[Here is the fourth of a five-part series from new contributor benjaminTheDonkey. Let us know how you like it. -ETR]
(Previously: Propaganda, Part 3: Enter the Great and Powerful Obamessiah of Oz)
As we have seen, the execution of contemporary propaganda is more refined, but the techniques are essentially the same. Obama is continuing to build for himself a personal, centralized brand. He himself becomes the locus of adoration and aspiration. All of the good and praiseworthy things we might long for are apparently to be found in him (again, the clear Christ-like positioning). Lest you think I overstate this, watch the video that’s been getting some play on the news, put together by Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore:
This is very interesting. It’s a stylistic & conceptual successor to the Will.I.Am “Yes We Can“ video, with media stars and starlets shot in an intimate style where they speak in the manner of giving testimony, and there’s even light, ethereal organ music in the background, with the whole thing carrying a strong cadence in the repetition of the phrase “I pledge,” like a Martin Luther King sermon/speech. The whole thing feels like a church service. Especially when...
At 3:15 into the video, Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers pledges “to be of service to Barack Obama”. And the the shocking capper—when all of the “I Pledge” repetition throughout the video is summed up with Demi Moore jarringly intoning “I pledge to be a servant to our president.”
It’s also important to notice how all of these good and noble things that are mentioned (such as stopping slavery) are then all tied together within the unifying nexus point of Obama (branding via association). That, and the fact that the final shot where it pulls back and you see the grid of many different people all saying the same thing until it becomes Shepard Fairey’s Obama face—the message is essentially “we fit together to form the embodiment of His purpose” (again, another New Testament Christ image)—and then the clear, collectivist “Join Us” vibe as we pull out completely and once again see the looming Obama placed boldly and dominantly before the White House and capitol building. The only thing it’s missing is the creepy Star Trek Borg Collective’s “Resistance is Futile.”
Why is this a call to personal allegiance to a man? Consider this: a person-to-person allegiance is far more intimate and holds us more securely than allegiance to an abstraction—like liberty.
With its diverse smattering of representative faces and personalities, it is the contemporary cousin of this Maoist poster that (along with countless others) was intended to broadcast the message “It’s all for YOU, the people. This is being done to empower and inspire and allow each of you to reach your greatest potential.”
And with all these beaming faces, it just seems appropriate to repost the video that compares the Obama supporter video from back during the campaign (the one that used singing children) to the National Socialist film with which it is cut together here. There is a difference between some of the substance of what is being sung in each piece—we do not currently find ourselves with children pledging their lives to the leader, but we are on the proverbial slippery slope. Children are being indoctrinated, while being used as tools of indoctrination—into devotion to a leader.
“Obama’s gonna change it, Obama’s gonna lead ‘em. Obama’s gonna change it, and rearrange it. We’re gonna change the world.”
And it’s not just way back during the heady days of the campaign. This sort of thing is popping out even more now:
It quotes lyrics from the song “Jesus Loves the Little Children,” substituting Obama for Christ (and you though all that rambling about Christlike positioning was theoretical overstatement?) The song is also sung to the tune of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” whose real lyrics go “Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord”—a reference to the second coming of … you guessed it! This report broke the story. And the indoctrination just keeps on coming …
Next Up … Part 5: Change in All Its Taxpayer-Funded Glory—Cash for Comrades
The Propaganda Series
1. What’s Good for the Goose-Step is Good Propaganda
2. Back to Old-School—How to Wow Like Mao
3. Enter the Great and Powerful Obamessiah of Oz
4. The People’s Revolution
5. Hope & Change in All Its Taxpayer-Funded Glory
Recent Comments