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Someone Asks A Question “What Piece Of Media Is Just Straight Up Propaganda?”, Gets Responses From 30 Folks Online
People love conspiracy theories. In fact, it is much easier to explain any phenomenon by the fact that someone is skillfully manipulating public opinion behind other people's backs than to try to investigate the intricacies of how the modern world works.
Indeed, there are a lot of pieces of media that can be considered propaganda - from government channels in countries with a totalitarian regime to outwardly harmless cartoons, in which one can always see a double meaning. Like, didn't you know that "Rick and Morty" is obviously propaganda... we don't know what it is yet, but it's definitely propaganda!
And there is a popular thread on Reddit where people answer just one question: "What piece of media is just straight up propaganda?" Almost 30K ups, 12.4K different comments, and a huge, simply incredible variety of options for what actually lies under this or that TV show or video game.
Bored Panda created a curated list of the most interesting, thought-provoking and just weird opinions about where propaganda is hiding. So feel free to scroll to the very bottom, leave your comments, and remember, perhaps the only place on the internet that is absolutely free from any propaganda is this post. No propaganda, just a good mood... at least if calls for a good mood aren't good mood propaganda!
More info: Reddit
This post may include affiliate links.
#2
feel good stories, like “8 year old kid saves up $3000 by working to help sister afford her surgery”
Valisbourne Spiritforge 2 years ago
That's not a feel good story. That's an indictment of the American medical system.
#3
America’s Got Talent. It promotes the idea that talent goes hand in hand with struggle, so much so that genuinely awful acts make it through on the strength of their sob story.
People have a hard enough time accepting the work that goes into being a creative without having to attach a tragic backstory to it.
Lorrie Rothstein 2 years ago (edited)
Yeah everyone who a contestant is homeless,injured,broke or lost someone
#4
Drug ads tbh. You don’t realize that until you talk to people outside of America about commercials and ads. Our advertisements pushing drugs for every single ailment are just propaganda for big pharma. Disclaimer: not an anti vaxxer or anything, I trust the science, I just would rather take sativa edibles than get onto some anxiety medication named Amphaproxogarbageorenazine. I think it’s kinda sick how we market medications.
Megzymonsta 2 years ago
I live in the uk and was honestly shocked when I visited America and saw some of these ads pop up on tv. In the uk our GP prescribes us a medication when we need it but we don't really get a say on what type we get (unless it's linked to an allergy or other provable issue) it's so strange to think of these "ask your doctor about X drug" on tv. If we did that here the general response would be " you get this or nothing" but the medication usually works so it rarely causes an issue.
#5
Business articles on LinkedIn that talk about how people should stop seeking work/life balance and start embracing work/life integration.
No thanks.
James016 2 years ago (edited)
This sums up LinkedIn and how full of BS a lot of its users are. Image comes from Reddit VADER-62a7...9bb680.jpg 
#6
Day planners. They always have an agenda.
#7
Any modern war movie featuring real military equipment. To get access to the equipment, they need to work with the Department of Defense. For them to allow it, they need to approve the script. For them to approve the script, the movie needs to give a positive portrayal of the military.
EDIT: Everyone commenting can f**k off with the devil's advocate b******t. Of course there are exceptions to everything, but you all know what I'm saying is true overall. You all know there's a huge connection between Hollywood and the US military. You all know war movies (and video games, possibly to an even greater extent at this point) very frequently partner with the military for equipment, promotion, funding, etc. You all know that in those partnerships, the military has a ton of control over the movie/game to make sure it portrays them in a way that will entice 18 year olds to enlist. You all know that mentioning an exception doesn't change any of that.
Scotira 2 years ago
I'm sitting here wondering, if I should even touch this with a 10-foot pole, but hey, I like to live dangerously. Anyway...I was thinking about THIS exact thing yesterday as my husband wanted to go to the cinema (with me of course) to see...Top Gun, Maverick. In any case, to us it was hilarious bc there was an incident a few years back with American jet fighters and a small Swiss military runway surrounded by ...you can guess it... mountains. 🤣🤣 However I won't spoil the story for those who haven't seen it. It was an ok story and by the end I was wondering, if the US Navy and/ or Air Force once again get a boost in manpower bc people want to go to Top Gun just like in the movie. I remember there was an article stating after the first Top Gun movie a lot joined the military bc they've seen the film. Kind of like a two hour advertisement for the US Navy 🤣😇 (I hope I didn't offend anyone...)
