how films portray control blog post

blogContent/posts/other/how-films-portray-control.md

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+Sit down and grab a drink because it is time that we talk about the
+LSD trip that is the 1981 movie *Shock Treatment*. *Shock treatment*
+can be called a sequel to Rocky Horror; however, the storylines are
+very different, and the only common thread is our main actors Brad and
+Janet. Where Rocky Horror was a play about lust and sexuality, shock
+treatment was a musical about questioning your sanity... or something
+along those lines. 
+
+The problem with *Shock Treatment* -and part of why I loved it so much
+-was that it was a satire on absolutely anything and everything. The
+message of the show was unfocused; it shot a ton of stuff at the wall
+and let the viewer fill in meaning. Many themes could be elaborated on
+within this show, including mental health, control, gender norms,
+consumerism,  censorship, human nature, and manipulation. Most
+subjects were one-off and did not serve further the plot that much,
+but other topics struck home. The show is still well worth the watch
+because it's entertaining, and it's eerie to see how well a movie from
+the early '80s reflects society today.  Moreover, newer shows like
+*Westworld* and Black Mirror are still portraying the same messages
+about control and consumerism but, using different narrative
+structures than the ones used in Shock Treatment.  
+
+# Plot
+
+At a high level: we have our antagonist Farley Flavors, the CEO of
+Fantastic Fast Food trying win over his twin brother's wife (Janet) by
+using his recently purchased TV network-- Denton TV. Farley schemes to
+get Brad (the husband) admitted into a pseudo mental hospital using
+the Denton TV show Marriage Maze. Farely proceeds to win over Janet by
+using mysterious medicine and making her the star of the new TV show
+Faith Factory as "Miss Mental Health". The devious plot of Farley
+Flavors gets stopped by Betty and Judge Write, who started poking
+around the studio after their news program got canceled to make room
+Faith Factory. In the end, Judge Write and Betty sneak into the mental
+hospital (which is inside the massive TV set), unlocked Brad, and
+crashed the premiere of Faith Factory. Despite saving Brad and Janet,
+the rest of the town is willfully ignorant and signs up for the new
+"mental health treatment" that Farely is selling. 
+
+The end. 
+
+# Consumerism
+
+The dangers of rampant consumerism and advertising are presented by
+using satirical Denton TV shows. The first show is called Marriage
+Maze; on it, Brad and Janet discuss their struggling marriage using
+blatantly obvious product placement. This culminates in the catchy
+song *Bitchin' In The Kitchen*. 
+
+<youtube src="BqksSN6K_V0" />
+
+Later we see the Happy Homes show; in it, Janet talks to her parents
+about her struggling marriage and gossips about other people. The
+entire set of the show is an elaborate model home decked out with all
+the new appliances that the studio is advertising. 
+
+# Mental Health
+
+There is soo much to be said about mental health with this show. It is
+first essential to understand the historical context behind the show.
+Released in 81, it was likely influenced by David Rosenham's work in
+1975: *Being Sane In Insane Places*. This work found that it was easy
+to get committed to a mental ward, but, hard to get out -- even if you
+are perfectly normal. 
+
+<youtube src="SuNRopIJRgo" />
+
+
+In the show, Brad is committed to a mental hospital for "shock
+treatment" to fix his marriage with Janet despite there being nothing
+wrong with him.  Once in the psychiatric ward, Brad is drugged up,
+strapped to a chair, gagged, and locked away in a cage. This could be
+making a statement about how poorly we treat the mentally ill or how
+we diagnose them --especially in the '70s and '80s. Or, one could read
+more into how the audience reacted to Brad getting locked away-- could
+be saying something about the stigma associated with mental illness. 
+
+The theme of mental illness makes more sense when considering it
+alongside the power structure that is presented in this show. Nobody
+in the show seemed particularly keen on the actual mental well-being
+of Brad. Farley Flavors was simply using mental health as a pawn in
+his plan to win over Janet. Moreover, Farley was selling mental health
+in his new show Faith Factory -- possibly as a way to maintain his
+viewers' cult-like following.  
+
+<youtube src="aOEUpYcSwOM" />
+
+# Relationship to Media
+
+Did someone mention cult-like following? The viewers of Denton TV are
+caught in a trance like-state of believing everything that is told to
+them on the Denton TV. This brings up a discussion about how corporate
+interests influence the media and how that affects vulnerable
+audiences. In Shock Treatment, the loyalty of the viewers was betrayed
+by Farely Flavorers Fantastic Fast Foods when he used viewer trust to
+admit everyone into his literal mental hospital.  
+
+<youtube src="6ffWg2Oxomo" />
+
+How the media can influence its audience by telling them what a person
+should act like was also explored in the song *Thank God I'm a Man*.
+This illustrates the media's power to define what is considered
+normal. We also see more of this when they sculpt Janet into the
+perfect model for the new TV show Faith Factory. 
+
+# Influences
+
+Shock treatment raised some excellent questions, questions still
+reverberating through society today. How should we interact with the
+media we consume so that it doesn't negatively influence us? How do we
+deal with the mentally ill in a way that is non-exploitative? Shock
+treatment was able to approach these questions by posing a satirical
+view of what society could look like with unchecked consumerism and
+mass media. Newer shows like *Black Mirror* and *Westworld* are
+raising the same questions using technological dystopias focusing on
+AI. This change primarily reflects technological advances and what
+audiences fear the most.  
+
+![Denton img with Farely overlooking](media/denton.png)
+
+The type of dystopia presented in Shock Treatment is rather close to
+the dystopias in *Farenheight 451* by Ray Bradbury George Orwell's
+novel *Nineteen Eighty-Four*. These dystopias were concerned with
+censorship, mass-media, and tyrannical rule. Non-surprisingly, we see
+all these features in Shock Treatment. The entire film takes place in
+a gigantic movie set with a large number of Denton TV fanatics. Farely
+censors Betty and Judge Write when they stepped out of line from his
+message. Finally, Farely rules with only his own motives in mind and
+sits alone in a control room with monitors watching everyone on set.
+Sound familiar? *Farenheight 451* and *Nineteen Eighty-Four* also
+fixated on the presence of TV screens and the omnipresence of being
+watched without your knowledge. 
+
+New tech dystopias like *Westworld* and *Black Mirror* liven this up
+for modern audiences by adding Artificial intelligence and other
+futuristic technologies. Now, it isn't a powerful elite telling you
+what to like using mass media, it is an algorithm that determines the
+fate of your everyday mundane lives. This is exemplified in
+*Westworld* season three, where we learn that an AI computer system
+called Rohoboron is silently controlling the world through
+manipulation. 
+
+After nearly 40 years, it is astonishing how relevant Shock Treatment
+still is.