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24020075 Muryum Palekar

The Role of Films and Dramas in Promoting Conflict

Media can play a major role in both conflict and peacebuilding. Media can act as a tool in identity formation and a sense of citizenship among people. Through TV dramas and films, media can be used as a tool for ideological development and can be used to reinforce essentialist identities based on nationalism in the population. If we particularly take the example of Pakistani media, there has been a recent surge in dramas and films produced by ISPR. Dramas and films like Ehd-e-Wafa and Parwaaz Hai Junoon paint a positive picture of the military and create a sense of patriotism and appreciation towards the Pakistan Armed Forces by highlighting the sacrifices these forces make to protect the country.

Another common theme in these dramas and films is their negative portrayal of India. Not only do such films and dramas do good business, but they also lead to anti-Indian and anti-Hindu sentiments in the people of Pakistan, particularly children. Laaj, a film directed by Rauf Khalid, portrayed similar themes. In an interview, the actor who played an Indian army officer in the film expressed that he was attacked with stones in a village because the people despised his character. This incident portrays how media can act as an educative tool in portraying certain ideas about particular groups which can have a major role in increasing conflict.

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This sort of negative portrayal of India in Pakistani media only helps further the resentment of the Pakistani people against India, which pushes us more and more towards conflict. Not only is it extremely problematic, it is actually counter productive. Instead of moving forward and learning from history, we are constantly fed a nationalistic agenda which further threatens peace and strays us away from having better relationships with India. However, i suppose its not entirely wrong to use history to create a story based on similar events. the problem lies in creating fabricated stories that are biased and increase the likelihood of conflict.

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laibarizwanmehr
Jul 04, 2022

Agreed Muryum! I've also noticed the same trend in Hollywood as well, whereby American movies would risk dragging out their storylines to demonize the Soviet Union. Critically acclaimed shows like stranger things have also attempted to demonize Russia, making their soldiers unnecessarily barbaric, the place unforgivingly cold. The Queen's Gambit has also attempted something similar where every scene shot in Russia has colder, duller frames while the American scenes are colorful, warm, and lively. These are the more subtler ways to inculcate feelings of hostility towards a nation based on historical conflicts and I believe media to have immense power in perpetuating these narratives and feelings.

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Exactly Laiba! Most American movies portray Americans as saviors of the world who only work to make the world a better place. At the same time, other nations are either shown in a villainous light or are shown as helpless nations who need Americans to come to save them. There was also a scene in Stranger Things where one of the Russians was shown reprimanding the other and explaining to him how Americans are fighting to protect the rest of the world from Vecna. This goes on to show how films and shows are used as a tool to perpetuate certain narratives.

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You have raised several intriguing points. In this globalised era, the media plays an integral role in how conflict is portrayed. Most importantly it shows several images of schools damaged and how the children are facing the brunt of the conflict. In your opinion do you think media is a device which helps raise awareness of conflicts or a site of spreading misinformation?

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I believe media can act as a tool for both, raising awareness and also spreading misinformation. In my opinion, social media, especially Twitter, is a great platform to raise awareness about conflicts. The reason for this is that Twitter allows people who are being directly affected by the conflict, the victims, to talk about their issues firsthand. Issues like forced conversions of minorities in Pakistan or the enforced disappearances of Baloch students have all been raised on social media and that is how they gained attention of most people. So yes, I do believe that while media can be used as a tool to fabricate truths it also provides a great platform for raising awareness.

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The fact that a country's military is now in the business of producing and creating romanticised and cliche media content goes on to show how much of patriotism and nationalism is ingrained through conditioning. Shows such as ehd e wafa and sinf e ahan are examples of this, as instead of portraying the army a certain way they just seem like tactics to instil fabrications notions of patriotism.

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Exactly! Through the creation of dramas and the portrayal of a positive image of the army, it is implicitly teaching the viewers that the army can do no wrong and that whatever it does is for the betterment of the country. The army is shown as "protectors" and "caretakers" of the nation, and more often than not, these shows leave viewers feeling a sense of pride in the army. I am not sure if this is a general sentiment among young children, but I remember, as a child, I would watch such shows and would want to join the army because of how they glorify the struggle of the people in the army.

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250900690
Jul 01, 2022

Another interesting anecdote is that existence of ISPR as a media outlet for the army, this is quite unusual given the idea of a media as a facet used by the army where they have access to social media websites and hold accounts on twitter and their obvious production of dramas and as you had mentioned using these dramas to encourage patriotism and using their twister to sensitize the army as positive

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I completely agree with you. The existence of a media wing of the army to build a particular narrative or image about it is quite unusual. In fact, any films or dramas that might talk about conflict or other such issues are excessively supervised by ISPR. They are known to look into the script, do background checks on the filmmakers and might even show up to sets. There have also been cases where representatives of the ISPR have been present at the sensor board reviewing of the films and have also rejected films that did not pass their standards. This shows the role army has in the kind of content that is shown to the public.

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