Coursework Four: Implicit and Explicit Ideologies in Film.

To understand what is the significance of ideology in film, it is crucial to understand its defnition.

There are many ways of defining that term, however John Hess defines ideology as 'a body of ideas, attitudes, values, and perceptions, as well as, actual modes of thinking (usually unconscious) typical of a given class or group of people in a specific time and place.'

Depending on a film, each ideology takes a different form either explicit or implicit (or both).

Turner says that not possible to be 'outside the ideology and think about it in a language which is itself free of ideology.' 

Ideology in film can be divided into two categories: 

Implicit: 'the protagonist and the antagonist represent conflicting values, but these are not dwelled upon.' The viewers accept the ideology as normal or as the way the world works. Therefore various ideologies exist in the film, while the audience does not see whole picture (Hughes).

Explicit: 'audience learns these ideologies mainly in adolescence/early adulthood. These ideologues can be learned from top down, such as those of scientific methodology, religion and political ideologies' (Van Dijk). 

Implicit ideologies can become explicit in case of conflict, struggle or resistance (Van Dijk).

Cinema has the power to embolden or represent powerful ideas, and this has its repercussions (Palmer).That is especially reflected in the communist cinematography, where the government controls its people through propaganda.

To gain a better understanding of the differences between implicit and explicit ideologies in film it is worth to look at the very extreme example of film productions in North Korea.  Its film industry is heavily influenced by its leaders,  Kim Jong-Il (who is already dead) and his successor, Kim Jong-Un, who successfully implement their ideology into these films. It is marked in one of North Korean documentary films: 'Kim Jong-Il and Stars.'

Jones says that 'Kim Jong-Il was 'the driving force behind the secretive nation's cinema industry.' It is reflected in his book- 'On the Art of Cinema', which does not suggest, but tells how to do a film. Kim Jong- Il reflected the Lenin's view that ' cinema is the most important of the arts' and he believed that cinema/film is powerful ideological weapon.

Implicit ideologies can be seen in two North Korean productions, such as: 'Comrade Kim Goes Flying' (2012)  and 2 cartoons: 'Clever Racoon Dog' and 'Anit-USA animation.'

'Comrade Kim Goes Flying' tells the tale of a young coal miner (Han Jong Sim) who cheekily defies authority to realise her dreams of becoming an acrobat' (Williams). The film presents implicit ideology, because it depicts the North Korea as a paradise for young passionates and therefore shapes people's positive perception of 'everyday life' in their country, because it tries to show the 'real' image of the North Korea, which in reality is only the imagination of the ruling party. In reality the country  experiences poverty and communist regime, which breaks the human rights.

The next examples,  'Clever Racoon' and 'Anti USA animation' are cartoons broadcasted for the North Korean children. Both cartoons are implicit and explicit (because primarily they are meant to entertain their audience, but unconsciously they try to teach children to hate the U.S.A). To achieve that they use 'violence' and 'weapon' as the main message to reinforce North Korean's willingness to join the army. Nowadays, North Korea maintains 'one of the world's largest standing armies and militarism pervades everyday life.' It suggest that these cartoons remain a political ideology, which effectively influences their young audience.

Finally, 'North Korea Exposses Western Propaganda' uses explicit ideology, because it uses propaganda as a political ideology. Propaganda provides "the audience with a comprehensive conceptual framework for dealing with social and political reality" (Jowett). This documentary presents the Western world from the North Korean dimension in a negative, which consequently ensures their audience that the rest of the world is worse than them. 

To summarise, cinema is an ideal political tool, which can be used to control the society through various ideologues. North Korea is the last remaining country with a strong communist regime and personality cult (Juche ideology), which became a national ideology. Its cinema provides excellent examples of the implicit and explicit ideologies, which uses various techniques to present the ideology in film's framework.

References:

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL USA. North Korea Human Rights [online]. Available from: http://bit.ly/ZTAWJE [Accessed 9th April 2013].

CRISIS WATCH NETWORK. North Korea weapons aftermath. Available from: http://bit.ly/16QMcbO [Accessed 9th April 2013].

JONES, S., 2012. A Cinematic Revolution: North Korea's Film Industry [online]. Asian Global Impact. Available from: http://bit.ly/17qPuW4 [Accessed 9th April 2013].

JOWETT, G., O'DONNELL, V., 2012. Propaganda and Persuasion [online]. Los Angeles; London; New Delhi; Singapore; Washington: Sage Publications. Available from: http://bit.ly/157SR52[Accessed 9th April 2013].

LEE, G., 2003. The Political Ideology of Juche. Stanford University Journal. Available from: http://stanford.io/QrAezr [Accessed 9th April 2013].

HESS, J., 2005. Film and Ideology. Jump Cut. A Review of Contemporary Media [online]. Available from: http://bit.ly/10TaxdN[Accessed on 9th April 2013].

HUGHES,C. Film and Ideology [online].Washington State University.Available from: http://bit.ly/YcPTVo [Accessed 9th April 2013].

PALMER, L., 2011. On Cinema and Ideology. Cultural Warrior [online]. Available from:http://bit.ly/hH0eQF [Accessed 9th April 2013].

TURNER, G., 2006. Film as Social Practice. 4th edition. [online]. Abington; New York: Routledge. Available from: http://bit.ly/10LTueD [Accessed 9th April 2013].

VAN DIJK, T., 2006. Ideology and discourse analysis [online]. Journal of Political Ideologies. 11(2), pp. 115-140. Available from: http://bit.ly/YLie8W [Accessed 9th April 2013].

WILLIAMS, S., 2013. Lights, camera, censorship: inside the North Korean film industry. The Telegraph. Available from:http://bit.ly/WzvHPa [Accessed 9th April 2013].

Videos:

DPRK Cartoon- Clever Racoon Dog. Available online [Accessed 9th April 2013].

DPRK Documentary: Kim Jong-Il and Stars. Available online [Accessed 9th April 2013].

Comrade Kim Goes Flying. Available online [Accessed 9th April 2013].

North Korea Animation against USA Imperialism Invasion. Available online [Accessed 9th April 2013].

North Korea Exposes Western Propaganda. Available online [Accessed 9th April 2013].