Under the Big Top of the Media Circus

After watching Dog Day Afternoon this week, one of the parts of the movie that I found most interesting was how Sonny turned the bank robbery into a media circus. Obviously the idea of the media circus during the early 80's is much different than it is now, but nevertheless the events that transpired throughout the movie became a huge spectacle. In the movie, Sonny clearly understood that the world was focused on him, and he manipulated the media and crowd around him. When Sonny starts chanting, "Attica", he reveals his understanding of his position of power.

Throughout the past few decades, certain events have created a world-wide media frenzies. In particular, the death of Princess Diana in 1997 and the death of Michael Jackson in 2009 have taken over the media during their respective times. Both people lived a life in the limelight, and clearly had an influence in the media and were portrayed in certain ways. But, when both died, the news of their deaths spread over every type of media and was almost unavoidable.

During today's heavily mediated society, it seems as if we move from one media circus to the next. But, today a media circus can be focused on anything from "balloon boy" to Tiger Woods' infidelity. Deaths are no longer one of the few news topics that can be sensationalized. Our society has become one whose media that feeds upon the problems of celebrities. When Tiger Woods' marital problems became public knowledge, they were broadcast on every news network from E! to CNN. No matter what type of news the station usually broadcast, Tiger Woods' problems apparently fell under their spectrum.

I think the evolution of the media circus has a direct reflection of our society and our relationship with media. We have become a society obsessed with the lives and gossip of others, and when there is controversy, we want to know everything about it right away. We expect our information quickly and efficiently, and we don't expect privacy to be upheld. The media circus has taken over, and we have all bought tickets for the show.