The role of media is crucial for human lives nowadays. Much time, efforts, and knowledge have been already spent to improve this industry, and it is hard to stop contributing such spheres like movies, literature, television, and music. The investigations of Deuze and Steward show that a variety of the existed media channels abilities influence considerably our lives, and the point is about “living a life not with but rather in media” (1).
To learn more about the world of media, it is better to focus on the news and the main themes of the articles offered to the reader. One of the most captivating current issues is the future Oscar and the nominations which can win. In this paper, the article by The New York Times’ writer, John Collins Rudolf, about the unexpected nominee Gasland will be analyzed to prove that media may influence different aspects of our life.
There are a lot of investigations which are devoted to the problems of oil or natural gas drilling (Lyons 43) and the challenges which have to be overcome by humans. Under the current technological progress and the abilities available, it is possible to inform the whole world about the most urgent issues by means of different media channels.
Documentary film is one of the forms that aims at “reporting about world” (Rollyson 1) and about world’s achievements. In the article under analysis, the author admits that the promotion of such movies and the Oscar’s nod that is possible is a unique chance for the director and the author of Gasland to attract more attention to the problem.
Though people are aware of the problems caused by drilling and natural gases, they do not want to fall into details. Nowadays many people prefer to watch movies or news online and rely on the information provided. This movie helps many families “who’ve been hurt by drilling” (Rudolf) to declare about themselves and inform future generations about possible problems and threats.
With the help of this article, the reader will learn that there are many unsolved issues which deserve our attention. It seems to be dangerous for people to discover the truth that it is possible “to light their drinking water on fire” (Gasland), and this article as well as the movie the author of the article discusses is a good source to rely on and to understand how unreliable current living conditions are.
The global content (Deuze and Steward 7) of the article helps to localize such information around the whole world. This article does teach the reader and does show that it is not always easy to disclose a particular problem to public without media interruption.
There are many nominations for the Oscar this year: Inception, The Social Network, Black Swan, etc (Chaney). Still, are any of the movies mentioned or nominated as much crucial for someone’s lives as Gasland for people suffered from natural gas drilling is? Hardly! Of course, each movie is a unique chance of the director to introduce personal evaluation of opportunities.
However, the chosen for the article documentary film Gasland should be marked in the media industry as well as in human history as an attempt to call for action and understanding. If people accept the idea that media is an integral part of their lives, it is time to use media in order to meet the necessary goals and improve the conditions people have to live under like the attempt was made by Josh Fox, the director of the movie, and John Collins Rudolf, the author of the media article.
Works Cited
“About the Film.” Gasland. 2010. Web.
Chaney, Jen. “Oscar Nominations 2011: ‘King’s Speech’ Leads with 12 Nominations; ‘True Grit’ Nets 10.” The Washington Post. 25 Jan. 2011. Web.
Deuze, Mark and Steward, Brian. “Managing Media Work.” In Managing Media Work. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, 2011.
Lyons, William. Air and Gas Drilling Manual. Burlington: Gulf Professional Publishing, 2008.
Rollyson, Carl. Documentary Film: A Primer. Lincoln: iUniverse, 2004.
Rudolf, John Collins. “Industry Boos Oscar Nod for ‘Gasland’.” The New York Post. 25 Jan. 2011. Web.