Objective and Subjective Screening

In the book The Language of New Media, the author introduces the concept of the screen and the role it now plays in day to day life. A screen is, for the most part, an artificial visual display created to show the image of information, objects, people and places that are not there. Through the use of a screen, people can see things with their own eyes that are otherwise far away. There are two ways that object images and ideas can be presented on a screen objectively or subjectively and it is up to the viewer to ascertain the difference.

The screen was first used in warfare as a way of getting information in real time. An example would be the first types of radar on warships and submarines. In a submarine there is no possible way to see where one’s opponent is. The use of the screen created a representation of the battlefield and the enemy. Essentially it becomes the window in the submarine. From there once the representation of the enemy has appeared on the screen, action is taken, a strategy is developed, and a firing solution is put into effect. Since the screen is processing information in real time, new information is constantly allowing for a change of strategy to take place if the incoming information and its interpretation deems it necessary. It is these tactical advantages that win wars.

The idea of the screen is interesting because it is both like looking through a window and looking through another person’s eyes. The window only gives a person a certain degree of sight and blocks out everything else in the world and does not give the viewer any choice in what they see for the most part. This is unless the viewer decides to go to another window/channel/input/ect. This means that the screen only gives a narrow view of what can actually be seen.

The way a screen is like a person’s eye is that they can, through the use of a video camera, capture images that they see right in front of them and broadcast to others. The catch with that is the person with the “eye” or camera has complete control over what the viewers see. Through the use of video editing, what is really going on in the visuals can be misconstrued and misinterpreted by the viewer. This misconstruing of visuals by the viewer could be the intent of the producer. This is called propaganda or spin.

Through the use of screens I myself have seen countless places and time’s some real some not. That is the catch 22 with the screen. It is a doubled edge sword in that, like stated above, only the producer has control over what is seen. The screen is used in modern day society as the primary form of dispersal of information. But those who disperse such information do not always subscribe to the highest ethics of journalism and participate in yellow journalism (cough*Fox News). This represents a deliberate and narrow “eye” view of certain situations which can put the entire public conciseness in jeopardy.

I mention these possible situations because “with great power comes great responsibility”. The power of the screen to distribute information and unify a culture can also be used to highjack it through the use of propaganda.

It is my opinion that whenever images and information are shown on a screen in modern media they can be shown in two ways, through a window and through an “eye”. The window is the objective view of the two and the image is not been diluted or disillusioned the perspective is objective. But when images and information are shared through an “eye” the viewer has been prompted and is seeing what is displayed through a certain point of view. In this instance an opinion has been integrated along with in information.

The invention of the screen transformed modern society by allowing images to move freely and not having the need to have an actual physical form in order to be shown. That is why the screen is so useful for the distribution of information, because it can change at any moment. But remember, “With great power comes great respociblity.”