tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1489622848939498705.post643680236443301064..comments2024-03-18T17:34:56.486-04:00Comments on Four-Color Shadows: The Day After Doomsday-Skeates/Ditko/Colletta-1976Bookstevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09797445163866512849noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1489622848939498705.post-69373215969531760222014-02-01T16:14:52.807-05:002014-02-01T16:14:52.807-05:00Outcomes don't simply come either as a result ...Outcomes don't simply come either as a result of conspiracy or of accident, but of spontaneous order. (The order itself may be desirable, undesirable, or a matter of indifference.) A <i>culture</i> as such is a spontaneous order. Story-telling, whether it be propaganda or otherwise, partcipates in that spontaneoous order. The most successful story-telling, whether it be propaganda or otherwise, taps into the the most affecting formulæ and presumptions of the culture in which it participates.Daniel [oeconomist.com]https://www.blogger.com/profile/06763094285750736837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1489622848939498705.post-86117148867734288852014-02-01T04:56:41.490-05:002014-02-01T04:56:41.490-05:00I can't look at a dude dressed for war standin...I can't look at a dude dressed for war standing over the corpse of a giant cannibal mutant* without thinking of that damned anime <i>Attack on Titan.</i><br /><br />*Happens more often than one might think!<br /><br />Haven't seen/read enough about <i>Attack on Titan</i> to judge the intent, but what I have seen disturbs me because it is a propagandist's <i>wet dream.</i> Human-looking-but-not-really-human monsters, committing unforgivable atrocities that make coexistence impossible, slow and mindless yet controlling most of the world by sheer force? Angry young militant men and women walled up in a ghetto, enthusiastically embracing their bloodlust to become mankind's last hope in a kill-or-be-killed world? You can take any conflict, past or present, and plug the combatants into either role depending how you feel about them. It's perfect.<br /><br />So perfect it makes me paranoid. Is the perfection an accident, or the application of the principles of propaganda without malice simply for mass appeal? Is it part of some media-conditioning plot also involving the embrace of Nazi and/or fascist elements in other manga, anime, etc. (for example, <i>Full Metal Alchemist</i>) and wrapping it up in bloody violence and cool theme music?<br /><br />I'd watch more to find out, but (a) the gruesome violence turns me off, (b) the gas-powered wire-harpoon gear the heroes employ is even less plausible than Spider-Man's web-shooters, and (c) frankly, I'm afraid to.BillyWitchDoctorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14311279565432013472noreply@blogger.com