political campaigns and music

When Colin, Lauren, Sam and I created our propaganda project a little while back we all decided that a good topic we could focus on was political elections. We eventually came up with the idea of Colin and myself becoming fake candidates for the mayor of south campus and it really changed how I viewed several propagandistic techniques in campaign videos. The most surprising technique that I learned through doing this project was the role of music in campaign commercials and just how much it adds to a certain appeal which typically is pathos.

Here is one of obamas campaign commercials

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aR3Gpsn4v4

I find it really interesting that the effectiveness of this message is dramatically enhanced by the low, swelling and dramatic music that in conjunction with the images of obamas mother.

After seeing and remembering videos such as this I decided that I would record some guitar work to accompany any of the campaign videos that we made for our project and I think this also had a significant impact on the viewer even though our videos were about nonsensical and ridiculous issues. Heres the website that has the videos I recorded some guitar work for: Its fascinating how much music can impact the viewer and affect them in a particular way.

http://southcampusmayor.webs.com/apps/videos/videos/show/7717576-peter-j-smith-ad-attacking-colin-mcglinchey

I never knew how important that was until I actually tried to do the same in my own fake campaign video.

critical analysis 3

Peter J. Smith

Dr. Kahn

Propaganda Power and Politics

April 4, 2010

Critical Analysis Number Three

After the terrorist attacks, on the world trade center and pentagon, on September 11^th 2001, prejudice of Muslim Americans and people of Islamic faith increased. Statements made by former president Bush and other high ranking government officials defended Islam faith and its constituents saying that these acts of terrorism were committed by extremists. A recent documentary film entitled Islam: What the West Needs to Know attempts to undermine the belief that Islam is an inherently good religion that is taken out of context by a small number of people and used as a basis for radical, violent actions. This film utilizes a number of propaganda techniques to convey its controversial and highly propagandistic message of Islam being a fundamentally violent and intolerant religion bent on destroying non believers.

This film begins with former Prime Minister Tony Blair, former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton defending Islamic faith and condemning extremist terrorists of that faith, which they are fighting against. The next thing shown is video and voice over of Kenneth Bigley who was kidnapped and executed by Islamic extremists in Iraq in 2004. This opening of the film reflects much of the argument that is explicated as the documentary goes on. This propagandistic technique of pre persuasion, or framing, really has a strong impact on the viewer. It appears that all these people in positions of political power have no real idea what is going on in the Islamic world. People like Bill Clinton and Tony Blair are pictured stating that Islam is a religion of peace practiced by millions of non violent people yet the next video shown presents an innocent man being murdered by supposedly the same people that these politicians are defending.

Another example of propagandistic techniques that are utilized in Islam: What the West Needs to Know can be found in the various interviews that take place throughout the film. The first technique that is used in these segments is the appeal to the speaker or ethos. One of the three main people that comment on Islamic faith during the film is a man named Walid Shoebat. Walid Shoebat is a former member of the PLO fatah brigade. The PLO or Palestine Liberation Organization, has a long history of terrorist plots and ties to extremist groups. Shoebat, despite being a member of this organization, is now an author who criticizes the Islamic faith. The appeal to speaker here enhances the overall effectiveness of the message of Islamic faith being violent and intolerant because of the first hand accounts and commentary provided by Shoebat. At one point in the film Shoebat compares the world Jihad to that of Mein Kumpf. Jihad literally means struggle (according to Shoebat) and Mein Kumpf was Nazi leader Adolf Hitler’s first book which is translated to “My Struggle”. By using this propagandistic technique of ethos, the film is able to strengthen its claim of violence and evil being a fundamental part of Islam. Shoebat has experienced degrees of Islam firsthand and demonstrates, what appears to be, a strong understanding of the religion which enable him to make such a controversial comparison.

A third propagandistic technique that is utilized in this film can also be found in its various interviews. This propagandistic technique is the second of the four stratagems of influence known as source credibility. All of the people interviewed to comment throughout this film possess some type of academic or experience related (as with Shoebat) credibility. One of these people is named Robert Spencer. Although his actual academic credentials are not listed under his name, as he speaks about Islam, the things that are listed are the names of the books that he has written or the websites that he has created. The presence of this information about Spencer enhances his credibility as an authority on Islamic faith since he has written books that discuss it in detail and has created websites that are focused on it. He also looks and speaks like someone who would be a credible source on the fundamentals of Islam. Spencer is dressed in a suit and tie looking very official. He also speaks of complicated traditions of Islamic faith (often quoting the Koran and Hadith) making him appear smart and very knowledgeable of the supposed problems with Islam.

