Iconic images of history

[rick-day.livejournal.com]

By special request from some lovely peoples, I shifted this from TPN.

From this mornings OSW sweep in NYC


To say this is disgusting is being kind with my words.

There have been many photos that have literally changed the world. Frame 313 of the Zapruder Film. Ruby killing Oswald. Buddists monks self-immolating. Saigon's mayor Police Chief murdering a helpless man. Hippys putting flowers in the barrels of soldiers rifles. Burning Towers.

Can this image be a paradigm shifter? What do you see when you view this? How do you feel inside?

Game changer; how much apathy and fear will be replaced by anger, and motivation? How many new 'domestic terrorists' are putting this image on their bedroom walls?

If you were not politically sympathetic to the OWS movement, are you still secure in your belief this image shows a good man and a bad man, and the good man is the one wearing white?

ETA: some require more photos as evidence this cop (NYPD Captain, look at his collar) was not merely asking the citizen if they wanted to do-se-do with him.


source

Comments

[badlydrawnjeff.livejournal.com]

This image tells me next to nothing.

[rick-day.livejournal.com]

Then, truly, you are spiritually dead inside.

[404.livejournal.com]

Before I put it up there with your other pictures, what happened before and after the picture was snapped?

quit ducking the meta

[rick-day.livejournal.com]

before?... people were peacefully and non-violently exercising their first amendment rights.

after?... people violently went to jail for exercizing the same rights.

[blue-mangos.livejournal.com]

Does it matter? Is there anything a protester could do to warrant police brutality? Police are supposed to be trained in the art of crowd control and in taking down those breaking the law without resorting to brutality. The pictures coming out from last night show they did not do that.

[rick-day.livejournal.com]

angry cop Is angry, isn't he?

[3fgburner.livejournal.com]

Re: "Saigon's mayor murdering a helpless man", are you talking about this photo?



If so, that was NOT "murdering a helpless man". "Summary execution", maybe. The shooter was Nguyễn Ngọc Loan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nguyen_Ngoc_Loan), head of RVN's National Police. Nguyễn Văn Lém (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nguy%E1%BB%85n_V%C4%83n_L%C3%A9m), the shootee, had been caught pretty much literally red-handed after the murder of several National Police officers and/or their families.

[rick-day.livejournal.com]

Corrected from mayor to police chief. However, the image was still iconic enough to motive people to join the anti-war movement, which brought the end of the Vietnam conflict.

You call it justified all you want. That is the difference between us. What I see is murder of a helpless prisoner.

[blue-mangos.livejournal.com]

First, thank you, as I said, much better suited for here.

On topic, no I sadly do not see it as a game changer. As we can already see here those who support the protests will be outraged and those that don't will find a way to justify. I don't see this photo changing anyone's minds.

[mrbogey.livejournal.com]

As iconic as this image?

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

If that is the Temple Mount, its reasonable to assume its some sort of clash between the Palestinians and the Israelis.

The picture itself is less clear. The man bleeding isn't trying to protect himself from the soldier, he appears to be looking behind him, as if he's worried about what is behind him. The soldier doesn't appear to be engaging the man or even making eye contact with him. He could be threatening whomever the bleeding man is looking at behind him, or the photographer.

So, what is the backstory? Was there a conflict and that dude got hurt?

[jerseycajun.livejournal.com]

You can never predict in advance what pictures will become iconic and which ones won't.

It's hard to tell what exactly is the story behind the picture (I had to take it into Photoshop and adjust the levels just to get a little more clarity).

I see an angry cop in an aggressive stance and a woman who is taking cover. The angry cop is facing the camera and not the woman. One of the things learned in martial arts is that when someone is attacking you they generally don't turn away from you.

That's not to say that he didn't just hit her. I'm not going to defend police behavior that crosses the line, but I feel there's a lot of missing context here. Lacking enough at least to give me pause about committing one particular reading of it.

Do you have an accompanying article describing the event?

[404.livejournal.com]

The person in front of the tank was not protesting, they were shopping at the local store and accidentally walked in front of a tank procession at a Party rally.

See how it's fun to assign your own narrative to a picture, and strip away all the context?

[htpcl.livejournal.com]

Hehe, exactly the point I made in the neighboring post.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

Wait, you're comparing this to the incompetent, backwards, chaotic medieval dictatorship that was the RVN? What an insult to OWS.

Now, speaking of images with potent overtones:

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

Who did this atrocity?



Who was actually hung for it? Isn't this the flip-side of the photographs that change everything, the photographs that not only change nothing but enable easy injustices?

[lions-wings.livejournal.com]

Joining the group of WTFers. Is he pushing her down? It kind of looks like his arm is over her backpack.

[htpcl.livejournal.com]

Is this a picture of an iconic event? I'm not from your country, I don't share your culture, history and memories, I really don't know if this could be a paradigm shifter or a game changer. I see an angry cop probably beating a protester (?) or pushing him to move from somewhere. It's disturbing, I think he should restrain himself and stop doing that; I don't know why he's doing that, I don't know when it happened and why, and what happened before and/or after that. In a nutshell: I'm confused.

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

There is a power structure and it will use force and violence to protect itself when threatened. Its interesting to see it in all its snarled misplaced hatred.

[enders-shadow.livejournal.com]

he's angry cause his hands are empty

.... :/

[lai-choi-san.livejournal.com]

This cop is as ugly as what he is defending : an upside-down world where one has to repay a debt to the ones who created it.

[devil-ad-vocate.livejournal.com]

I'm astounded that I did not see this photo used in any of the Fox News articles. But then, I'm also astounded that frogs didn't evolve wings so they wouldn't bump their asses.

I remember a time of iconic images.

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

Re: I remember a time of iconic images.

[kylinrouge.livejournal.com]

They hate us for our freedomz!

[gunslnger.livejournal.com]

I see an angry man. I would lay money that something provoked him.

If you were not politically sympathetic to the OWS movement, are you still secure in your belief this image shows a good man and a bad man, and the good man is the one wearing white?

This image shows nothing of the sort, and is not relevant to my political opinion of the movement.

[sandwichwarrior.livejournal.com]

are you still secure in your belief this image shows a good man and a bad man

I never was. Were you?

They may both be bad, they may both be good, they may both be a mixture of the two and thus human.

[montecristo.livejournal.com]

I like the icon quote in your post: "I don't mind you being rich; I mind you buying my government." The thing is though, that people with power have something to sell. If we don't give the government so much power over people's lives and property the politicians have less to sell. Where there are willing buyers and sellers there is always a market when the goods or services are available. We shouldn't delegate any authority we would object to being up for sale.

[mrbogey.livejournal.com]

I have pictures also of a cop driving along on his motorcycle while peaceful protesters are standing around yelling chants. Then without provocation he jumps off his bike and proceeds to tackle one to the ground and violently restrain him. I have pics of this whole thing happening.

I also have a video... but don't watch that because it shows the protester pushing him off his bike.

[devil-ad-vocate.livejournal.com]

Bull Connor would be proud.

[dv8nation.livejournal.com]

So a cop was angry. Or gets flushed easily. This says nothing.