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So There Was This Today

~ An eclectic kaleidoscope of whatever tickles my fancy, makes me think, gives me pause, grabs my heart, gives me the giggles, or in any way hits me in the feels.

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Tag Archives: propaganda

Movie Review: “Selma”

11 Sunday Jan 2015

Posted by 98maryanne in Movies

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Tags

civil rights, David Oyelowo, propaganda, Selma

Selma is a powerful, moving, and unflinching look at the true story of the events in Selma, Alabama in 1965 during which Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the civil rights movement were working to get legislation passed that would ban the laws, known as Jim Crow laws in the Southern states, that disenfranchised black voters because they disproportionately affected them. Those laws included poll taxes that the poor couldn’t afford, having to have a voucher from an already registered voter before they could register, and laws that said when they registered to vote, their name and address had to be published in the newspaper, leaving them open to harassment or worse from the KKK. This movie is visceral in its portrayal of the violent retaliation against the peaceful protests, including the deaths that occurred during this time. Those include the four little girls killed when their church was bombed; a young black church deacon, shot and killed by a state trooper during a peaceful march while he was trying to protect his mother from a policeman’s baton; a white unitarian minister in Selma for the march, beaten and killed by white racists; and the death of a white woman who was killed by the KKK for the crime of marching with and driving home afterwards, fellow black marchers. It culminates in the historic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama that began with about 3,200 marchers, black and white, in Selma and ended five days later in Montgomery by which time there were 25,000 marchers and where Dr. King gave a speech on the steps of the state capitol. Shortly thereafter, President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law.

Selma was directed by Ava DuVernay and written by Paul Webb. David Oyelowo plays Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with Carmen Ejogo as Corretta Scott King. Tom Wilkerson plays President Lyndon B. Johnson and Tim Roth plays Alabama governor George Wallace. David Oyelowo is excellent as Dr. King. He has the cadences of his speech, the way he moved, his quiet authority and his fiery speech making down to a tee. Carmen Ejogo is also excellent as Mrs. King, having to deal with the death threats not only against her husband but also against her children and herself, as well as Dr. King’s long absences and reputed affairs. This movie touches on all of that and the tensions it placed on their marriage, but also the obvious love they had for each other. Selma has a very large cast that includes all of Dr. King’s peers, and all the supporting players in this true life drama from the FBI to judges to clergy to everyday folks whose lives were impacted by these events, and there is not a sour note in the bunch. It is one of the most well acted movies I’ve ever seen. The 60’s era costumes, set dressings, cars and locations were spot on.

The thing that I can’t stop thinking about however, is how much is still to be done. Because racism is institutionalized and almost blind in this country. But mostly about the rich and powerful who use propaganda to keep black against white against brown against gay against woman against anyone or anything “other” in order to keep our eyes away from their pillaging of wealth from the bottom to the top. As Dr. King said in his speech on the steps of the capitol in Montgomery, Alabama, “They segregated southern money from the poor whites; they segregated southern mores from the rich whites; they segregated southern churches from Christianity; they segregated southern minds from honest thinking; and they segregated the Negro from everything. That’s what happened when the Negro and white masses of the South threatened to unite and build a great society: a society of justice where none would prey upon the weakness of others; a society of plenty where greed and poverty would be done away; a society of brotherhood where every man would respect the dignity and worth of human personality.” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. saw through the propaganda, refused to be deterred from speaking out and ultimately was murdered in order to shut him up. Sometimes I despair that enough people will wake up and take back their rights from the vultures who want everything. But movies like this, that remind us of the struggle, the reasons for those struggles, the values we hold dear, and those who were willing to give everything so that we can all someday live in peace and dignity and plenty, give me hope that enough people remember, enough people care, and enough people will keep speaking out so that sometime in the not so distant future Dr. King’s dream may come to pass.

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Review: “American Sniper”

03 Saturday Jan 2015

Posted by 98maryanne in Movies

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

propaganda, reviews

I hesitate to call this a movie review, because this was a piece of propaganda, pure and simple. American Sniper was directed by Clint Eastwood and Bradley Cooper plays the title role. Partial writing credit is given to Chris Kyle as some of the movie was based on the book written by him and Scott McEwen. In the book Chris Kyle states that shooting Iraqi’s was “fun” and that he “loved” doing it. He also stated, “I don’t shoot people with Korans. I’d like to, but I don’t.” He called Iraqi’s “savages” and boasted of looting the apartments of Iraqi families in Fallujah. He also stated in his book, “People ask me all the time, ‘How many people have you killed?’ My standard response is, Does the number make me any more or less of a man? The number is not important to me. I only wish I had killed more.” His violent bent was not limited to Iraq however. He was also known to boast about going to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and shooting (sniping) 30 looters. A claim that is dubious at best. He started a security company before his death and the logo is a picture of a skull (that looks suspiciously like the skull from The Punisher) with a sniper site in one eye and the words, “Despite what your momma told you…Violence does solve problems.” His own words portray him as someone who had no issues with violence and that he enjoyed what he did and wished he could have killed more. The movie however portrays him as a man tortured and anguished by what he had to do in order to protect American freedom, while his selfless sacrifices caused suffering in his private life. The movie Kyle was presented very differently than the Kyle presented in his own words. Of course watching a man bragging about his kills and how much he enjoyed it wouldn’t fit the American propaganda that Muslims are evil and deserve what they get, while selfless heroes protect us from that evil.

