Technology, as a whole, is constantly changing. Old phone models are being updated, new multimedia devices are being created, and current products are being refined at this very moment. With every addition, modification, and change that is made to the technological world that surrounds and engulfs us, we must ask ourselves a question....how these new advances will affect our everyday lives. This is a question that is dealt with extensively in Plato's dialogue, Phaedrus and in Tom Hooper's The King's Speech.
In Plato's Phaedrus, the characters within the dialogue discuss in depth various topics including, true love, madness, and the soul. Another thing that is discussed at great length is rhetoric, its many forms, and its possible uses, for both good and bad. Writing in particular is also critiqued. It is easily discerned that the characters are very hostile towards the writing down of ideas. They feel as though true knowledge cannot be learned through this medium and it can only remind people of what they already know. Also, they feel it is very impersonal. Seeing as though the writer of any given text cannot read into and respond to their audience’s ideas and thoughts, they can’t refute an opposing argument, and they can’t modify or revise their stance in any way.
Tom Hopper’s Academy Award film, The King’s Speech, deals with the advent of the radio and the varying effects that it had on politics and popular culture. In the movie, which mainly focuses on King George VI’s speaking struggles, Radio is portrayed as a both a blessing and a curse. It is known to the royal characters that the radio provides them with a new outlet through which they can communicate with their many subjects. They are now speaking to each of them directly no matter where they reside. This also presents them with a problem. Now, they must not just dress and act like royalty, but they must be able to speak like royalty. They need to be able to sympathize with, arouse, and rally their countrymen through nothing more than their speeches. Hence, Radio is presented as a double edged sword.
Technological changes of any kind are bound to yield both positive and negative effect. This is shown in both Plato’s Phaedrus, and Tom Hooper’s The King’s Speech.
