When men yield up the privilege of thinking, the last shadow of liberty quits the horizon.”-Thomas Paine 

As the mood of the title implies, the movie portrays the rather heavy topic of revealing the dark side of America’s media and the corruption that hampers its citizens from seeing the truth. While the audience is shocked, furious, and even frightened by the reality of the media, Jean Philippe sends a clear message—only we can protect our liberty! 

Jean Philippe, the director of Shadows of Liberty has given an open denouncement of the American media and corporations with his movie. The deliberate criticism laments the crisis of press liberty that ironically results from the country’s democratic system.  The movie argues that the original purpose of the media in America was to help set the people free and to expose its citizens to true information. This, however, became impossible in the United States (U.S.) as big corporations took control of the media with the help of government legislation. The movie not only deals with the major issues regarding media firms, but also blends in the individual stories of journalists that tried to speak the truth.

 

 

   
 

The very beginning of the film starts by presenting the audience with the case of a journalist telling her story of when she worked as a journalist for the CBS network. Roberta Baskin was investigating the NIKE company in Vietnam and revealed the poor working conditions and violations of human rights. Although her story received much interest from a public that was thirsty for the truth, she was soon stopped by her very own company when CBS and NIKE became partners for the Olympics, and NIKE became a sponsor of CBS.

 

The scene soon turns to another reporter from CBS, Kristina Borjesson, who had a similar experience to Roberta Baskina. In 1996, there was the tragic event of TWA flight 800 crashing into the Atlantic Ocean, killing more than 230 passengers. The U.S. Navy claimed that there was no army involvement in this accident through a press conference. While Kristina Borjesson remained suspicious and started to investigate the case, she found evidence that could support her theory that it was the U.S. Navy itself that had caused the tragedy. Borjesson was also stopped by CBS from releasing her story, and she was also forced to leave the company.

 

While the first two reporters faced rejection by their company, the story of the third journalist seems more depressing. Gary Webb, a journalist full of passion, tried to uncover the story of the crack epidemic in the U.S. and the relationship between it and governments. His findings were publicly criticized by the major press, which was sponsored by large firms and the government, and Gary decided to end his life by committing suicide. 

As the stories of individuals are told, the director of the movie tries to convey the message that the media in the U.S. is dead and the news should not be trusted. After the three stories are told, there is further elaboration on how the privatization of media companies has lead to the death of liberty in America. The government controlling the media and private companies earning astronomical amounts of money—all of these revelations about the dark side of the media almost frighten the audience. 

What was more enticing about the film is some of the film techniques that Jean Philippe includes. Although the film was a documentary, Jean incorporates animation and filming techniques that make the documentary much more interesting than just giving out a bunch of facts. The black and white screens that appear with shaking camera work express the fragile nature of the American media, and the message was conveyed much more clearly to the audience.

Furthermore, the interviews with the journalists who went through experiences similar to those by Julian Assange and David Simon vividly describe the reality of media corporations and adds to the credibility of the documentary. It is just shocking to hear that so many journalists have gone through the same experience. Although it is a documentary, it still successfully conveyed the stories of individuals through the interviews.

All of these factors made the documentary successful, and the film was lauded by the public. It played its role, using the media to inform the public about the duality of media firms. The movie was screened in various festivals all around the world, including at the 2013 Seoul Human Rights Film Festival in South Korea. It provided an opportunity for Korean citizens to reflect on their own media.

The incidents depicted in the documentary are strangely similar to things happening right now in South Korea. There have been cases where big corporations in Korea were caught for violating human rights by using child labor in other countries, and with information about the recent Sewol ferry tragedy not being conveyed clearly to the public, it makes us realize that control of media is no longer a story or problem of other countries. If we do not protect our rights to see and hear the truth, we will soon live in the world shown in the documentary.

Regardless of nation or race, we are all surrounded by the media. In this sense, the documentary could be the story of anyone, and the film is highly recommended to all citizens with awareness, as it lets us rethink the role of the media and how we should react to the media and the news.

저작권자 © The Granite Tower 무단전재 및 재배포 금지