Chris Kyle was known in military circles as “The Legend” and he is called that many times in the movie. One scene in the movie shows Kyle and his team invited into an Iraqi home, sitting at their table, eating their food, laughing and talking when the Iraqi man leans over to pick up something his son dropped and Kyle notices (no one else does) that his elbow is red. “The Legend” realizes this means he is an enemy combatant, so he leaves the table, searches the apartment and finds a stash of weapons. This gives the team permission to beat the shit out of the Iraqi, force him to lead them to an enemy leader while holding his family hostage and then kill him with the others. All of this makes Kyle a hero. Yet as I was watching that, all I could think was that a great many of the people who view Kyle as a hero for killing those evil “others” in order to protect our “freedoms” (which, by the way have been seriously eroded since 9/11, all in the name of “security”) probably have at least one gun and many have stashes of their own. Now, that would be considered one of our “freedoms” but I wonder if in the same situation, an occupying force coming in and overrunning their city, say the Chinese or the Russians, would those same people not do the same as the Iraqi’s? Use what they had to protect their families and property? Of course they would. But I guess they would be in the “right” to do so while those filthy, evil “others” are in the wrong. Sigh. See, that’s how propaganda works. Because in reality those Iraqi’s have just as much right to fight for their “country” and their “freedoms” and their way of life as we do ours. And until people wake up and realize that the uber-wealthy just use war as a way to maintain their uber-wealth and they use propaganda to make war seem “right” and “just” it will never stop. I was telling someone who asked me if I liked the movie that I felt it was just propaganda, glorifying war and one man who was very good at killing and their response was, “There’s been war since biblical times. There will always be war.” That my friends is the definition of propaganda working. You’ve got religion and war in one statement. Amen and pass me a gun.

Chris Kyle did four tours of duty. This also makes him a hero according to this movie. He left his wife to raise his children while he went back over and over. He did not have to go back that many times, it was his choice. It was his choice to go kill more people rather than raise his children and be husband to his wife. And that makes him a hero. Because he was doing it in order to “save” the other brave men there protecting our “freedom.” 6,802 American service people have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan as of April, 2014. That is a sad figure, and I mourn for their lost lives, given so that America could try and gain control of vast oil fields. That said,  At the very least, 174,000 civilians have been determined to have died violent deaths as a result of the war as of April 2014. The actual number of deaths, direct and indirect, as a result of the wars are many times higher than this figure. It seems like someone should have been protecting the civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan. But I guess if you see them as “savages” it can’t bother you that so, so many of them die while you protect a few soldiers with a sniper rifle. I however, also mourn for their lost lives and despair when a movie such as this glorifies one man’s death count with a rifle and never, not once even suggests that any Iraq or Afghanistan civilian died needlessly.

I did not know Chris Kyle. I doubt seriously that he was evil. He was certainly raised in the hunting and gun culture that is so ubiquitous in this country. He certainly bought into the propaganda about American exceptionalism and the military culture that has also become so prominent. But his own words and actions paint him as someone comfortable with a level of violence that is disconcerting at best, as well as disturbing levels of racism. American Sniper would have been a good movie if it had been truthful about all sides of Chris Kyle and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Instead it perpetuates the myth of American exceptionalism and “might = right”. Chris Kyle was shot and killed by a former service member who according to his mother was struggling with PTSD and had asked Kyle to talk to him. Kyle had taken him to a shooting range to talk to him and let him work off some steam. The irony that Chris Kyle was killed by a different type of casualty of war, while he was trying to help a man struggling so much with what he had seen and done that his only recourse seemed to be to kill “The Legend” and another marine Chad Littlefield (whom the movie never mentioned) is so blinding that I don’t think very many people see it.

