Aldous Huxley's Propaganda Under A Dictatorship Analysis

In Propaganda Under a Dictatorship, Aldous Huxley explains how the advancements of technology along with an increase of psychological studies have created a pathway that allows forms of mind control to be easier than ever. Huxley looks at Hitler to analyze how a dictator during the introduction of mass communication through technology managed to successfully control the minds of over eighty million people and strip them of any intellectual thought. Through replicating parts of the Church hierarchy, to his awareness of people in crowds become ignorant beings motivated by feelings rather than through logic and with his efforts to relay his belief in a completely one-sided manner and condemn anyone who dare challenge it, Hitler gathered an army of supporters who had no sense of self-value and individuality.
Hitler had appreciated and was influenced by the Catholic hierarchy that had been established by the Church. The hierarchy, a system of the Pope relaying information to those close but below him, which in turn would continue to be passed down beneath them, was done until the information had reached the lowest ranks: the common people. This, along with the knowledge of exploiting peoples’ fears, was a method Hitler had much respect for. …show more content…
Huxley quotes Herman Rauschning, who mentions the influence the Catholic church’s system of hierarchy had on Hitler. The theme of rank difference is persistent throughout the film. Riefenstahl begins the film with a point of view from the sky that almost seems godlike. The camera goes through the sky, showing the viewer where Hitler is coming from before he arrives to the airport; descending from the clouds. In the speeches he gives, there is a physical distinction of height level between him and his followers. The crowds of people stand on the ground, looking up at Hitler who speaks on an elevated