Propaganda In Art

Outline

Thesis: In America today, not only is it possible for the population to be swayed to believe lies, but it is happening everyday, just like it happened in Nazi Germany.

Body:

A. How Propaganda Works

1. People who hear or see something over and over again begin to believe it is true even if it is not.

2. Quote, Goebbels.

3. Plays of peoples secret fears and desires.

B. Nazi Propaganda

1. Used newspapers, posters, and speeches to sway the population.

2. Anyone non-Aryan was "Undermenschen", which made them worthless

3. Claimed to be improving the world by getting rid of the scum

4. Used to make Germans believe that killing was Good for the.

C. Propaganda Today

1. Propaganda is everywhere, it is on TV and billboards, in magazines and movies.

2. Makes people believe that something that is wrong is right, like sex before marriage, gay marriages, drugs, and alcohol.

3. Also sets a physical standard for the way people should look and anyone who does not look that particular way is not as socially acceptable.

D. Propaganda and Art

1. Leni Reifenstahl turned propaganda into are with her movie Triumph of the Will, a movie about Hitler

2. Also dancers are used to convey messages, like in red, white and blue

3. Music is the largest gene of art effected by propaganda, songs make people passionate and they capture attention.

Conclusion: Regardless of how harmless propaganda may seem, it has a huge effect on the way people think, behave, and like.

In America today, not only is it possible for the entire population to be persuaded to believe a lie, but it is happening, just as it happened in Nazi Germany. Externally, the propaganda in America today is not as harmful as the propaganda in Nazi Germany, instead it eats away at societies' morals and self-esteem. It is impossible to turn on the tv or even drive down the road without encountering propaganda. One man who understood propaganda and realized how easy it was to use was Adolph Hitler. He used propaganda to make an entire country turn against certain groups of people and give their lives to the Nazi belief system, "Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Fuhrer" meaning one people, one country, one leader. (Bard, The Holocaust, p.10)

Propaganda, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is " the spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person". It plays on peoples secret fears and desires and stirs up passion and desperation inside of them. Hitler's propaganda, for example, played off of peoples fears, but today propaganda is geared towards secret desires. Propaganda is not always a bad thing, like anti-drug commercials and slogans like "drug free, way to be". It is a power that can be used for unsurpassable good or it can used as a destructive force capable of undermining the entire moral fiber of a society.

Before and during WWII, Hitler used propaganda to make the German people believe that the Aryans were the "master race" and everyone who was not pure German was "Undermenschen", or unacceptable. His primary target was the Jews. He claimed that the Jews were the cause of all the horrible things that happened after WWI and claimed that they were trying to take over Germany. He put up posters and published newspapers like Der Sturmer, "The Attacker", to portray the Jewish people as poison to the perfect Aryan Race. Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's Minister of Enlightenment and Propaganda and editor of Der Sturmer used the phrase "the Jews are our misfortune" at the bottom of every newspaper he published. (Coupe, "Cartoons of the Third Reich") He also convinced German people that the Jews were the scum of the society. Hitler's reign of destruction, however, was not exclusive to the Jews. He also targeted Gypsies, Slavs, physically handicapped, and any one group of people who he believed was against him, like jazz musicians and writers. He began to get rid of the people he considered undesirable to provide "Lebensraum", or living space, for the Aryan people. He built Ghettoes and concentration camps where he sent the Jews and others to die. The worst thing was that "the Germans were not content with just killing people, they tortured, dehumanized, and humiliated them" first. His hatred and use of propaganda resulted in what is know as the Holocaust, which is a Greek term signifying destruction (Bard, The Complete History pf the Holocaust p.28.). Throughout the Holocaust over 6 million people were killed, all as a result of Hitler's brainwashing of Germans.

The propaganda in America today is a different type of propaganda. It is not targeted towards destruction of people externally, instead it degrades their souls. Propaganda is everywhere. It is on TV, in magazines, on billboards, even in schools. People are being taught that things that are not good are OK. Like sex before marriage, homosexuality, drug and alcohol use, and even hurting people. More and more children are becoming violent because of video games, many teenage girls are developing eating disorders and having sex because that is what television and magazines make the ideal