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Graphic takes on emerging Ebolaphobia

11 Saturday Oct 2014

Posted by 98maryanne in Media, Politics

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

cartoons, Dallas, Ebola, fear, humor, propaganda

Some hilarious cartoons that fit in perfectly with my series Dallas vs. Ebola and my post Media and the Politics of Fear

eats shoots 'n leaves

First from Jack Ohman, editorial cartoonist of the Sacramento Bee::

BLOG Ebola 1

And this from Jim Morin, editorial cartoonist of the Miami Herald:

BLOG Ebola 2

And from Jeff Darcy of the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

BLOG Ebola 3

Finally, from Bill Bramhall of the New York Daily News:

BLOG Ebola 4

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Media and The Politics of Fear

03 Friday Oct 2014

Posted by 98maryanne in Media, Politics

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Dallas, Ebola, fear-mongering, inequality, propaganda

The politics of fear is not a new idea. Google that phrase and you’ll see what I mean. As I wrote about in my last post, Dallas has the dubious distinction of having the first case of Ebola diagnosed in the United States. I also mentioned in that post that I stay away from TV media most of the time. I find it tiresome, not very informative and in many cases nothing but propaganda. Curiosity has gotten the better of me and I’ve taken a peek at the coverage of the Ebola case here in Dallas. The level of near hysteria over this so far ONE case of Ebola would be laughable if it weren’t so disgusting. And it is disgusting, on so many levels. The media coverage of Ebola in Dallas is fear mongering at it’s worst. Everything, from the hosts and pundits overwrought demeanor, to the headlines, the graphics and the news crawls are carefully crafted to let everyone who watches know that this is not just a serious story but that they are in serious danger. While the news shows bring on experts to explain Ebola and the (almost non-existent) risks of anyone here catching it, I’ve watched anchors and pundits actually question them repeatedly, challenge them on the science and hint through their facial expressions, body language and words that the experts are not to be trusted. Giant headlines flash across the screen EBOLA IN AMERICA, with ambulances and hospitals in the background, while ominous music plays. Today, the CDC sent in cleaners to clean the apartment where the victim stayed and to remove any biological hazard. There have been three news helicopters circling the area all day. Three. To catch a hazmat team clean one apartment and get more footage of rooftops and parking lots. I tried to show in a humorous way in my last post the fear that many people have over this. But the truth is, there are a lot of people who are truly terrified that they are at risk of getting Ebola. There are a lot of people who truly believe the government is lying to them about the risks or the number of cases. They don’t hear the dry and boring reassurances of doctors and other experts on infectious disease. But the headlines, flashing lights, ambulances, red, red, red graphics and the near frantic skepticism of their favorite news anchors is branded into their consciousness.

Why do most of the media behave in this way? Why terrify so many people in this way? Why make people believe they are at high risk of dying from a disease that actually poses almost no risk, but rarely even mention the real threats to American’s health? It’s not just Ebola. Terrorists are practically at our doorsteps, ready to kill as many of us as possible! Except you are more likely to be killed by a toddler than a terrorist. Why does the media do it? One word. Propaganda. It’s so much easier to keep the populace frightened by real and terrifying but actually low risk threats, when you don’t want their attention on the status quo that you have a vested interest in maintaining. Six corporations control 90% of the media. And who owns those six mega-corporations? The very wealthy. And why would the very wealthy want everyday Americans worried about Ebola and terrorists and every other crisis of the week rather than the very real problems this country faces? Because they don’t want them to wake up to the looting of income from the bottom 99% of the population to the top 1%. Income inequality is monster in the closet they’re trying to distract us from. And scaring the living daylights out of everyone isn’t the only trick up their sleeves. The media is guilty of propagating a false equivalence in everything from politics to science. If just as much attention is given to both sides, a whole lot of people are going to believe both sides are valid. If politicians are allowed to go on air and lie with impunity all while getting nothing more than a serious nod or maybe once in a while a mild “are you sure?”, a whole lot of people are going to believe those lies. And the the other trick up the media’s sleeve is to keep the populace divided. A divided populace is way less likely to unite for major change. The media is a master at the us vs. them game. The media uses politics, racial tension and moral issues, among others, to keep us angry at each other instead of at their masters.

How do we fight back against propaganda? Never take information at face value. I’ve always been very curious and very eager to learn new things. If someone tells me something I didn’t know, my reaction is to say, “that’s interesting” and then do as much research as I can to figure it out for myself. Sometimes I find out what was said is true, sometimes bogus and sometimes incomplete. But I then know the truth for myself. I also know that so many, many people take whatever is said to them at face value. And if it is from someone they trust, whether a relative or religious leader or news anchor, it is taken as gospel to be defended to their last breath. I don’t get that at all and I never will. We are so lucky in this country to have the right to learn things for ourselves and to dissent if we don’t agree, which of course is a right the media is working to demonize. I’m not sure what it will take to wake up the average American to the fact that our democracy and our rights are being eroded away by a very wealthy few and their politician and media puppets, while we fight amongst ourselves, fearing everything except the truth of what’s happening. Knowledge is power. Don’t give up yours.

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