Soft power is an interesting way in which politics works. It can be a highly effective way in which politics works discretely and peacefully. Even though soft power is not something we think about the government doing, it still occurs. This image does not directly show anything to do with political soft power but it does give a sense of just how indiscreetly strong soft power can be. It's a good contrasting image of how hard power and soft power are balancing factors in a working government. You cannot have a strictly hard power based government or a soft power based government. The hard power of force via military will only get a country so far. Yet the same goes for soft power, negotiations and trades can only take a country so far in its efforts.
Soft power according to Webster's Dictionary is "a persuasive approach to international relations, typically involving the use of economic or cultural influence." An excellent example of this would be Russia's Free Pussy Riot. The Free Pussy Riot is all about making peaceful performances that voice how basic right are under threat in Russia. Pussy Riot does this all while expressing gender equality, democracy, and of course the freedom of expression, that are clearly contained in their Russian constitution. Pussy Riot also make strong images voicing these opinions as well. This image is strong in the sense that it shows Pussy Riot in chains. We know Pussy Riot fights for woman's rights and the chains that they are wearing convey to us the message that they do not have any rights. The chains in this image could also stand for the obstacles that Pussy Riot is trying help push along. The black mouth covers with Free Pussy Riot written on them is a way that Pussy Riot is saying to us that they "quietly" make themselves known. When I speak of "quietly" I refer to this as non-violent, obviously Pussy Riot has made an uproar in Russia. The colorful ski masks that the girls of Pussy Riot wear are to keep their anonymity. It could also be used in a sense so other women could visualize themselves in these courageous women's position. The bright and colorful outfits of these feminists are used because the group crosses pop culture with that of political issues. They do this in an attempt to help associate more people and to help convey the message they want to spread in a more communal language. Pussy Riot is still an active Feminist group in Russia that is dedicated to speaking out for woman's rights. Yet they do so in a seemingly vulgar way. Do you think Pussy Riot should continue in this way? Pussy Riot has been making effective progress and have become noticed because of their actions. Even though they making statements in a vulgar sense it's clear that it is effective and they are getting noticed.
Hatshepsut's mortuary complex is quite astonishing. It utilizes a very precise colonnade structure almost a thousand years before the Parthenon. Hatshepsut's mortuary complex is cleverly designed to carry your eye directly to the entrance. It is like she is telling us "look, I'm here, come in and see my accomplishments." The strong colonnade structure became so grand in appearance that other pharaohs adopted its grandeur as well. Mortuary complexes were built to commemorate the Pharaoh to which they are dedicated to, however, Hatshepsut shared this dedication with Amon, the sun god. Amon is the highest god of which Pharaohs associate themselves with. Pharaohs make this association because they are the chosen vessel to which Amon inhabits and leads his people through. Hatshepsut's association with Amon is prevalent in the way she lines her entrance with male interpretations of herself as a male Pharaoh. Hatshepsuts goal with making herself a male figure could be simply to imply to her followers that even though she is a female, Amon is still the dominant presence within her. These male statue interpretations along with the colonnade structure makes a very strong statement. It is a double declaration of how strong Hatshepsut viewed herself as a vessel of Amon. The staircase also adds to this declaration in the sense that it's a heavy granite staircase leading directly into the entrance of Hatshepsut's mortuary temple. Hatshepsut's temple was the closest Egyptian architecture to come to classic architecture. Yet could we look at her mortuary temple as a template for the classic architecture that came afterwards?
President Truman's library may be past the classical architecture period but something about its small colonnade usage gives a demanding view. Even though Truman's library is no where near the scale of Hatshepsut mortuary temple, they share a few similar elements. Truman's library uses the same directing staircase used in Hatshepsut's temple. Although the Truman's library staircase is a lot less demanding of people who enter it, it still pulls attention to the small colonnade that surrounds the library's entrance. The Truman library's colonnade is also on a smaller scale than that of Hatshepsut but it still demands a great deal of your attention. The more modern hanging portraits on the side of the colonnade also are similar to how Hatshepsut lined her entrance way. The Truman library shares three elements from Hatshepsut mortuary temple but in a more modern and less grandeur of scale. The Truman library uses these elements in a specific way to directly look at the entrance of the library. It makes the same statement of a passed away individual of importance; "I'm here, come look at my accomplishments". Even though the Truman library makes a smaller demand than that of Hatshepsut's temple, it is a good example of how the past influences the present, along with how power in ancient times was displayed and how it made such an impact that we today still use derivatives of the ideas.
