What is truth?
Or better yet, what is real?
Journalist Walter Lippmann wrote of the pseudo-environment, the idea that existence is so complex, that
every individual manufactures and experiences their own reality and vision of the world.
Lippmann believed the realties of the general public are informed by the media it consumes,
itself subject to censorship and manipulation. The control of information and the public’s
willingness to accept the truth they’re presented allows those with power and influence
to project their realities onto others.
This is propaganda.
Hello and welcome to Animation/Propaganda. In this episode we’re will be looking at
the history of mass manipulation as well as some of the techniques used to sway public
opinion and incite fear. Obviously this series is about animatied propaganda, so we will
not going much detail here about cartoons.
Trust me, there will be plenty of that coming
up. This is going to be a general overview and, while not exhaustive, it should give
you a pretty good understanding of what propaganda is and how it’s frequently used.
While the formal spreading of disinformation
dates back as far as history has been recorded, our story begins in the 13th century with
the invention of the printing press. The mass production of print media made emerging ideas
more accessible and provided propagandists with their first major tool.
Information could now be shared, or manipulated, in a way that led the reader into a certain
way of thinking, by omitting details or presenting lies as facts.
Narratives were generally pushed through the distribution of leaflets.
An early American example was Thomas Paine’s Common Sense.
Published in 1776, Common Sense made a case for American independence by painting the
British monarchy as tyrannical. Targeting commoners, Paine outlined a reality where
all were equal and free.
He released Common Sense to coincide with a proclamation by the
King, a tactic that proved effective and Paine’s call to action invigorated the population
just months before the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Propaganda was integral to the founding of America. Borrowing a tactic from other British
colonies, those with power spread atrocity stories. These were fabrications featuring
indigenous people committing unspeakable acts, in order to convince colonizers that their
cause was just.
Demonizing a racial or cultural scapegoat and appealing to prejudice are effective techniques,
ones we will be seeing it time and time again.
Propaganda can be organized into two main categories: black and white.
White propaganda is overt and makes no attempt to hide its intention. This generally comes
from an identifiable source, such as a government rallying support for war.
Black propaganda, on the other hand, is much more insidious in its approach. It deceives
the target by masking it’s source and presenting itself as a product of what it is attacking,
like the Soviet spreading of fake KKK pamphlets to spur race tensions in America.
A third category, gray, exists to classify sources that are somewhat transparent, but
are more often than not ambiguous. An example of this would be Radio Free Europe, a radio
station funded by the US government that broadcasts news to countries it claims censor information.
It should be clear by now that the lifeblood of propaganda is information. We’ve looked
at how controlling it can benefit those in power but why is it so effective?
Late in the 19th century, intellectuals were exploring and contextualizing the ideas present
in mass manipulation. One of the first published works on this subject was Gustave Le Bon’s
The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind.
Le Bon believed that while an individual may hold certain beliefs and morals alone, when
placed in a crowd they fall under the influence of a collective mind, as though hypnotized.
With their individualism removed and the illusion of anonymity, they become susceptible to
conformity and more inclined act in ways they never would on their own.
At the same time, film was emerging, which would become the most powerful medium for
propaganda for nearly a century.
Whereas print media was limited to the reader’s imagination,
film gave the propagandist the ability to use and manipulate symbols and images so that
even if the viewer was illiterate, they could understand the message being conveyed.
This, combined with the fact films could then be only screened in public, before an audience,
a crowd, made them the ideal tool for mobilizing people behind a cause.
So Now that we have a grasp on the basics of propaganda, let’s take a look at it in action.
The First World War was a conflict unlike
any other that had come before it, not only in terms of destruction and bloodshed but
in the way information was utilized.
At the forefront of this information, and real, war was Germany and England.
Now we just talked about the effect film could
have on a population but other technological advances, such as radio, aided
both sides in rallying support, domestically and abroad.
In its propaganda, Germany positioned itself as the pinnacle of culture and civilization.
It was destined to win the war and appealed to neutral nations as well as minorities within
allied countries, in an attempt to destabilize them from the inside.
To combat this, England mounted the largest and most organized propaganda campaign to
date. Several information agencies would be established throughout the war beginning with
Wellington House in 1914. Lead by Charles Masterman, Wellington House recruited some
of the nation’s top authors and artists to create pro-British material.
Prior to conscription, enlistment was spurred by recruitment posters. These appealed to
patriotism and occasionally used guilt tactics to convince men to join.
The most influential of these was Lord Kitchener Wants You! The poster featured Secretary of
State for War Lord Kitchener pointing at the observer with the words wants you, inscribed
below. If this looks familiar its because it would go on to inspire several imitations,
including Uncle Sam and Smokey the bear.
Still, no technique remained quite as effective
as good old fashioned atrocity stories, most notably were the acts of German soldiers during
their invasion and occupation of Belgium. The Germans were portrayed as barbarians who
defiled and murdered civilians.
