"The BBC in Children of Men, BTN in V for Vendetta, ties citizens to the ubiquitous
screens of the city, located inside and outside double-deck buses, in trains, at
home, in cafés, at work and on the huge screens of Piccadilly Circus" writes Martin, in response to the ever-present tactic of fearmongering in dytopian films such as Children of Men and V for Vendetta. The term "ubiquitous screens" is an interesting one, as that is the delivery system for such propaganda in not only these films, but in real life as well. In the past decade, the number of "screens" one has access to, or is able to view, has increased tenfold. Even the smart phone parked in the pockets of vasts amounts of people is a screen that can easily be used to stream mainstream media. Along with an increasing number of "ubiquitous screens", comes an increase in the pervasiveness of media, and consequently a stronger ability to use fear tactics to their advantage. In a post 9/11 world, we are especially familiar with this type of technique. A golden example would be the color coded threat level that was released after the attack on September 11th. With the changing of an arbitrary color, the reasons behind which always shielded from public knowledge, people would feel that they are in an increased amount of danger at all times. Even if there had previously been some sort of distrust in one's government, fear can be used a a magic eraser, allowing them to once again feel that they need their government in order to remain safe. This makes such fearmongering tactics a perfect device for use in dysotpian literature and cinema.
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