Influence is unavoidable; our reality is not of our own making

Like a game, reality is dependent on a set of mutual laws and expectations rule-makers agree upon and there are penalties for those who go against the expectations of the majority such as the loss of a “life” or “game over”. Some have a lot invested in the game- wealth, time, effort, goals. Others see it for what it is; a projection of our imagination with a subjective sense of meaning. This game of life is far more complex than any board game like Chess or Monopoly because it represents a reality that offers greater levels of intricacy than which merely mimics or replicates an aspect or semblance of life itself.

Reality is transient. Reality is determined through the consensus of the majority and therefore is subject to change when the consensus changes, as happened over five hundred years ago when people began to realise that the then dominant view of the universe as geocentric as flawed. However, such change in the paradigm is inevitably accompanied by conflict as society divides between those who wish to protect the status quo, such as the Catholic Church which attempted to suppress the discoveries of scientists like Galileo, whilst others, like Shakespeare, welcomed new thoughts as shown in the naming of his theatre as ‘The Globe’ built in 1599. Shakespeare was a humanist who explored the exciting new possibilities presented by the rise of science in his society, and in his play As You Like It, Shakespeare refers to “all the world” as a “stage” where “men and women” are merely players with “exits”, “entrances” and “parts”, demonstrating his awareness that reality is as much a construct and not of our own making.

Wag the Dog, an award-winning black comedy directed by Barry Levinson dramatises the consequences of a system that merges government and mass media. In the film, the vulnerability and naivety of the US public are exposed through the government’s ability to create a fake “war” in order to distract the public’s attention from the President’s sex scandal with an underage “Firefly Girl”. In this case, the “rule-makers” are the spin doctors, namely Motss, Brean and Ames who are able to present the media doctored footage and images as well as a war song in order to convince them that the US is at war with Albania. The public’s perceptions of the government are distorted to suit the agenda of the ruling power, made more palatable by capitalising on the patriotic nature of the US citizens. The difference between the renaissance and now is that in that golden age, there reigned a spirit of intellectual inquiry. As suggested by Levinson, the public have become so used to ephemeral images of war, sound bites of suffering and inconsequential foreign conflicts that it is just easier and less painful to accept all information on face value. We simply follow the rule makers of the game of reality rather than refereeing it for ourselves.

This is not a new thing. History also shows us numerous examples of the way that an unthinking and unquestioning society can destroy truth and innocence. A reality that results only in loss is one where the authoritative power not only has influence over the society but also who would “win” or “lose” in the game of reality is the conservative Puritan society of Salem, Massachusetts during the time of the witch hunts of the 1600s. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is a play that describes a society in a time that was torn by the conflict of the teachings of the Bible. The group of girls along with their leader, Abigail Williams, collectively had the power to manipulate the judicial system to work in their favour which consequently sent nineteen innocent, falsely-accused people to their deaths, all to turn all the townspeople’s attention away from an adulterous relationship. The reason why Abigail’s scheme was so successful was because she was able to use the townspeople’s fears against them and in her favour. This same mechanism of appealing to fear can be seen today, perhaps not the fear of going to Hell, but a fear of not belonging with the majority. The media is notorious for deeming anyone who does not fit in with the majority as an outcast, similar to what happened during the time of the witch trials.

In the end, the reality we experience or accept is influenced by external factors and is not entirely of our own making. From this perspective, we must accept that it is in our human nature that our realities can be easily manipulated by “rule makers” and “game changers”. This is due to our fear of standing up to a higher perceived power and our need to conform to the realities of the majority to avoid punishment. However, despite having this power, in Wag the Dog the death of Motss proves that even being a game maker has its consequences if the rules are not followed. Motss desperately wanted recognition for his work which would have broken the rules that were established at the beginning of the film. Therefore, the constructed reality that the spin doctors had created became too much for Motss, leading to his “game over”.