#8
This is technically media: but forced recitations of the Pledge of Allegiance for US public school kids.
Scotira 2 years ago
When I visited the US for the first time, I think I was 18 or so, I joined my cousin (10 times removed 🤣) for one day in High School. And let me tell you, THIS freaked me tf out! 😳 for someone not knowing what's going on this is really scary. Mind you, right before my vacation in the US we've been extensively going over the Nazi regime and their indoctrinating mechanisms in the history lessons at school (in Switzerland). This was more than 20 years ago, to this day I remember the feeling of beeing scared out of my mind! The rest wasn't so bad, but this stayed with me for a long time.
#9
I love Top Gun. It's a huge guilty pleasure of mine and I can't wait to see Maverick in theaters. That being said, it is 1000% propaganda for the Navy, to the point where the Navy had a lot of say in the script and they set up recruitment booths outside the theatre.
#10
A surprising number of big-budget US films get funding from various branches of the military to portray them as good guys and peacekeepers.
In exchange they get extensive creative control over the script and in some cases final cut privileges. The filmmakers get access to money, shooting locations, vehicles, advisors, logos and uniforms, and of course money.
You could argue that of course if you were offering this kind of support you wouldn’t want your image to be disparaged in any way. But we’re not talking about Captain America holding a can of Coke.
Imagine it as product placement, but the product they’re selling isn’t the military itself, but the thematic connection between the military and heroism, righteousness and moral good.
#11
Every single bit of Murdoch Media....
... from printed to digital media, newspapers, TV, and all forms of media. Particularly the wastes of space in Sky News.
#12
Anything dealing with forensics. A job in forensics is boring. You know when they match a fiber sample and can exclude it from 5,000 other samples? Someone had to compare the fiber in question 5,000 times and say, “Nope, next.” Not to mention, the paperwork required is painful.
Source: Three years working in forensics. To this day my signature looks like a doctors from all the chain of custody documents I had to sign.
Jason Melvil 2 years ago
This is true about any profession. Doctors don't really see a single patient a week or break into people's homes like on House. Half the stuff in courtroom shows would never happen in real life. And for the life of anything - do not get me going on anything to do with computers or hacking.
#13
The entire concept of "spreading democracy" is propaganda from the Woodrow Wilson days. It was how he sold WW1 to the American people, via the PR genius Edward Bernays.
Mediocre source I know, but Bernays book *Propaganda* is a good read and goes into detail.
Party Poison (They/She) 2 years ago
This Manifest Destiny c**p was there from the beginning. But I wouldn't expect better from a country founded on colonialism, religious influence and "freedom" only for white people.
#14
The entire "cop show" genre. It goes back to the radio drama days and spans drama, comedy, infotainment, documentary, and multiple other genres, but it almost always presents the police as being the white-hatted Good Guys out to stop the Bad Guys.
#15
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.
ArodTheHorrible 2 years ago
This should be way higher. That book could have been reduced to 50 pages, and I wouldn't have missed any of the many page rants about collectivism. Snooooooze
#16
Undercover Boss
kim morris 2 years ago
Could you please explain more? Saying "Undercover Boss' does nothing for those of us who don't know what this is. How is this propaganda?
#17
90% of media you are exposed to is owned by one of four or five companies, may even be three now. The same companies that make your movies and TV shows make your news.
News falls into three categories:"Clickbait" - we're selling advertisements, use the headline that generates the most outrage and keeps the most viewership. You'd think this would be the most harmless, but they're actively distorting the truth to whatever narrative is most profitable. This is especially harmful when covering mass shootings, terrorist attacks, etc. Making the body count the headline and providing 24/7 coverage of the shooters themselves inspires more shootings to occur. They may as well be advertisements to the unhinged- commit horrible atrocities! Your name and your beliefs will be remembered forever! People who were unhinged by the rage-bait news they pumped out in the first place. Depending on your news source you can live in an information bubble completely isolated from people who get their news elsewhere. This is one of the biggest sources of disruptive controversy and division in our nation and you're better off shutting it out than anything else.
