Comment on The full video from the famous "Tank Man" photo
newnton@sh.itjust.works 6 months agoI mean they did run over dozens of people, just not that one. I don’t think anyone’s ever implied that he’s important because he’s a martyr, it’s the fact he believes in his cause strongly enough and he was brave enough to stare down inevitable death and force the other guy to blink.
The psyops propaganda you posted is definitely cringe af but it seems to clearly show the tank turning in the clip, calling it a clear example of trying to mislead people into thinking he was killed is a pretty big stretch imo
Objection@lemmy.ml 6 months ago
Why did you read my comment but not the one I was replying to?
Right, because the tank did turn, so they can’t show a clip of it driving straight at him because that clip doesn’t exist. But given that it’s on screen for about one second, I would venture to guess that some people might not be examining that too closely, and would just see that the tank is moving.
It’s not about directly misleading people, as I said. It’s about leaving ambiguity and subtly hinting at what that ambiguity might be, while leaving yourself plausible deniability. To simply lie directly is a crass and obvious form of propaganda, to be used sparingly. If you’re looking for propaganda in the mindset of looking for a “smoking gun” that would hold up in court, you don’t understand the nature of it. It’s an art. It’s advertising. I couldn’t prove to a jury what Shakespeare wanted the audience to take away from Hamlet, but that doesn’t mean I can’t analyze it and make educated guesses.
Obviously, anyone who’s seen the full video or knows the story won’t be fooled, but that’s not the point. If some number of people come away thinking what you want them to think, and the origin of that thought can’t be traced back to you in an incriminating way, then you did your job.