A fourth propagandistic technique that is found in this film is the third stratagem of influence or a message that is constantly told and amplified. This documentary is nearly two hours long and is broken into six different parts but is able to constantly reaffirm its message of the violent and vitriolic nature of Islamic faith over and over and over again. Each section of this documentary appears to divide discussion of Islam into different aspects yet each section appears to be exactly like the last. There are quotes in each of the six sections of this documentary that are chosen from the Koran and Hadith. These are consistently quotes of violence and intolerance and they are immediately followed up by a lengthy discussion of these quotes by people such as Walid Shoebat or Robert Spencer. By constantly quoting parts of the Koran and Hadith, and then using those quotes as reasoning why Islam is fundamentally evil constantly affirms and amplifies the documentary’s message.

A fifth propagandistic technique that is used in this film is the appeal to emotion or pathos. At one point in the film a commercial featuring Muslim American citizens talking of their love of the United States is shown Robert Spencer states that people should be more aware of the dangers of these fundamentally evil Islamic people in the United States. Later in the film there is a shot of a map with each city that has people of Islamic faith living within it highlighted with a red dot. The statement by Robert Spencer and the map with the cities inhabited by Islamic peoples enhances a feeling of fear and apprehension, especially since the map highlights each city as it gets closer and closer to the United States.

In conclusion Islam: What the West Needs to Know is a film that uses many propagandistic techniques to accomplish to communicate its controversial message. This films message appears to go past controversial however and appears to be nothing but pure fear mongering and prejudice. If the film had any real reasoning it would have included actual scholars and experts on the Islamic religion and its teachings. This film lacks any real hard evidence to support its main claim of Islam being violent and horridly intolerant at the fundamental level, especially with its quotes from the Koran, since it ignores all of the contradictory and violent passages that can be found in the bible as well. As a whole there is really nothing that could improve this documentary because its primary message is steeped in prejudice and fear mongering. It is a shame that this film has been labeled as a documentary since most of the time a viewer will be able to learn something valuable about the topic being discussed. In Islam: What the West Needs to Know there is nothing of value being taught.

critical analysis 2

Peter J. Smith

Dr. Kahn

Propaganda Power and Politics

March 3, 2010

Critical Analysis Number Two

Propaganda posters were rampant during World War Two. These posters could be found all over the place, not only in countries with fascist regimes or dictators, such as Italy and Germany, but also in democratic nations such as the United States. These posters were used to impart different propagandistic messages that varied greatly. One poster, in particular, used several propaganda techniques to warn soldiers against the supposed dangers of casual sex and promiscuous women.

This World War Two poster is a well constructed, intelligent piece of propaganda. One of the smartest things the poster is able to do is utilize the propaganda technique of pre-persuasion to frame the message that is being communicated. This is accomplished by the large, cocked pistol and the bold, underlined word “loaded?” located at the top of the poster. The pistol and this word are among the largest objects depicted in the poster. The size of these items, and their inherent symbolism and allusions, frame the rest of the viewers experience as he or she looks at the rest of this poster. The large loaded gun, and the word loaded, gets the viewer thinking of what it is commonly associated with: danger and death. This idea sets up the way the viewer will look at the rest of the poster.

Another propaganda technique that this poster uses is its appeal to emotion or pathos. This poster uses its imagery of a gun, with its symbolic relation to danger, and the three women pictured, to induce a feeling of fear in the viewer. These items and the text beneath them that says, “Don’t take chances with pickups”, and “Loose women may be loaded with disease.” create a sense of fear for the viewer because this propaganda attempts to make the viewer feel very afraid of casual sex and promiscuous women. According to this poster picking up a girl is taking a “chance” and soldiers should proceed with care because these women could have a sexually transmitted disease that could stop you from serving in the war.

A third propaganda technique that this poster appears to use is logos or an appeal to logic. All of the imagery that is utilized in this poster lends itself to a logical appeal. A loaded gun is not something that you would want to treat lightly. By definition the loaded gun is dangerous, therefore logic dictates that you should be careful about how you handle one. This poster extends this logic to the choices one makes regarding sex. It would be illogical for a soldier to have unprotected sex (or have sex at all) with a woman he just met because, according to the poster, promiscuous women can be “loaded” with disease.

