Dissection of a fascist propaganda image.

[uberreiniger]

I found this on a conservative friend's Facebook. The image was posted with the text that accompanies.



Those peaceful protestors.
‎"We are socialists, we are enemies of today's capitalistic economic system for the exploitation of the economically weak, with its unfair salaries, with its unseemly evaluation of a human being according to wealth and property instead of responsibility and performance, and we are all determined to destroy this system under all conditions." — Adolf Hitler

For those who'd rather not look, it is a photograph of a police officer bleeding freely from a serious head injury kneeling on the pavement, struggling to lift his radio to call for help. It is followed by a statement implying the poor man is the victim of "peaceful protestors," although it does not specify who, where, or when. Finally it is accompanied by a quotation by none other than the Big Bad himself, Adolph Hitler.

It really is a chillingly masterful example of propaganda imagery. You have a) an image so horrific and shocking the viewer can easily miss its lack of context. (Was the officer beaten by anti-capitalist rioters or did this happen while trying to stop a bar fight or other act of violence?) b) An incendiary accompanying statement that tells the viewer where to direct their enraged reaction before they begin to question the image's context ("Those PEACEFUL PROTESTORS!") c) A statement that at first seems be a stock argument of the designated villains, followed by d) the shocking twist that it was actually said by history's most notorious villain of all.

The thing I find most disgusting about it is the shameless propagandizing of a real person's real injuries. And that happens all the time: remember the protestor/military veteran who took the teargas canister to the head? But if you have to do it, have the decency to tell the truth: say who he is, where it happened, and why; as much information as you can. Someone who has been hurt deserves that much, no matter which "side" they are on.

Comments

[ayashi.livejournal.com]

:(

100% agree with everything you've said here. When it comes to images shared on facebook with an obvious political leaning... well, sometimes I wish that people would think about what they are seeing and question it, rather than taking the pairing of an image and some (seemingly related) text as truth.

[uberreiniger.livejournal.com]

That's the beautiful thing about propaganda though: it strips you of your very desire to see and question.

[anarchicq.livejournal.com]

A few months ago there was a post someone I followed on twitter reblogged on Tumblr.

She reblogged it in a moment of PASSIONATE RAGE AND DISGUST!

It was about how a trans kid in school was discriminated against. It was valentines day and the boys were collecting paper hearts from the girls. The trans kid collected the most hearts but he was disqualified because he was born a girl.

And then the school had him committed to an asylum and WE MUST SPEAK OUT AGAINST THIS INJUSTICE!

...ok.

1) How did they suddenly find out the trans kid was born a different sex? JUST OUT OF FUCKING NOWHERE? Did he scream "it's because I was born a girl wasn't it?!" and everyone just gasped in shock at this sudden revelation?

2) and the most obvious...unless the child is a ward of the state, I'm pretty sure that NO SCHOOL I KNOW OF HAS THE AUTHORITY TO COMMIT A CHILD TO A PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL! The PARENTS can, the school can recommend this course of action. But the school can't just ship a kid off to the nuthouse. No.

3) turns out the original blogger deleted it and admitted it was fake.

4) DEAR GOD PEOPLE, learn some critical thinking skills.

5) (ETA) The name of the school, the faculty, the asylum, were never mentioned. As far as I could recall, not even the city, state or country were mentioned either.

[uberreiniger.livejournal.com]

Wow... I swear, some of these stories have to have been created as mad libs.

Here's one you'll appreciate. Just two years ago I had to call a friend out for re-blogging a story about how Dungeons & Dragons was being used to aid school children in math classes, only to have the educators then use it to push the children toward the occult and New Age spirituality.

I was in grade school the first time this same urban legend was used to try and scare me.

[xwitchymagicx.livejournal.com]

Poor man. I mean, seriously, I think I'd help the man call for help rather than take a photo of him struggling to call for help.

[uberreiniger.livejournal.com]

For all we know help was two steps away just outside the frame. Again, there is so much about this image that we don't know. All the more reason why it never should have been used this way and whoever did needs to feel ashamed.

[triadruid.livejournal.com]

Exactly. And wow, the audacity to call this the act of "peaceful protesters"...

::edit::
http://www.streetwisepundit.com/another-fake-occupy-photo-occupy-idiots-those-peaceful-protestors.html
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hep/24746196/

[uberreiniger.livejournal.com]

Shared your info with my conservative friend. To my astonishment, he ceded the point. You have done your part today in stopping internet arguments. *trophy unlocked*

[triadruid.livejournal.com]

Holy Shit! That never happens. :)

[styxx374]

It's kind of funny how, in my experience, the people on facebook who are extremely conservative are the ones who preach the most hate with their posts.

[uberreiniger.livejournal.com]

Also worth noting is how they accuse liberals of being misinformed, blind, or outright liars yet they themselves are willing to believe just about anything.

[germsama.livejournal.com]

Hello, fox news!

[uberreiniger.livejournal.com]

They report, you decide!

[hep.livejournal.com]

hello, this is my photo. thanks for doing this post, i try to track how many people reinterpret this image around the internet even tho the info is right in the page and i have never posted it anywhere besides flickr and one other media website which is now defunct. if you ever run into anyone pushing this image as propaganda again, just me a line and i will go in and shut them down.

[uberreiniger.livejournal.com]

You are welcome. There was something so suspicious about all of this I just had to make a statement about it. As you probably saw, one of my friends was able to identify your original Flickr post. Once I gave the information you provided there to the person I saw re-posting it he was apologetic. I don't personally know the individual he originally got it from but I can provide you with their name if you like.

[hep.livejournal.com]

yeah, i have had that image spread around quite a bit over the years for various protests. it's funny how many people will denounce propaganda of their rivals but then engage in the same shenanigans themselves. and yeah, the way i found this post was i saw your url in my logs hehe!

[uberreiniger.livejournal.com]

Do you know what eventually became of the injured man in the photo?

[hep.livejournal.com]

i think he was eventually ok. he wasn't actually hit with the pipe in the photo (i actually think that was just street debris), he was hit by someone who threw a skateboard because a police car ran over a burning mattress that shot into a crowd of peaceful protestors. it was a very out of control situation where quite a few things were, i think, misinterpreted, and both parties were at least partially at fault for poor decisions, but at the same time i think some stuff was mere chance that ended up hurting other people way more than intended, if at all.

[uberreiniger.livejournal.com]

Also, do you mind if I add you? I went and looked at the photography on your LJ and was really impressed. Also, I support wholeheartedly your stance on Galaga machines. (I was a lonely arcade attendant back in the day. The Galaga machine was one of the closest things I had to a co-worker.)

[hep.livejournal.com]

yeah let's be internet friends! i love finding other galaga fans! growing up my cousins built arcade standups so i was lucky enough to also be in close, daily proximity with unlimited quarters hehe