|
Have you ever heard about the job ‘Night Crawler’? A Night Crawler is a freelancer existing in the U.S., who work to shoot and sell the scene of an incident that could be a scoop to a TV station. If I say this, you may think of a wonderful image of running on your feet to inform people of information. However, there is a dark side hidden behind this job. So, I would like to introduce ‘Night Crawler’, a movie that allows you to look into the hidden world of the media.
 |
The monster of the night
Louise Bloom, the main character, is a thief who steals bars or manhole caps and sells them to construction sites. He wants to have a decent job, but amid failing every time, he accidentally finds a night crawler filming a traffic accident. And he turns to a full-time night crawler because he thought he can make a lot of money by doing this. Louise grows rapidly, earning more money than expected. In order to meet the needs of broadcasters, he arrives at the scene of the incident faster than the police and manipulates the crime. He also pretends to be a professional reporter, pushing the camera in to interview victims or witnesses. Louise is blinded by money and social fame and obsessed with provocative scenes that viewers would notice. And broadcasting stations also pressure him for sales.
In the meantime, the movie continues to pay attention to Louise' face, which looks expressionless at first glance. He does not laugh or cry when breaking into the victim's house and filming a video, or when he drives his partner to death to make more provocative events. Louise' eyes chasing the subject are filled with madness like a hunter looking for a prey. In the movie, his eyes can be seen as symbolizing the 'camera lens' itself.
In the ending scene, he sets up a decent company and continues to work as a night crawler. The broadcaster continues to cut him some slack, because he keeps bringing benefits to company, and the police suspect him for manipulation of the crime scene, but they cannot deal with it due to insufficient evidence. In this movie, the social success of an evil person clearly shows the corrupt media and modern people who value their success more than the lives of others.
The Korean ‘Night Crawler’s
Is there a job called ‘night crawler’ in Korea, too? The answer is “no”. There are many people in Korea who ask for money for reporting videos and photos, but broadcasting stations are not responding to save reporting ethics. Recently, however, there has been a job in Korea that can be called the ‘Korean version of the Night Crawler.’ It's ‘Cyber Wrecker’.
Cyber Wrecker refers to people who collect social issues and upload videos on YouTube or broadcast live on the Internet. The only purpose of cyber wrecker is to make a lot of money by increasing the number of views. Since they are preoccupied with increasing the number of views by uploading videos faster than others, they make videos by organizing other data screens or news reports, not by themselves. In addition, rumors are spread by using more provocative words than facts or adding their groundless thoughts. They do not consider the pain of the people involved and the social repercussions of spreading false information at all.
Louise Bloom is a villain, but we can't put all the blame on him. Broadcasting stations that made Louise the villain exist, other night crawlers, and viewers who watch TV news are all responsible. In order for this to no longer happen to our society, efforts from the government, producers, and consumers are all needed. In the case of the media, efforts to identify, criticize, and self-purify each other are needed, and on the contrary, those who consume information should develop the power to discriminate correct information.
< Copyright © The Gachon Herald All rights reserved > |
