€
and “Partial Recall.†Whereas “Partial Recall†addresses the pain and trauma
that result from past nasty experiences, that is, the Second World War,“His
daughter (Unreich), asked him once again, for the film, to discuss his memories
(Spector),†the article “Braindead Megaphone,†which pays much attention on the
mass media, shows that instead of the media covering such stories to make
people heal from past traumatic experiences, it is busy providing the public
with inaccurate copy of what the truth is, accompanied by shallow entertainment
for the mere motive of earning profits.
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