These acts would be personified in the form of Edith Cavell.
Cavell was a British nurse stationed in occupied Belgium who treated both German and Allied
wounded and assisted the escape of Allied soldiers. When the Germans caught wind of
this she was tried and sentenced to death by firing squad. When facing death, Cavell
reportedly said, “Patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness towards
anyone.” Due to her bravery and indiscriminate nature,
Edith Cavell was depicted as a saint who was slaughtered by the brutish Germans. News stories
sensationalized her death around the globe and the co-opting of her story gave sympathy
to the Allies’ cause.
In 1917, America entered the war.
Prior to this they had remained neutral, though provided resources to the Allies. President Woodrow
Wilson had even ran his re-election campaign with the slogan “he kept us out of war”
and a majority of Americans believed that this was not their fight, opposing any intervention
or involvement.
To rouse support, the US government created
the Committee of Public Information. Headed by George Creel, the CPI sought to influence
public opinion. They implemented an aggressive propaganda campaign that included the normal
avenues, print, radio, film, but given that America is such a diverse country, comprised
of many ethnic groups and nationalities, a singular cultural approach would not be as
effective as it was in England. To combat this, the CPI introduced the Four Minute Men.
Named for the time required to change reels in movie theatres, the Four Minute Men were
volunteers who would deliver 4-minute, government-prepared speeches promoting patriotism and the war.
These would be conducted, obviously in theatres, but also in churches and public squares, and
covered topics like food rationing and the purchasing of liberty bonds. While some celebrities
took up this role, like Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin, a majority
of the 75,000 volunteers were regular citizens that could speak to the population on their
level and and more importantly in their language. At the end of war, the CPI was disbanded but
it’s impact was lasting. Former employee and nephew of Sigmund Freud, Edward Burnays,
would further contextualize Propaganda as well as public relations throughout the 1920s.
Burnays surmised that the tactics used to rally people behind war could be used in peace
time by corporations to sell products. He also believed it was possible to unlock the
subconscious desires of consumers and that their purchasing habits could easily be influenced
by appealing to an emotional response.
In short, selling a feeling rather than a product.
The Second World War can be called the Golden Age of Propaganda though I believe that title
is more fitting for the decades that followed, when cause moved beyond country and more towards
ideology.
Now there will be an entire videos dedicated to WW2 and Cold War tensions, respectively,
however I do want to look at a couple examples from this period: Nikolai Yezhov and Leni Riefenstahl.
The Soviet Union grew out of the class conflict and assuming power, the Communist Party sought
to control and mold the population into a New, selfless Society. All media and educational
material passed through government inspection to ensure it was in line with Marxism-Leninism.
Anything that deviated from this was deemed an enemy of the people.
In the 1930s the Soviet Union went through a period of political repression and ethnic
cleansing known as the Great Purge. Under Joseph Stalin, policies were introduced that
caused a famine killing millions of people with the government formally denying this
took place.
Any news that painted the government in a negative light was labelled “anti-Soviet
propaganda” and spreading dissenting opinions was punishable by extrajudicial killing.
These were enforced and carried out by the NKVD. Functioning as a secret police force, the
NKVD was also responsible for espionage and the managing of forced labour camps known
as Gulags.
At the height of the Great Purge the NKVD was headed by Nikolai Yezhov. From 1936 to
1938, Yezkov oversaw the arrest and murder of millions for crimes against the state.
These included political figures Stalin saw as a threat as well as the wealthy, but a
majority were average citizens who were accused falsely or members of certain ethnic groups.
In some cases, show trials would take place to maintain the appearance of justice.
Yezhov was successful in his position and because of this, Stalin began seeing him as
a potential liability. His powers were gradually stripped until his fate became clear. On April
10, 1939, Yezhov was arrested and confessed under torture to numerous offences he later
claimed he didn’t commit. He would remain loyal to Stalin as he was sentenced to death
and secretly executed. His likeness was later removed from an official press photograph,
as though he never existed.
Leni Riefenstahl is perhaps the greatest propagandist
of all time. Her films portrayed Hitler as a saviour-like figure, while humanizing his
Germany and vision of the world.
Riefenstahl began her career in film as an
actress before directing 1932’s The Blue Light. That same year, she attended a rally
held by the Nazi party and found herself captivated by Hitler’s presence.
After the Nazis took power, Hitler nationalized the German film industry and dedicated the
medium to spreading propaganda. He was convinced Germany lost the First World War due England’s
demonizing the German people. Studying their propaganda, Hitler sought to replicate their
success by vilifying those he believed to be sub-human, namely socialists, homosexuals
and ethnic minorities. Hitler promoted himself as the only person capable of restoring Germany
to former glory.
He would call upon Riefenstahl to produce a documentary showcasing the 1933 Nuremberg
Rally. The Victory of Faith, like the better known Triumph of the Will, introduced techniques
never before seen in documentaries. The 1935 Rally at Nuremberg that was the subject of
Triumph of the Will was designed with the film in mind. Trenches were dug and dolly
tracks laid so that Riefenstahl and her crew could get the sensational shots they wanted.
