Propaganda, Part 2: Back to Old-School — How to Wow Like Mao

[Here is the second of a five-part series from new contributor “benjaminTheDonkey.” Let us know how you like it. -ETR]

(Previously - Part 1: What’s Good for the Goose-Step is Good Propaganda)

Typical of this idealizing is how leaders are portrayed - larger than life and "special" - they are often portrayed in ways normally reserved for saints. They are, after all, secular messiahs. Figures like Lenin and Mao were represented in ways that lent them an air of transcendence, a sort of superhuman aura. This is achieved through techniques of representation, composition and distribution.

Note how the perspective has the viewer looking up at them - a psychological cue that hooks into our memories of looking up at mommy, daddy, and other authority figures when we were children. Note also that they are both larger, and more prominent than anyone else, and pictured like parents surrounded by a brood of loving children, or titans (literally - "offspring of the gods") amongst mortals. They are portrayed in such a way as to confer a godlike quality. They feel all-powerful, all-knowing, possessing of a deep certainty and clarity the rest of us lack. They are out front, their faces set in a heroic pose as they lead the way forward into a glorious future. Note also the hand gestures - benediction, acknowledgement of the adulation, a paternal sort of "Ah yes, daddy is pleased with you" quality.

Now, on the subject of "glorious future" and "benediction", lets look at something else before we move on. Look at how Mao is portrayed with a corona of glory - literally a halo like that which is normally used to represent someone who is in a high spiritual position - one who walks with and speaks the words of God. Other images (here too) show Mao with an ethereal glow that conveys his transcendent otherworldliness. Stefan Landsberger, PhD - Olfert Dapper Professor of Contemporary Chinese Culture at the University of Amsterdam puts it this way:

His face was painted usually in reddish and other warm tones, and in such a way that it appeared smooth and seemed to radiate as the primary source of light in a composition. In many instances, Mao's head seemed to be surrounded by a halo which emanated a divine light, illuminating the faces of the people standing in his presence.

Here are Christ and John the Baptist for comparison:

So here we are again with the message even further stylized - Mao is turned into an icon enshrined in a solar orb and radiating glory, transcendence, and smiling benevolence on the adoring masses:

The "new messiah" is portrayed as the focal point, made not only the source of the ideals and the blessing they bestow, but associated so closely with them that the two become virtually synonymous.

In addition, an aspect of propaganda that can only be properly understood when seen in actual use - one that doesn't show in a representation of individual posters is that of ubiquity. When this person is made into an icon and then their words and likeness are reproduced everywhere, they ascend the final rung to godlike status by rounding out their divine qualities of omnipotence and omniscience with that of omnipresence.

And finally, here is chairman Mao again with the glory corona turned into a sun on the horizon telling us it's a new day dawning.

Next Up ... Part 3: Enter the Great and Powerful Obamessiah of Oz - Smoke, Mirrors, and Caesars - Oh My!

The Propaganda Series

1. What’s Good for the Goose-Step is Good Propaganda
2. Back to Old-School
3. Enter the Great and Powerful Obamessiah of Oz
4. The People’s Revolution
5. Hope & Change in All Its Taxpayer-Funded Glory