Educational Media Reviews Online

In matters of law, be they domestic or international, legitimacy and viability are invariably in part functions of perception: if a sufficient proportion of persons believe a legal order to be legitimate, or viable, then this represents a significant element in determining the extent that it is in fact legitimate and viable. As such, numerous public statements made by senior figures within the United States’ current presidential administration, seemingly intended to raise questions about the legitimacy and viability of the United Nations, prompted considerable attention within the international legal community. Given the current importance of visual media in determining what are considered pressing political questions it goes without saying that many of the statements made by US officials concerning the UN have addressed televised press conferences in order to reach the largest possible audience. It is probably more interesting, however, to reflect that a quarter century ago this year the UN released two films in an attempt to employ the power of visual media to communicate - to a wide audience - its own vision of its role.

In 1982 the UN released the films Men The Court and Security Council (SC) with the apparent objective of broadening public understanding of the structure and purpose of two of its foundational institutions. Each film provides a methodical and relatively complete outline of its title institution wherein the form of presentation ensures the information is accessible to junior high school students, but the content is such that many adults may learn from it. For example, many adult viewers of SC may deepen their understanding of the Security Council as the film illustrates the extent to which the prospects for compromise through “informal consultations” have been conscientiously embedded within the workings of the Council. To this end the film shows the purpose built private conference room that exists next to the Council’s main public chamber, and explains that all public meetings of the Council proper may be postponed indefinitely to allow negotiation and compromise to proceed in the informal setting whenever delegates feel that doing so offers a greater potential for resolving their differences.

Not unlike SC, The Court provides a straightforward technical summary of the purpose and structure of its title institution, in this case the International Court of Justice. As a result of a more clearly thought out and articulated introduction and conclusion, however, The Court possesses a clearer focus and message: that international society is in the process of an evolution “from force to law” that most states underwent domestically, and that there are many ways in which this evolution is developing, even though it is as yet – as of 1982, and we may say as of today also – incomplete.

The two films apply similar styles to their subjects, and they possess largely the same strengths and weaknesses. Essentially the most interesting thing about them is that they were produced by the UN and as such they represent interesting examples of an attempt by the organization to define itself in the eyes of the general public. Although the releases represent officially sanctioned information, it would be disingenuous to term it propaganda: each film is logically coherent, drawing measured conclusions which appear defensible in light of the evidence they examine. On the whole, however, the material treated in the films, while far from irrelevant, is now sufficiently dated that they are not particularly well suited for the original objective of reaching a general audience. Of course the institutional structures described remain in place, but the case studies that the films elaborate upon in an attempt to show the influence of the UN in the modern world have, of necessity, lost their power in those terms.

Ultimately these films are recommended with reservations, but the reservations are fairly considerable: at this point only post-secondary institutions that possess specialist collections in communications studies, curriculum studies, public relations, or conceivably international relations or international law, are likely to have reason to purchase these films.