When creating my propaganda poster, I wanted there to be a feeling of unsafety with the image. While keeping a human aspect to the machine but seems like it lost its humanity, I believe that the camara like eye, no ear, and bolts running all over the face I really captured the dehumanized look I was going for. When making the poster I used AI to create the base image buying into the “have a machine do it” mentality as a part of my creative thinking. When thinking of righting techniques pathos stuck out to me as one I should explore, in the book Machine Stops there is never a direct statement of what the machine is or looks like so, I thought that with a creepy image and an message to make someone think there I could play with their perception on the machine as not a god but a creepy machine that watches and controls you. Along with much thinking going into the imagery I put just as much if not more into the text, with the message being short as to not lose the reader and being on both top and bottom forcing your eyes to track over the image of the machine, the text font is messy to show if he wanted to make a lot of these he would have to do it fast and without fancy machinery that would do it for him. To sum up everything that has already been stated, this propaganda poster is in support of Kono and his efforts to take down the machine using pathos to play with people’s perception of the machine.
The book Machine Stops written by E.M Forister is still a truly relevant piece of literature because although it was written over 100 years ago the dystopian society being depicted is still a very real threat, with people being stuck on their screens 24/7 and in their own bubble of information. This is best shown by Pete Docter’s movie Wall-E in which the people are depicted as fat lazy and not being able to do anything without the help of a robot, likewise The Allegory of the Cave is another source that shows the impact of people and not wanting to know of anything that is outside of their own information. In both there are people who no longer work for themselves and rely only on machines and their buttons to get them through their day-to-day life. However, there is one person or thing that does not want to conform to societal norms. In both these stories the two are similar but also completely different in a way, one of them is just doing their job as a robot and the other is going against what the entirety of the world does.
Throughout Machin stops we see Kono grow as a person and functional human being, not relying on buttons and a machine to help him throughout his day, on the other hand there is Vashti who worships the machine and thinks it can do no wrong. Vashty is a perfect example of a conformist not only does she worship the machine as a god as shown on the airship when “she murmured and caressed her book and was comforted.” its manual is a bible to her and anyone that speaks ill of the machine is wrong or plain stupid. When comparing Machine Stops and Wall-E the main comparison would be between the main characters, Wall-E and Kono are both independent and are facing off against something that controls everything including people except for them. Both are independent thinkers, possibly the only ones in their respective stories, but why would they be the only ones could it be because everyone else is in their own bubble of information and entertainment. Could they fear popping their bubbles because they would be shown things that go against everything that they have known in their bubbles. Vashty and the rest of the people in Machine Stops are the same as the passengers in Wall-E, not realizing there are other things going on around them, only worrying about what they want to see.
When comparing Machin stops and The Allegory in the Cave written by Plato is the best comparison is between Vashty and the two people that are chained up, with Vashty having the thoughts given to her by the machine and only believes in them and having her own little bubble of information. On the other hand, the men have their own beliefs with the wall and the shadows on it. In both situations there are people that do not want to know about anything that could cause them to re-think what they already know. A good example of this is not with Kono telling Vashty anything but Vashty being so ignorant to the fact that she could learn something from other things than the machine, ““No ideas here” murmured Vashti, and hid the Caucasus behind a metal blind” both Kono and the man who got out of the cave had no evidence to prove what they were trying to tell, and without evidence there is no reason for anyone the believe the person telling them the information. But even if there was evidence or proof of their claims, some would still not believe them due to them not wanting to see the truth or have the truth puzzle them. With there being so many similarities not only between machine stops, Wall-E and The Allegory of the Cave but also modern-day society and the path we are on, and the future we may end up in everyone should either be terrified or act.
YouTube. (2015, March 17). Plato’s allegory of the cave – Alex Gendler. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RWOpQXTltA&ab_channel=TED-Ed
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