Tuesday, April 15, 2008

"I, for one, Welcome our new alien overlords..."


Wow. Peggy Shapiro over at American Thinker gets it.


"I knew that I had seen this before, and then it came to me that this image appropriates the graphic style of totalitarian Soviet propaganda. It recalls the idealzed portraits and personality cult of the "Beloved Leader" such as Stalin and Lenin. The leader, face illuminated by a "holy" light, looks off to the horizon and sees the truth that is not available to his mere mortal followers, who must look up to his image.


The one-word message offers a simple (simple-minded) promise of a utopian existence. These stenciled words bring to mind They Live, a 1988 film, in which secret alien gods take over Los Angeles and control the inhabitants by subliminal billboard messages which display the word "Obey." Coincidentally or not, the website for the artist, Shepard Fairey, who designed Obama's posters is called Obey and boasts on its homepage, "Manufacturing quality dissent since 1989," and the artist bills himself as an agent of "worldwide propaganda delivery."..." (Link to the artist website)


Being a fan of Soviet propaganda art, I noticed the creepiness of Obama's hip and arty campaign posters immediately.

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