One of the most clever propaganda techniques that this poster utilizes is its expert use of color. The color in this poster maximizes the propagandistic message and limits any kind of interference. The word loaded at the top of the image is in bright bold red letters which further the idea of danger that is presented in this poster. At the bottom of the poster the word loaded is again made bold and highlighted by the color red emphasizing a sense of danger. The highlighting of the word loaded enhances the connotation that this poster is imparting to the viewer since the color red is closely related with a warning or danger. Another part of this image, that utilizes color to maximize its propagandistic message, can be found in the bottom right hand corner. In this corner it says “VD is not Victory” with the letter v highlighted in blue. This strategic color choice, also appeals to the emotions of the viewer by subversively harping on the viewers sense of patriotism. Blue is commonly associated with the United States because it is one of the three colors of the American flag. By infusing the sentence “VD is not Victory” with the color blue, the designers of this poster are instilling a sense of fear in the viewer. This fear is that if they have casual sex and get a debilitating disease they will be unpatriotic because they will not be able to continue serving their country.

In conclusion this World War Two poster warning soldiers to not take chances with promiscuous women utilizes several intelligent propaganda techniques to get its message across. This poster seems to push this warning even further, almost to the point that it tells soldiers not to have sex with these women at all. Although this poster may have had some good intentions (sexually transmitted diseases are a significant problem and safe sex limits these diseases), the poster almost seems to be blaming women for contaminating the military. A poster that emphasizes safe sex choices and does not blame women for this problem, or instill fear into the viewer for having casual sex, would have been the appropriate message to display.

critical analysis number one

Peter J. Smith

Dr. Kahn

Propaganda Power and Politics

February 6^th 2010

Critical Analysis Number One

The Twilight book series has exploded in popularity as of late. Although the Twilight series has gained serious fanfare it has also received a significant amount of criticism from several religious groups. A popular Catholic website named Catholic Online recently published an article by Leticia Velasquez that heavily criticized the series and strongly implied that the books were “toxic” to the young people that read them.

The majority of this article appears to utilize a persuasion method called pathos which means that it generally appeals to the reader’s emotions while trying to persuade them that the Twilight series is bad. This is evident from the onset of the article. The beginning of the article warns that parents are “unconsciously lowering their standards” and that “as the rest of the culture of death slinks to new lows, we who are trying to raise souls for heaven must remain vigilant”. Sentences such as these frame the rest of the article as one that promotes a feeling of uncertainty and fear about what young people may be exposed to (in this case Twilight) especially since the parents may not be “conscious” of it.

Another example of the author of this article trying to make people afraid of what the Twilight series could do to their children can be found in the middle of the article where the author boldly states that Twilight is “about sex, plain and simple”. The author also writes that the theme of “living on the edge of darkness” that is prevalent in Twilight and other children’s literature such as Harry Potter, and A Series of Unfortunate Events “have created a generation of children who have never seen the true, the noble and the beautiful.” Both of these sentences further play on parent’s fears by alluding to the idea that Twilight will somehow corrupt its readers. Since Catholic online is mostly read by practicing Catholics this article elevates this emotion since most Catholics believe in abstaining from sexual activity until marriage and want to raise their children in a strong faith filled environment with Jesus Christ as the focus. These two statements give the impression that Twilight is something to be feared despite the fact that the main character Bella does not have sex with Edward until the final book of the series when both are married. In addition to that it appears Twilight’s main story seems to be more focused on two people that struggle to be together because of their circumstances, an idea that has been utilized in many other accepted children’s stories such as Aladdin.

There is a final type of propagandist persuasion utilized in this article: the appeal to logic or logos. At the end of the article the author offers a solution to young people reading the Twilight series by stating that parents should introduce their children to Christian authors such as C.S. Lewis since those books will not contain the dangerous material found in Twilight. This is especially surprising since the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis are children’s fantasy books that incorporate violence, evil magic, and wizardry.

In conclusion this article, although it appears as simply a critique of a popular book series it is in fact a prime example of propaganda. It demonizes the Twilight series as toxic and dangerous to the children who read it without giving any credence to the books as simply romance novels that do contain several moral lessons and values that are widely recognized by Catholics.

NOFX and the Political Bands

As a fan of punk rock I often listen to bands with political messages or agendas. The most politicized band I can think of is a band called NOFX. With album titles like "War on errorism" and song titles like "the idiot son of an asshole" its easy to see nofx's stance on political issues and their feelings towards former president George W. Bush. I've seen nofx in concert maybe 3 times at various warped tours and aside from the songs themselves acting as political propaganda, fat mike (bassist/frontman for nofx) almost always gives some kind of a speech before each song to make his views explicit. Heres an example,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYhXrW3MaAE