Reality is the culmination of everything around you. Images, sounds, and smells integrate to form an experience that you know to be real. In its purest form, reality is what a person experiences themselves instead of observing through another’s eyes. In today’s modern world, reality is distorted by media and the arts. People have become so dependent on sources, such as television and photography, for news that they are being told by others what is real and what’s not. A prime example of this distorted reality is the use of photography in propaganda for the Iraq War. Photographs had been released displaying Americans torturing prisoners of war. These images from an isolated case caused public outcry and a major withdrawal of support among Americans for the Iraqi peacekeeping operations. Conversely many more images are shown displaying soldier’s patriotism and their willingness to help others. This is done by photos of soldiers interacting with foreign civilians, or displaying their unity among each other. Our views of these realities are further distorted by censorship in the media. Many news companies are biased and display images and stories that they want others to believe without giving both sides of the story. In the modern world it is best to keep an open mind in order to view these distorted realities as multiple viewpoints and use them to make your own image of the world.