"Narrative" - This is propaganda in support of the owners. Why wont fox ever criticize an oil company? Why does ABC always side with disney- and use disney fun facts to fill empty coverage? Why does the new york times write articles in defense of billionaires? Narrative is shaping the truth not to generate direct profit, but to support the goals and needs of it's ownership.
"Sponsorship" - this is propaganda in support of the contributors. Essentially, they'll run any propaganda piece you pay for so long as it doesn't conflict with their narrative. For the conventional propaganda, the DNC, GOP, and Federal Government are frequent customers.
#19
Mein Kampf. Author seemed very bias.
#20
American Sniper. I’m still mad that I got tricked into thinking it was a movie about PTSD.
#21
Any news targeting stock owners. Not the big companies, but the private people who have a few thousand dollars worth or less.
The way it works is some scandal comes out and it's designed to make people panic and sell, swinging the price down by a lot, some times half the price. Then big companies buy up billions of dollars worth and this swings the price back up. Then they sell it again making a fortune.
Touch Connors 2 years ago
And then many of those people buy their stocks through something like Robinhood, which gives brokerage houses the ability to frontrun orders. Short Version: brokerages who are actually conducting the sale know what's coming and are able to take the other side of the trade for risk-free profit.
#22
The movie, Reefer Madness.
Terrible movie, but hilarious today.
#23
Basically anything by Michael Bay
Scagsy 2 years ago
I think people like his movies because they are, from start to finish, total escapism. He's blowing stuff up in almost every scene and the stories are generally so outrageous that nobody is every going to mistake it for a documentary. Sending a bunch of oil-drillers into space with three days training and an atomic weapon? Or a rogue general and his troops seizing control of Alcatraz, taking a bunch of civilians hostage and threatening to launch stolen VX gas at San Fransisco? Or Transformers? He made a couple of cop buddy films and Pearl Harbor which MAY have glorified cops and WW2 servicemen but come on, his films are fun. Glorious, exploding FUN!
#24
Turning Point USA is complete propaganda garbage. Secondly, Caleb and Sophia. It’s a propaganda cartoon targeted toward Jehovahs witnesses and people they try to convert
Élizaan Jansen van Rensburg 2 years ago
I like watching Telltale Atheist. He really opened my eyes on religion.
#25
"God's Not Dead" and similar Christian movies.
BRUHHHHHHH 2 years ago
They’re not that bad. If you don’t like them, or don’t like christian stuff, just don’t watch it!
#26
in my country philippine we got tv station" net 25" and "smni sunshine". pure government propaganda channels run by cults who have deep connections with Ferdinand marcos.
#27
Anything coming out of “Radio Free x” (ex: Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Europe, etc.), which were originally founded by the CIA and now funded by a different agency of the US government. If you believe that any media coming out of news organizations funded by the US government doesn’t feature propaganda in some way, then I’ve got beachside property to sell you in Idaho.
#28
America's Army.
edit: To clarify, it's a video game made by the US military.
María Hermida 2 years ago
Well, it's a video game called America's Army, made by the US military. What do you expect?
#29
Shen Yun dance
Epoch Times
New Tang Dynasty TV
They’re all propaganda from the same source
#30
The Internship (2013)… just Wedding Crashers but taken over by our Google overlords. Praise be.
What do you think ?
N Gregory 2 years ago
Media IS propaganda. EVERYTHING has a bias and an agenda. What a stupid article, but the I fell for the clickbait title and here we are...
Freya the Wanderer 2 years ago
This is why you have to check multiple sources and take everything with a grain of salt
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N Gregory 2 years ago
Media IS propaganda. EVERYTHING has a bias and an agenda. What a stupid article, but the I fell for the clickbait title and here we are...
Freya the Wanderer 2 years ago
This is why you have to check multiple sources and take everything with a grain of salt
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