Resistance Propaganda and the IRA

When I stumbled upon the Irish Republican Army propaganda poster seen below, it immediately caught my attention. While the poster’s design is nothing elaborate, its bright red background, sans-serif text, and striking image are bold in their simplicity. Published in the 1980s, this poster uses all of the aforementioned qualities, along with the content of the text, to assert that violence and sacrifice are necessary components of resistance. This is especially relevant considering the IRA’s history of extremist and violent resistance tactics.

(Republican Movement)

First, the placement and prominence of the figure holding the gun and the word “resistance” is significant because it suggests a strong connection between the two ideas they represent, violence and resistance. Particularly, the placement of the word “resistance” parallel to the gun barrel creates a visual flow in the poster, connoting that the two ideas are concurrent. Also, the figure with the gun and the word “resistance” are easily the most attention-grabbing components of the poster. Their large size and design simplicity draw the eye directly to the two images, once again visually creating an association between the ideas they represent.

            Keeping with the figure with the gun, the fact that the figure is faceless is significant because it allows the audience to place himself or herself as the rebel. This facelessness creates a relationship with the poster’s audience by allowing anyone to see his or herself as the figure holding the gun. This relationship and facelessness also thrust a sense of obligation on the poster’s audience: armed resistance is not only a task of a select few rebels, but it is the task of every Irish citizen.

            Also, the reference to Bobby Sands is an important persuasive element because of his significant credibility in 1980s Ireland. As a prominent figure of the Irish resistance against the British, Bobby Sands led a prison hunger strike that ultimately cost him his life. He is a figure of sacrifice and a figure of death, as his birth and death dates emphasize. His inclusion in the poster also sets a standard for what kind of resistance and sacrifice are expected. In effect, the poster uses Sands reputation, as well as the previously discussed elements, to assert that Irish freedom is worth fighting and dying for.

Republican Movement. Resistance. 1980s. 22 November 2010.

<http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/images/posters/ira/>.

His Ego is Bigger than Jesus

("good god")

Liam Gallagher’s ego has always astounded me. While I will admit to being a fan of Oasis, half the time I wonder how he is able to stand up straight with a head so colossally bloated. The photo to the left, depicting the aforementioned rock star in a Christ-like pose, not only perpetuates this public persona of exaggerated self-opinion, but also emphasizes his connection to one of the most significant and influential musicians in history, John Lennon. Liam Gallagher connecting himself to Christ and John Lennon is important because it both contributes to his self-aggrandized image and it positions him and Oasis as the second coming of The Beatles.

To anyone who even remotely paid attention to Oasis during their sixteen-year career, it is no secret they thought themselves as the saviors of British rock’n’roll, The Beatles of a new generation. The photo of Liam contributes to this self-proclaimed image in two ways. First, Liam is specifically styled to look like John Lennon. His mop-top hair and round sunglasses, while not exactly the same, are unmistakably similar to John Lennon’s iconic, 1960s look, and will draw an instant parallel for anyone familiar with John Lennon’s image. Second, the religious allegory (the Christ-like pose, the heavenly rays of light radiating from his head like a halo, and the crucifix around his neck) can be seen as a metaphor for the relationship between Lennon and Gallagher. If Lennon is the father, the one who helped start the British rock’n’roll invasion of the 1960s, the God figure, then Gallagher is the son, the one who helped resurrect British rock’n’roll during the 1990s, the Jesus figure.

            Considering Liam is directly aligning himself with both Jesus and one of the most talented and respected musicians of the 20^th Century, there is no mistaking the ego needed to even consider posing for this photograph. His brazenness smacks the audience in the face, but that is what it is supposed to do. There is nothing subtle about ego and the heavy-handedness of the allegory in this photograph makes sure no one is in question of who is, as Gallagher himself would phrase it, “the dog’s bollocks.”

good god. n.d. Oasis Fanatic. oasisfanatic.com. Web.

<http://www.oasisfanatic.com/gallery/oasis/picture/0/1699.html>

Glee, Rocky Horror, and Sexuality

Fox recently aired an episode of the television show Glee dedicated to covering famous musical numbers from the cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show. While I will admit my bias is with Rocky Horror (what other film lets you throw toast at people?), the Glee episode bothered me for more reasons than simple indignant fan snobbery. I was bothered by the changes they made to the representations of gender and sexuality, specifically during the “Sweet Transvestite” number.

The “Sweet Transvestite” number was problematic for me because, by changing Dr. Frank-N-Furter’s character from a homosexual, transvestite male to a straight, non-cross dressing female, Glee makes Frank-N-Furter and the musical number a part of the dominant, heteronormative culture the original Rocky Horror sought to subvert. In essence, Glee robs the number of all its cultural power.

Particularly, Glee’s heterosexual, female Frank-N-Furter significantly lessens the powerful and exaggerated contrast between Frank-N-Furter and the comically clean-cut Brad and Janet. In the original, Brad and Janet are an almost perfect representation of a supposedly ideal couple (young, heterosexual, white, and abstinent until marriage), but when Frank-N-Furter steps out of the elevator, the melodramatically fainting Janet and stammering Brad appear just as absurd as the overly made up man in the sequined teddy. In effect, this contrast presents Brad and Janet’s extreme heterosexuality as equally over-the-top as Frank-N-Furter’s transvestite homosexuality. Since the Glee “Sweet Transvestite” has nothing more than a straight, non-transvestite female dressed in a sexy outfit, the contrast that puts Brad and Janet’s exaggerated heterosexuality into sharp relief is completely lost.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Dir. Jim Sharman. Perf. Tim Curry,
           Susan Sarandon, and Barry Bostwick. Twentieth Century Fox, 1975.
           Film.

“The Rocky Horror Glee Show.” Glee. Dir. Adam Shankman. Perf. Lea
           Michele, Cory Monteith, Amber Riley, and Chris Colfer. Twentieth
           Century Fox, 2010. Television.