The film fetishes Hitler and his inner circle and presents Germany as a utopian society.
Through the dynamic use of music and cinematography, she conveys her message through feelings rather
than presenting facts.
In what is perhaps her greatest cinematic achievement, Riefenstahl captured the 1936
Summer Olympics. Taking place in Berlin, Olympia invited the world to Hitler’s Germany with
the intent of showcasing its superiority. However, rather than HItler, the star of Olympia
is track and field athlete Jesse Owens.
Riefenstahl always maintained that her films were not propaganda, rather, documentaries,
despite several shots being staged or reenacted. She also claims, that despite being close
to Hitler, as well as propaganda minister Joesph Goebbels, she was unaware of the holocaust
or that her films would be used to promote Hitler’s master race.
After the war ended, she was tried four times and found to simply be a nazi sympathizer
and did not experience the same fate many of her peers did.
She was blacklisted from
the film industry and her only completed postwar project was 1954’s Tiefland, which had been
shot between 1940 and 1944.
Now not all propaganda is overtly political. Taking a break from war, let’s look at the
social guidance and religious sub-genres.
As early as the 1930s, film reels were produced
to promote normative, societal behaviour and walked viewers through dating, diet and developing
good habits. They would be shown in schools and were aimed at young adults, preparing
them for marriage and career. A major producer of these was Coronet Films.
While they were not state-sponsored, these films tended to lean conservative and encouraged
conformity, portraying normalcy in an absolute, singular way.
Watching these through modern eyes, it’s easy to dismiss them as quaint and old fashioned,
relatively harmless. The same cannot be said about the work of Sid Davis.
Davis separated himself from other producers of guidance films by confronting issues they
didn’t address, like drug addiction, as seen in 1951’s The Terrible Truth, and gang
violence.
In 1961 he produced maybe his most damaging film, Boys Beware. The film, which perpetuated
the myth that homosexuals are pedophiles, consists of three boys being preyed upon by
an older gay man. The film treats homosexuality as a mental illness and was even shown in
schools in an attempt to prevent it.
Another sub-genre, religious propaganda, features
similar takes on these topics. Take for example, the Young People Ask series
from Watchtower Video. This is an extension of The Watchtower, the Jehovah’s Witness’
monthly magazine, which propagates their belief that we are living in the end of times and
that God’s kingdom is coming soon.
Stay tuned.
The intent of these videos was to inform young people the ways they could live their life
in accordance with Jehovah’s Witness’ principles. In How to Make Real Friends, a
member of the church moves away and becomes friends with a group of non-members. She is
initially drawn to them but their casual drug use and lax approach to premarital relations
makes her uncomfortable. Confiding her feelings in a family friend, she is told the dangers
of making friends of non-members.
At the beginning of this video I asked what is truth?
Well I’m happy to tell you, I have the answer.
It doesn’t matter.
Information has never been more accessible to us and yet, we have never been so susceptible
to the spread of mis- and disinformation. By being given the option of curating and
filtering all the content we consume, we’ve created a bubble in which an algorithm presents
us with information it believes we want to see and censors any we don’t. This has the
potential to isolate people by only exposing them to news that aligns with their world
views, cutting out any that may oppose it.
This is even more dangerous when you consider the rise of illegitimate news sites publishing
fake news.
All news is delivered with a certain level of bias and as we’ve seen, manipulating
information or manufacturing it is nothing new. However it’s never been easier to publish,
promote, and most importantly profit, from intentionally false news stories.
With the combination of fake news and a filter bubble, it’s possible that a person’s
view is entirely informed with false information.
If it wasn’t enough that print information is so easily distorted, we are now beginning
to see it with other media, the most terrifying of which being deepfakes.
A deepfake is a photorealistic superimposition of a persons face onto existing footage, using
artificial intelligence. The term, taken from a Reddit username, first appeared in 2017
when this user created a community where they and others shared videos they had altered.
This technology was originally used to superimpose celebrities faces into porn or, more innocently,
actors into other movies.
However, Deepfakes have begun to make their way into politics with the possibility of
framing or portraying an opponentquickly becoming a reality.
This is the future of propaganda.
So that was a lot and I wish I had a more optimistic way of ending this but I don’t.
However next time will be lighter. We are going to be looking at the early history of
animation, from the birth of the cartoon to the 1950s and the Golden Age of American animation.
Now this was not meant to be an exhaustive history and we will be expanding on this in
the coming months.
We will also be diving deeper in a process video over on Patreon, patreon.com/picsnportraits.
I invite you, please come and join my private war. links to relevant material are in the
description. If you enjoyed this video please give us a thumbs up and subscribe if you haven’t.
As always, thank you for your interest in this channel and thank you so much for watching!