As Albert Einstein once said, “Memory is deceptive because it is colored by today’s events.” Memory is very fickle; it can be altered, misguided, and manipulated if we are unaware of what we consume.
Public memory, the memory of a community or collective as a whole, can also be shaped and molded by what the majority of the collective is engaging with. Media, literature, music, and online content can all contribute to how the public reacts and responds to specific events.
TikTok, for example, led people to participate in alarming challenges such as eating tide pods and going into grocery stores to open ice cream, lick it, and then place it back on the shelves. This behavior shows that the public can be manipulated into doing what they believe is popular at the time.
In the musical Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Miranda recreates the public image of Alexander Hamilton’s life by using contemporary music and altering historical facts to fit the flow of the musical better; however, we do not know the impact this will have in the future.
This article discusses the potential dangers of recreating public memory, such as the ill intentions of people recreating history for their benefit, how recreating public memory can cause the public to react in alarming ways, and how recreating public memory is not moralistic. Recreating public memories of critical historical events could be dangerous; there needs to be more research regarding how future generations will respond to the misinformation in the guise of artistic liberties.
History of Public Memory
Public memory is a collection of memories shared by a community, collective, or group as a whole. In their article “Public Memory,” Houdek and Phillips (2002) state, “Public memory entails the acts and processes through which memories move beyond the remembering individual and become shared, passed on, and in this way, a broader network through which people gather a sense of collectivity.”
For example, in the musical Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Eliza collected all of Alexander Hamilton’s writings, interviewed people Hamilton was around, and published his legacy after Aaron Burr shot him. Centuries later, the musical Hamilton was produced, profoundly impacting the public memory of the life of Alexander Hamilton.
However, the production was not one hundred percent based on historical facts. Houdek and Phillips (2002) state, “As early as 1926, philosopher R.G. Collingwood contended that the difference between public memory and history is subjective and immediate, history objective and mediate.” History is based on facts, while public memory is based on collective personal experiences and emotions about events.
I believe there is a duty to preserve historical accuracy when creating public memory through artistic liberties.
The Rising Epidemic of Disinformation
Recreating public memory could be problematic, especially with misinformation on the rise. Disinformation has become an epidemic, with mass media platforms contributing to the problem daily. Additionally, many news stations that people rely on to tell them what is happening worldwide have increasingly become biased, manipulating stories and using greenscreens and propaganda to push certain narratives for views and monetary means.
It is getting harder to discern fact from fiction. In the article “United States of Distraction: Media Manipulation in Post-Truth America (And What We Can Do About It): written by Mickey Huff and Nolan Higdon (2019), they state, “Schools are not adequately educating young people in media literacy, critical thinking, or the central importance of the public interest and common good.” This makes young people easily manipulated by what they see and hear because they lack the skills to discern fact from fiction regarding media outlets.
Huff and Higdon argue that propaganda and misinformation would not phase the people if the population had been adequately educated to think critically. Suppose people are not correctly educated to filter misinformation, manipulation, and propaganda.
How is it acceptable to use artistic liberties to fabricate stories to fit an artist’s view of an event or person they are using to recreate public memory when the education system has failed to provide students with critical thinking skills to navigate misinformation? Altering facts can cause people to misinterpret events and come up with subjective ideas, which can lead to conspiracy theories, distrust, and even social movements that could be dangerous.
The Danger of Misinformation and Disinformation in Public Memory
Disinformation through manipulation is dangerous to society as a whole. In his article, “The Dangers of Disinformation”, Heilo Fred Garcia (2023) states, “Communication has power. And power can corrupt. Corrupt leaders can harness power as effectively as honorable leaders. But to dishonorable ends. Or through dishonorable means or both.”
For example, during the COVID-19 Pandemic, we needed the president to lead us through the crisis. However, President Trump downplayed, dismissed, and ignored the warnings from health officials claiming it was a hoax made by the democratic party— in the article, “Trump, Covid-19. And the War on Expertise”, by Paul E. Rutledge (2020), Rutledge writes about an interview Fox News had with Trump: “On February 13, in an interview on Fox News with Geraldo Rivera, President Trump said, “In our country, we only have, basically, 12 cases, and most of those people are recovering and some cases fully recovered. So, it’s actually less.” The COVID-19 pandemic has caused over a million lives in the United States alone to be lost to the virus.
President Trump did not take immediate action and dismissed the virus, causing the public to become divided on their beliefs. Furthermore, his claims caused a lot of hatred and suspicion. Disinformation, downplaying events, and manipulating the public can yield serious consequences, such as how the COVID-19 pandemic played out due to Trump’s lack of leadership skills during hardship.
