Blitz: Bomb and Public Essay

Submitted By sanetoshiwatase
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Pages: 5
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This film shows the aftermath of a nightly bombing, this is important as the general public got most of their news from the films played in the cinema and general newspapers. It is set out to inform the people of Britain about the damages of the bombings but at the same time it is set out to boost morale or keep it intact. The film doesn’t show the ruins for long but instead shows the more positive outlook of the ruins such as the crucifix still being intact. This is very important as the majority of the public were practicing Christians and to see the crucifix of Jesus still kept intact boosts morale massively as it shows that Hitler can’t hurt their morale of religious beliefs and if the crucifix can keep standing than it can elude that they can too and keep fighting against Hitler. It also shows the King meeting up with the general public; mostly fire-fighters this also boosts morale as the fire-fighters can see their hard work being rewarded. Furthermore, as the King was amongst one of the first people to visit the damaged buildings could show the public that the King cares for their well-being and that they are as important. There is also footage of people being successfully evacuated from the docklands by servicemen, this could make the public feel safer as they can be reassured that the servicemen could save them if the worse happened. This also gives a sense of morale as it causes the public not to panic or lose hope which is essential to bring in so early into the beginnings of the Blitz.
The narrator has a perky voice when talking about the general citizens (mostly children) picking up ‘souvenirs’ which could suggest the people of Britain choosing to see the silver lining of the situation then dwell on the negative. The video also shows the people of Britain displaying calm and rational behaviour during this difficult time which could suggest that the makers of the video wanted to show that the lives of the people of Britain were unchanged and unaffected due to the bombings. This is seen where civilians are packing up their belongings which could suggest that although their house has been bombed they are still not losing hope and carrying on as normal. As many people were bombed out of their houses and found other forms of housing. It could also set out to show an example of how the public should be acting in response to the bombings and are reinforced later of the ‘keep calm and carry on’ slogans that were introduced in 1939 although printed and distributed were never posted.
The video was published on 12/09/1940 which was 5 days after the bombings began this could show that the propaganda at the time were eager to boost morale as soon as possible. This was important as Hitler wanted to break the public’s spirits in hopes of taking over Britain. It also shows that the public can keep their morale high despite of the bombings. Hitler mostly hit the capital as this was the heart of Britain and where the significant buildings were. This is seen as in the video it shows a bombed docklands. The keep up of morale was MOI’s (ministry of information) main priority so the bombing of the docklands were not shown for long. Again as the public mostly got their news of the war from films it was important to show the public to stay calm and go about their daily lives despite of the bombings. The beginning card ‘Battle Of London’ implies that a war has already begun for Britain and is trying to include the citizens into the war. It shows that the public keeping up morale is as important as the soldiers fighting in the war against German troops. This aims to involve the public that in keeping calm and not losing their morale will help Britain win the war and bring a patriotic element into the video. This patriotism is extended with the King meeting the fire-fighters to give them a sense of importance and that they are not only doing good for London but for the country. This could make the viewer and the public think that they
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