Controlling the Media

In the scene that I have chosen, it shows the room of the television broadcast space, with two men at the front. This scene clearly emphasizes the power that Eleanor has over her husband, John. At one point, Eleanor turns to her husband and gives him a nod, a signal for him to stand up and talk. We then see the huband's face appear in the television set below Eleanor as she watches him perform his little speech. She occasionally gives a slight nod, showing to the audience that what he is saying, she approves of. In fact, it could be that they have rehearsed this speech and he is carrying it out exactly as she told him to. Also, notice that the television set is below her, this is an indication of her power over him. She is watching over his every action, and controlling what it is that he says.

Another important detail is how the two men are shown in the screen through the television set. John is screened with a close up on his face most of the time whereas the other male is screened in a medium shot, a shot from the head to the waist. The two men are displaying their anger differently, John with his facial expressions and the other with his stance.

We then see John run out of the television broadcast room and into the coat room where he and Eleanor gets surrounded with broadcasters and bombarded with questions. A question they ask John is how many communists did John say there were. We see John look over at Eleanor for the answer and she mouths the amount 104 in reply. After she he answers, Eleanor changes the amount to 275 and without hesitation, John follows what she says. This whole scene shows the audience the amount of control Eleanor has over John.

Works Cited:

The Manchurian Candidate. Dir. John Frankenheimer. Perf. Laurence Harvey, Angela Lansbury, James Gregory, and Frank Sinatra. United Artists, 1962. Film.

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