Guys, girls...I know this officer Pike thing with him pepper-spraying everyone and everything in sight is kind of funny and only helps to indict his heinous act, but when I see stuff like this ....
I get just a little ticked off.
Why? ... you ask?
Because I feel strongly that it trivializes an iconic image that was, for people all around the globe, one of the most searing images of the Vietnam War, and beyond all doubt one of the most critical and catalytic scenes and stories that helped to hasten America's withdrawal from Vietnam.
For those who don't know the story:
Kim Phuc and her family were residents of the village of Trang Bang, South Vietnam. On June 8, 1972, South Vietnamese planes dropped a napalm bomb on Trang Bang, which had been attacked and occupied by North Vietnamese forces.... The bombing killed two of Kim Phuc's cousins and two other villagers. Associated Press photographer Nick Ut earned a Pulitzer Prize for his photograph of the aftermath. It was also chosen as the World Press Photo of the Year for 1972. The image of Kim Phuc running naked amid the chaos became one of the most haunting images of the Vietnam War. In an interview many years later, she recalled she was yelling, Nóng quá, nóng quá ("too hot, too hot") in the picture...
and now for the irony:
Audio tapes of President Richard Nixon, in conversation with his chief of staff, H. R. Haldeman, reveal that Nixon doubted the authenticity of the photograph, thinking it might have been "fixed". After the release of this tape, Út commented, "Even though it has become one of the most memorable images of the twentieth century, President Nixon once doubted the authenticity of my photograph when he saw it in the papers on 12 June 1972.... The picture for me and unquestionably for many others could not have been more real. The photo was as authentic as the Vietnam war itself. The horror of the Vietnam war recorded by me did not have to be fixed. That terrified little girl is still alive today and has become an eloquent testimony to the authenticity of that photo. That moment thirty years ago will be one Kim Phúc and I will never forget. It has ultimately changed both our lives."
and the original:
Moving on...
more of this recent "art" that is bothering me, I can only find it in me to publish the original, I simply cannot abide by the bad art:
and again, because education is important:
Guernica was a quiet village. The nearest military target of any consequence was a factory on the outskirts of the town, which manufactured various war products. The factory went through the attack unscathed. Thus, the motivation of the bombing was clearly one of intimidation. Furthermore, a majority of the town's men were away as they were fighting on behalf of the Republicans. Thus, the town at the time of the bombing was populated mostly by women and children...
Picasso learned of the senselessly cruel Nazi bombing when he read this later account:
Guernica, the most ancient town of the Basques and the centre of their cultural tradition, was completely destroyed yesterday afternoon by insurgent air raiders. The bombardment of this open town far behind the lines occupied precisely three hours and a quarter, during which a powerful fleet of aeroplanes consisting of three types of German types, Junkers and Heinkel bombers, did not cease unloading on the town bombs weighing from 1,000 lbs. downwards and, it is calculated, more than 3,000 two-pounder aluminium incendiary projectiles. The fighters, meanwhile, plunged low from above the centre of the town to machine gun those of the civilian population who had taken refuge in the fields.
Finally, to close out this rant, I find myself actually agreeing with one choice of "target" image by an intrepid photoshopper, and that is Andrew Wyeth's heartbreaking masterpiece, "Christina's World"
The reason I agree it is appropriate is, of course, the story behind
the painting:
The woman crawling through the tawny grass was the artist's neighbor in Maine, who, crippled by polio, "was limited physically but by no means spiritually." Wyeth further explained, "The challenge to me was to do justice to her extraordinary conquest of a life which most people would consider hopeless."
And those UC Davis students who sat bravely beneath that pepper spray- were they not as helpless and harmless as Christina reposed on the fields of her Cushing, Maine farm? Were they not, also, in similar ways, as brave?
The other images we already know were acts of aggression, cruelty, and war. We don't need to see a depraved punisher. But using Christina was a brilliant choice, you can see the parody image here: http://knowyourmeme.com/...
And IMO the original is something to be respected in itself, these kids are heroes: