Prelude to War

In Frank genus Capra's wherefore We Fight - Prelude to War, the director is charged with making a documentary that will persuade Americans to move away from eld of isolationism, to send troops into military combat and to form an fusion with Russia. We see in the film that Bernays' (2004) belief that public dealings is the process of "manipulating public opinion" lends itself readily to propaganda. However, despite the films pellucid intention to paint the "slave" peoples of the world and dictatorship and fascism as "evil," Capra's intentions are motivated by his belief that this is for the better of democratic, innocent peoples everywhere. As Bernays' (2004) argues, "Intelligent men must realize that propaganda is the in advance(p) instrument by which they can fight for productive ends and function to bring order out of chaos."

Capra's film is meant to whip Americans into a patriotic fervor and show them that anything less than military misdemeanour will endanger the values and lifestyle of democracy and discharge people. The film shows the brutalization of the people of Manchuria by the Japanese, the rise of field Socialism in Germany and dictatorship, and the way Americans were complacent before creation War II. The rise of fascism in Italy and Germany is contrasted against American democracy. The explanation of drib Harbor definitely shows how the film is meant as persuasion and propaganda.

While Capra does persuade by the use of propaganda, his methods are less overt than say Germany's Goebbels. Capra does use evidence to support many of the points being made, barely the films still pits good against evil and a black and discolour manner without suggesting there are any redeeming qualities on the side of the enemy. Yet the film is propaganda at its best when it repeats scenes of Hitler's speeches and statements and consequently shows what Hitler did. It shows Hitler to break many promises without any explanation of why he felt he had to break promises. The film had a authoritative impact on American audiences, after being successfully used to train U.S. military forces.

Like modern propaganda by the Bush administration, many were willing to accept after observance this film that it had to be us against them to protect freedom and democracy. As Bernays (2004) asserts of the average individual's willingness to accept such propaganda, citizens have "voluntarily concord to let an invisible government sift the data and high-spot the slap-up issues so that our field of choice shall be narrowed to mulish proportions."

It is not featured in the film as a military victory for Japan but rather as a humiliating loss for an apathetic America with an unknowing military. The film maintains that there is a "totalitarian" world confederation intent on turning the free world into a slave world (Capra, 1943).

Capra, Frank, (Director). "Why We Fight: Prelude to War," (Documentary). the States: 56 min, 1943.

Bernays, Edward. Propaganda. Brooklyn, NY: Ig Publishing, 2004.

During his first presidential campaign, Bill Clinton verbalise "It's the economy, stupid," in reference to what ailed America. Likewise, while many Americans might believe we are in control of our own minds and are conditioned about the issues that are important to us we are mistaken.
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