Allegory of the Cave

Blog Prompt 4:

Is there a parallel between the status of the prisoners in Plato’s cave and the spectators in a cinema? In other words, how are we deceived by movies and other media? Do we mistake fiction for reality? Is it possible that this physical world isn’t reality?

The parallel between the status of the prisoners in Allegory of the Cave and the spectators in a cinema is that an individual’s perception and reality can be molded. In Allegory of the Cave, the prisoners are shackled together, with their legs and necks fettered. This forced the prisoners to have no lateral movement and they are only able to see what was in front of them. This was reinforced by a fire that was burning behind them as they walked forward. The fire would illuminate the walls, creating imagine and shapes from the resulting shadows. The illusions that were made from the outside objects in the form of shadows would become what they perceived as reality. This is confirmed by the quote “Then in every way such prisoners would deem reality to be nothing else than the shadows of artificial objects.”

As a prison was set free, his experience and reaction was detailed. He was unshackled and able to turned around facing the light. However, the light filled his eyes with pain as he wasn’t able to perceived the objects as he only knew of their shadows. Even though, he was closer to reality, it was difficult considering the shadows were now his perception of reality. Once, he was freed from the cave the outside world was unfamiliar to him. He had a difficult accepting the physical objects as being real and the shadows as being nothing more than a mere reflection. It took time for him to adjust to his new reality. As he returned to the cave, to share his discovery, the remaining prisoners are unable to accepted his new found perspective. They believe that the journey to the outside word as blinded him and made him stupid.

There are many forms of media that may influence or manipulate what we perceived as reality. For instance, movies are able to put in a fictional reality such as scary movies. Scary movies are able to draw a reaction of fear even though we know what we are currently viewing isn’t what is really happening. Another example would be songs. Songs have the dual ability to shape us from the lyrics and music video. The lyrics and the music video of many song take us out of the present moment. Many of these song glamorize money, nice car and homes as being superficial. What they often lead out of the hard work and struggles that position them to have all of those luxuries. This often leads many of us to believe that these luxuries come easy when in reality that is far from the truth. Social media is gradually becoming a larger and larger influencer. Many of the social media platforms are filled with bias propaganda. These ads and popups may appear to be legitimate sources, often resulting in changed mindset. The presidential campaign is a good example on this type of propaganda. The false or bias information that you encounter on a candidate may influence who you decide to vote on.

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