In New Media 11, we learned the features of dystopian stories. After studying E.M. Forster’s novella, The Machine Stops, and Andrew Stanton’s animated movie, WALL-E, we were tasked to reflect on both works in visual and written formats.

The Propaganda Poster

Here is my propaganda poster to resist the omnipresent Machine, created using Adobe Photoshop.

Rise Above the Cogs: A call to resist the tyranny.

Is propaganda a boon or a curse? Can it be used to amplify positive messages in a dystopian society?

The propaganda poster Rise Above the Cogs is a weapon to reshape the opinions and actions of Kuno’s fellow citizens. It begins with a background of a post-apocalyptic landscape carpeted with cogwheels. The single man in the poster escapes through one of the wheels, breaks his shackles, and immerses himself in the newfound freedom under a ray of light. Several propaganda techniques are used in the artwork. The first is the adoption of glittering generalities. The slogan “Rise Above the Cogs,” the severed chain, the multicolour cloud, and the holy light all appeal to a serene sense of hope. Since Kuno believes that “Man is the measure,” these elements promote humanity’s power to regain the harmonious connection that once existed between man and nature (p. 13). Note that the word “cogs” in the slogan is a synecdoche, representing all the Machine’s apparatuses.

Another persuasive technique employed in the poster plays on our deep-seated fear of totalitarian governments and dehumanizing calamities. The ruins in the background image mirror the desolate wastelands where the “Homeless” are sentenced. The tagline “All technologies are out to control us,” based on the Machine’s callousness in pursuing Kuno and uprooting the vegetation, further heightens the audience’s apprehension that danger may befall them if they do not rebel against the Machine.

The last propaganda tactic uses logical fallacy in the tagline to scapegoat the rampant artificial intelligence for mass oppression. To Kuno, a sick world is one ridden with technology. Therefore, the message purposely dismisses the benefits of innovation and exaggerates its spiteful motive without substantial arguments.

Rise Above the Cogs encourages solidarity and authenticity. Not only will people in Kuno’s civilization be motivated to challenge its dominant worldview, but our generation today will also be inspired to rethink our divisive political climate and mindless digital obsession.

Image Credits:
Man: https://dlpng.com/png/6599284
Broken Chain: https://www.dreamstime.com/broken-chain-silhouette-vector-broken-chain-silhouette-isolated-vector-icon-symbol-image162176038
Cogwheel: https://pngtree.com/freepng/gear-mechanicals-clipart_5786330.html
Watercolour Background: https://pngtree.com/freepng/blur-watercolor-splash-ink_4604764.html
Holy Light: https://pngtree.com/freepng/sky-blue-holy-light-enveloped-special-effects_5854357.html
Dystopian Background: https://imgur.com/h3qcdBQ
 

The Synthesis Composition

Technology and the Eclipse of Critical Thinking: An analysis of The Machine Stops and WALL-E

Author Travis Nichols once said, “The most fundamental attack on freedom is the attack on critical thinking.” The potent power of modern technology on our autonomy and individuality is fully unveiled in E.M. Forster’s 1909 novella, The Machine Stops, and Andrew Stanton’s 2008 animated movie, WALL-E. In both dystopian stories, humanity struggles to escape technological control, leading them to become obedient slaves to artificial intelligence.

In The Machine Stops, an environmental catastrophe has forced humans to retreat into isolated underground pods, where they rely on the Machine to respond to their every need. Unfortunately, with sustenance, entertainment, and social connection at their fingertips, the population begins to develop blind faith in the Machine. Instead of questioning the Machine’s limitations or learning its complex inner workings, they substitute a piece of man-made technology for a deity and treat the Book as its sacred text. According to Vashti, “[one] mustn’t say anything against the Machine,” as any criticism is considered blasphemy (p.2). Over time, society also chooses conformity at the expense of authenticity. To adapt themselves to the Machine, people even accept familial separation and murdering of infants with “undue strength,” all in the name that “Man must be adapted to his surroundings” (p.13). Such eugenics to produce a feebler species is paradoxical to a culture that celebrates rationality and progress. Ironically, the majority does not consider revolt against the artificiality of underground living and the cruelty of Homelessness. It is humans’ willful surrender of critical thinking and disregard for emotions that blind them to a social system that is both oppressive and uncivilized.

Stanton’s animated film WALL-E shares the same cautionary message that over-dependence on technology is corrosive and can cloud our judgement. In the story, Earth has become a desolate, lifeless wasteland due to mindless consumerism and corporate greed. Humanity has been evacuated to space for temporary safety, and WALL-E is the only surviving robot left to clean up the garbage-strewn planet. On the enormous spaceship, Axiom, human passengers are merrily tended by sophisticated automated systems, leaving them obese, indolent, and largely immobile. Like the population in The Machine Stops, WALL-E’s earthlings uniformly rely on technology for their survival. They also take their unhealthy, lavish lifestyle to the extreme and grow apathetic towards the hope of recolonization. Without challenging their technological obsession, these people trade their free will and independence for automation, allowing AUTO’s pre-programmed directives to take control. Captain B. McCrea’s comment, “I’m sure our forefathers would be proud to know that 700 years later we’d be doing the exact same thing they were doing,” fully exposes the surviving humans’ lack of introspection on their past missteps (00:46:15). To them, critical thinking is an absurd antiquity.

The Machine Stops and WALL-E are not merely fictional dystopian stories irrelevant to the present. Rather, they both accurately depict the power of today’s technology in sowing self-righteousness, coercing conformity, and hindering critical thinking. According to PR Newswire, one in three people struggle with technology attachment, just like the humans in The Machine Stops and WALL-E. In her November 19, 2019 article, Social media is killing individualism, writer Hayati Zainal also indicates that the ubiquity of modern technology has bled a generation of “hive mind.” Unfortunately, this “uncritical conformity” erodes our ability to become deep thinkers, making us more vulnerable to misinformation and conspiracy theories, especially during a time of confusion and uncertainties like today.

Technology, if left unchecked, can escape our control and unintentionally reduce our autonomy and power of reasoning. It is therefore crucial not to relinquish the challenging pleasures of thinking for the easy comforts of mindless technological entertainment.

 

Work Cited

Growth From Knowledge (Gfk). “Teenagers and Higher-Income Households Most Likely to Struggle with Technology Addiction, Shows Gfk Survey.” Teenagers and Higher-Income Households Most Likely to Struggle with Technology Addiction, Shows GfK Survey, PR Newswire, 29 June 2017, https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/teenagers-and-higher-income-households-most-likely-to-struggle-with-technology-addiction-shows-gfk-survey-631509403.html.

“The Machine Stops Close Reading Activity.” Teachers Pay Teachers, Making Life Breezy, https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-Machine-Stops-Close-Reading-Activity-7878124?st=10c17c97ba959e406c6e20c9ca6d62a1.

Stanton, Andrew, et al. WALL-E. Walt Disney Pictures, 2008.

“Travis Nichols Quote.” AZ Quotes, https://www.azquotes.com/quote/1349108.

Zainal, Hayati. “Social Media Is Killing Individualism.” Medium, Predict, 19 Nov. 2019, https://medium.com/predict/social-media-is-killing-individualism-d374d3d6a576.