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As time moves forward, so does the people and their creativity and this variable of creativity is moving in a faster, higher rate than time if we were to draw a line graph and compare each centuries graph to one another. Analyzing the events that occurred in the 20th Century, questions arise to whether they happened because of technological advances or if technological advances are the reason for the events that occurred. One thing that we do know is that it is all timed perfectly to bring us the pop culture that we know today and the knowledge of technology to either bring peace to our world or to turn it all around and use it for different, contentious reason like what we saw from the past 100 years or so. In this essay, I will be addressing the social, artistic, and political issues of the 20th Century and how these events shape future generations as myself to transform the forthcoming for the better.
If a surveyor were to go around asking the public which two big events happened in the 20th Century that comes first to mind, many would probably say World War I and World War II. That would not be a surprised because of how many people all over the world were involved and how each of those events shaped the world we know today. However, there are so many other events that happened before, in between and after each war that revolutionized human behavior. World War I, beginning in 1914, became known as the “first modern war” due to its warfare and weapons that were used. In 1903, the Wright Brothers successfully achieved human flight inventing the airplanes and somewhere between that time and before the first World War, Henry Ford formed the assembly line pushing for manufacturing to increase its productivity. With these, some technological advances that were used in the war that changed warfare in the future, especially World War II, was machine guns, airplanes, tanks and chemical weapons like poison gas. This specific event has changed humanity in all countries even if they were not involved directly, forever leading to more advances in technology that will be later used in future wars like World War II and the Cold War and cultural political shifts affecting the innocent.
After World War I, you would think that any unresolved concerns would have been disputed and figured out however the end of the war just caused unnecessary conflict because of unsettling feelings between other countries. One of these causes for these effects was the Treaty of Versailles or what some would call it, “How to mess up the world for the next several decades”. Basically, this treaty did not solve anything and was about vengeance, every world leader was present for this event except for Germany, Austria, and the Ottoman Empire, the “losers” of World War I, however Germany did have to sign their rights and give up all territory, colonies and allied nations and pay for all financial damages. There was no actual closure to this war which leads to the bombing of small-town Guernica, Spain in 1937. This event was probably the worst bombings that led to World War II for no one in this town was prepared or even saw this tragedy coming. The Germans, who were responsible for this horrific event, were doing military Nazi tactics basically blanket bombing a whole population of innocent civilians making this the first holocaust. During this time, not only was it the Spanish who were attacked but so were other innocent civilians that literally had nothing to do or influence the decisions of others. Anyone was a target at this point not only with physical ailment but with “brainwashing” tactics such as propaganda, videos and radios being used to poison the minds of these civilians with persuasion and pervasion. So, it was hard to tell who is right and who is in the wrong, creating a great divide between many nations and stirring up an even bigger problem with politics and cultural views.
With World War II taking into place, this situation heavily influenced and effected visual arts and entertainment. In 1941, the infamous movie Meet John Doe, directed by Frank Capra, was released sending numerous messages to the American population. About a man named John Willoughby who was chosen to represent the average joe, John Doe, of the United States by a group of reporters, things start to get out of hand as lies are building on top of one another and power becomes more important than the original message and plan to unite communities. We can see the “fake news” as the start of this was built on a fake letter that “John Doe” wrote talking about the failures of his life because of the government system. This fake letter attracted many all over the country creating clubs promoting John Doe, which sounds very similar to the political situation of Germany before World War II began with Hitler and his followers. However, the main premises of the movie is about fascism with the reporting company using the John Doe platform to gain power and recognition from the John Doe lovers of America to get promotion in political power when this whole movement was supposed to exclude all political affiliation. The leading man of the reporting company, named D.B. Norton, can be compared to Hitler in this situation having his own militia and private police force. He wants everyone on his side and planned on using John Doe to promote him so he can have all the power. It is interesting that such entertainment like film and cinema can be used to educate and inform people the struggles of the world since this form of entertainment was prevalent at its time.
Looking back at all the technological advances, like radios, airplanes, television (creating propaganda, commercials, and advertisements) the new form of art called film, that were invented and created, this helped the spread of information all around the world. Just like the Industrial Revolution in the 19th Century helping the unification of countries and fostering nationalism, the 20th Century contributes to this ongoing progression with the Information Revolution that still goes on till this day. The Information Revolution starts with the invention of computers and the internet helping communication spread more thoroughly throughout the world and not just within a certain vicinity. With this invention, the possibilities are endless which is a pro and con in every aspect of telecommunication and the spread of information. As a Humanities Major, communication and unification falls right under the umbrella of our field and knowing the possible outcomes of the Information Revolution influences me to use all platforms like social media for the better to spread awareness of accurateness when it comes to culture and even political and social situations. Time is always moving forward and so do we, so we the people having access to this kind of invention that can influence others to do whatever, should use it to make others better for the future.
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