Blog Assignment #2

http://www.goldengatepolygraph.com/About%20us/aboutus.aspx.htm

The image I’ve selected is a manifestation of American pride. It is synonymous with salutes and hands over hearts. The motion of the flag in the wind suggests almost a godlike quality that is reinforced by the matching blues of the flag and sky. This classification of color gives the flag an almost serene quality, as if we as Americans we’re meant to be here, to prosper, to conquer. The red directly contrasts with the sky, evoking feelings of power and might. Metaphorically, the emphasis of light shining through the stars adds to the supernatural quality; it is as if god himself is piercing through the flag. This image is quite conventional; the centering is pretty even, giving off an even sense of balance. Like any typical American flag, it is the epitome of pride. 

The French theorist Jean Baudrillard referred to the “murderous capacity of images,” stating that they are “murderers of the real, murderers of their own model.” This concept is exceptionally outlined in the photo I selected. Such a boastful, proud image is initially looked at as an icon of an amazingly powerful yet perfectly gentle country. The words I added beg to differ. Each country I mentioned that stands alone is another country of whom America has intervened in within our history as a sovereign nation. The goal of my revised image is to evoke feelings of irony and even hypocrisy for we, as Americans, are constantly boasting about doing anything to annihilate terrorism, and yet, somehow along the way, we became the dreaded terrorists.  The first image, as Baudrillard stated, truly isn’t reality because it does not capture the atrocities America is responsible for; it only shows the sugarcoated pride that is instilled in the masses with cliché songs and pledges.  Therefore, the second image is a more accurate representation of reality, for it represents the baggage that accompanies being a so-called “powerful” nation.