It struck me, too, without having been there or knowing anything independent about the scene, that the "liberation" moment was clearly staged (or, better: framed). You never see more than 50 or 60 people cheering the "coalition" forces; you see the same people again and again saying things like "Bush is good," or slapping shoes against the image of Saddam. In the image of the statue toppling the crowd is dense, but you can very nearly see its limits -- it seems clear that there aren't very many people outside of the frame. And yet these images are presented on the major networks as if there are massive crowds ("the Iraqi people") cheering their "liberators." I am surprised that almost no one questions the legitimacy of these images and their purported message. (Of course there was some of that here too: a group of 100 or so students and faculty on my campus was presented on the local media as if the whole school had gathered to protest -- an impression I was happy with, because I was one of them, but that I knew to be misleading. That makes it look like it isn't an "American conspiracy" to misinform for political reasons -- though it can be used that way -- but just another way to sell more eyes to advertisers: bigger crowds, bigger stories, draw more people in.)
Nate
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Nathan Andersen
Assistant Professor of Philosophy
Collegium of Letters
Eckerd College
4200 54th Ave. S. Phone: (727) 864-7551
St. Petersburg, FL 33712 Fax: (727) 864-8354
U.S.A. E-mail: [log in to unmask]
