The protests going on around the world right now are pretty mind-blowing. At the risk of understatement, we're living through what could be one of the most important moments in global democracy in decades. And for every story of horror, of which there are far too many at the moment, there are heartening rejoinders, like this story about two Libyan colonels who refused orders to bomb their own people and peaced out to Malta. Although what does it say about our expectations for northern African politics that you're considered a hero for not blowing the shit out of your own people from a jet?
I was thinking about repressive regimes and the free flow of information and its role in these protests and the brutal government crack downs while looking through a couple of amazing series of North Korean anti-American propaganda, the first of which comes from Slightly Warped, and the second from the California Literary Review.
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“Let’s drive the US imperialists out and reunite the fatherland!”
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As the Cal Lit Review points out, in regards to Kim Jon Il, noted art critic and brutal comic book arch villain, posters are "important tools in the mobilization of the masses," and they "have to have an instantaneous impact on the viewers’ understanding and their desire to act upon this understanding. Their message has to be accessible, clear and direct; informative and explanatory, as well as exhortative."
The message in this piece, for example, would be pretty clear: Americans will saw your fucking head off, son.
Or, alternatively, we might just shoot your baby into a well.
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“Do not forget the US imperialist wolves!”
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That one is racist against wolves, but is it weird that a lot of these look like posters for movies I'd love to see in the 1960s?
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“The US is truly an Axis of Evil.”
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Kind of a really clever design actually.
Of course North Korea is a badly written sci-fi dystopian novel, except real. But in their defense, you know, you might consider everything the US has ever done abroad in our entire martial history. So, uh, call it a tie?
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4 comments:
Why do you need to shoot the baby into the well? Why not just shoot it or drop it in the well? Seems wasteful.
That sounds like something a North Korean would say.
Sawing someone's head off seems like it would take a lot of work too.
-Xtobal (on opposite day)
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