Additionally, Trump placed the blame for the pandemic on China. By doing this, he shifted the public memory of China and the people of China. As one could imagine, this caused people in the United States to think of the people of China negatively.
Many people turned on individuals with Asian heritage, targeting innocent people and harassing them over Trump’s claims. This goes to show how misinformation could cause people to become upset, confused, and misled by a person in power. Media, literature, and social platforms can all cause public memory to shift and be manipulated.
Recreating Public Memory, A Moralistic View
How can the public trust that what they see and hear is correct regarding history if mediums such as musicals like Hamilton place false narratives to make historical stories more interesting?
Eric M. Uslaner (2002) says in the article “The Moral Foundations of Trust,” “Fukuyama states the central idea behind moralistic trust: “…Trust arises when a community shares a set of moral values in such a way to create regular expectations of regular and honest behavior.” How can the community share a set of values when the values of the people in charge of what is produced regarding actual events are untrustworthy?
Winston Churchill once said, “History is written by the victors.” This implies that the victor can say anything they want to and omit any information they did not like. When people begin to feel as if they are being lied to by their community, distrust arises, division between the people grows, and disharmony sweeps the community.
There is a moralistic duty to ensure that history is being told as accurately as possible for future generations. Society needs a stable foundation between the people and the leaders of each community. We cannot have a solid foundation if what we are being shown and told about actual history is based on lies, no matter how small.
The Right to Artistic Expression
Some may argue for the right to artistic expression through artistic liberties. In the article “Art for the People, By the People: The Role of Artistic Expression in American Democracy,” Angela Irene Hefka (2020) argues, “Art, unlike propaganda, allows the public to discuss political agendas through a visual medium.” Hefka claims that “artists challenged social norms through art, which led to drastic changes to law and policy eliminating discrimination based on sex and race in the 1960s.”
While I agree that art is a vital tool in our society that can be a powerful medium for a call for change and has contributed to many things that have benefited the community, I still believe there needs to be more research done on the types of artistic expressions that are being broadcasted. As Hefka expresses, art created a movement to change the law for the greater good.
If art can be used for the greater good, it can also be used with ill intentions by individuals wanting to recreate society by their standards. What draws the line between artistic expression and propaganda? Do both not have the same goal to influence people in one way or another? When it comes to justice and building society, artistic expression is a beautiful tool.
However, we must stick to history as closely as possible to avoid distorting the past when it comes to significant historical events. There needs to be more research on the impact of using artistic liberties concerning historical events.
Conclusion
In conclusion, recreating public memory of critical historical events must be carefully considered when rewriting the past. Misinformation is on the rise and not slowing down any time soon; using artistic liberties to adjust historical events slightly, such as the life of Alexander Hamilton in the musical Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda, can cause society to misinterpret what is told or shown.
Misinformation has serious consequences related to the community, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, people are not adequately educated to think critically and may think everything they see or read about a recreation of a historical event is accurate.
Furthermore, lying to the public about historical events is not moralistic because it causes more uncertainty and distrust in society. While people may argue for artistic expression, there still needs to be a duty to preserve history truthfully and accurately.
Artistic expression is a great tool that has benefited society and should be used, but within limits. We choose how future generations will understand the past. How can they know our history if disinformation clouds their understanding? They will not be able to.
References
Garcia, H. F. (2023). The dangers of disinformation. Ivy Tech Community College Library. https://eds-p-ebscohost-com.allstate.libproxy.ivytech.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=b0237473-fc53-4572-ae3f-671d27756b27%40redis
Hefka, A. I. (2020). Art for the people, by the people: the role of artistic expression in American democracy. Rutgers University Libraries. https://rucore.libraries.rutgers.edu/rutgers-lib/62534/
Houdek, M., & Phillips, K. (2017). Public Memory. Oxford research encyclopedia of communication.
Mickey Huff, & Nolan Higdon. (2019). United States of distraction: media manipulation in post-truth America (and what we can do about it). City Lights Publishers. https://eds-s-ebscohost-com.allstate.libproxy.ivytech.edu/eds/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=04b23ce4-2ef3-4449-b058-9dcd408b897c%40redis&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#AN=2205073&db=nlebk
Kail, T. (Director). (2020). Hamilton: An American musical [Film]. Walt Disney Pictures.
Rutledge, P. E. (2020). Trump, COVID-19, and the War on Expertise. The American review of public administration, 50(6–7), https://doi.org/10.1177/0275074020941683
Uslaner, E. M. (2002). The moral foundations of trust. SSRN. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=824504
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