Obelisks come to us from Egypt; they were used as representations of power. This particular image is of an obelisk commissioned by Ramses II. Obelisks were commissioned to place in front of temple entrances. They were representations of a petrified sun ray that was tribute to the sun god Amon. Obelisks were ordained with a multitude of hieroglyphs that told tales of victories of the Pharaoh that commissioned the obelisk. Obelisks were created from a single slab of red granite. The tips of the obelisks were usually ordained in gold. These monolithic symbols carried great significance to the Pharaoh's people. While an obelisks main purpose was to function as a tribute to the Egyptian god Amon, the association created by the Pharaoh when he records his great victories on the obelisk is also of great significance. The association the Pharaoh is making when recording his victories on an obelisk it that he is a pawn of Amon. The Pharaohs subjects now associate him with the highest of their gods, Amon. This association gives the Pharaoh the ability to lead his people and to have the godly association they demand from him. Obelisks after being discovered by the Greeks soon went on to be used for many reasons. Since the Greeks invasion of Egypt and the pillaging of these great monoliths, obelisks have been used throughout history for many reasons.
The Washington monument is great example of how the monolithic obelisk has gone on to live throughout history.
How many times have you stopped to think about this correlation? There are many reasons why this type of monument is significant to the person to which it stands for. Washington, a great figure of his time was someone we wanted to look up just like how the Pharaohs look to Amon for leadership. Even with the extreme differences of the purpose of an Egyptian obelisk to the Washington obelisk, we in a sense still look up to Washington. Washington was the first leader and creator of our country, just as Amon was for the Egyptians. Washington may not have been a god as Amon was but he was a founder of the country like Amon. Therefore why not create such a monolithic tribute to a founding father? This strong structure supports how strong of an influence Washington had and will have on the country. The fact that Washington was depicted by such a powerful monolithic structure supports this claim even more. If we think of this was a petrified sun ray to the Egyptians, we can see it in a different light of Washington himself being a beam of light and coming down to permanently touch his country. Obelisks may not have the same meanings as they did when they were used in Egyptian times but they still hold very true to their powerful presence. There is no wonder why we chose such a powerful symbol for such an influential man.
Yet by using the Obelisk we almost seem to elevate Washington to a God like status in an underlying way. The Obelisk stands very evident but we don't often stop to think about where it originated and what it had stood in its time of glory. In a sense we could say Washington has a God-like presence as he was considered a founding father of America. Just as pharaohs were considered to be founded vessels for the Egyptian god Amon. Whether or not the monument was meant to have implications about Washington being god-like is really an individuals perspective. We see in different visual perspectives with a multitude of images all around us but how do we tell when we have pulled to much information from the image? This question seems to be one of a great many answers.
Upon watching this video you are flooded with all kinds of silent factors. The video features ObamaCare in an extreme way in an attempt to catch the viewer's attention. Let's look at a few ways in which the video appeals to our sense of discomfort. The video immediately starts off with us viewing a nurse and patient via what seems to be a security camera. Almost giving us, the viewer, a sense that we are watching them. Remind you of any similar ideas that involve being watched? The Big Brother idea that George Orwell presented to us talks about how we will be watched in every aspect of life, via cameras that would be implemented everywhere. The video utilized this idea when they began to present the video via a security camera. Giving us the feeling that someone is watching all that takes place. Of course this video is implying that our government is trying to play Big Brother through the implication of ObamaCare. This could also give us the sense that the hospital now has an institutional feel. Institutions have security cameras in order to protect the patients and staffing, but do we really need security cameras for us? This is just another way that this video picks up on making us feel uncomfortable about the situation of the government being involved with our healthcare. Should we be that uncomfortable about our government actually trying to help us though? This video says we should but is it not part of the government's duties to do what is best for its countrymen? These are just a few questions that this video could arouse from any single person, but we all can pull different meanings and questions based simply on how the video was presented in the beginning. This does not include the many other interpretations that could still be pulled from other portions of this video.
After we go back to the doctors room with the female patient, we expect that the doctor will take care of the patient. Instead the doctor preps the patient, doing a job of what a nurse would normally do. The female patient is very clearly confused when the doctor leaves the exam room. The female patient being in an extremely vulnerable position of getting a gynecological exam, freaks out when she sees this creepy Uncle Sam figure come up between her legs. Of course a word that comes to my mind is rape, this scene is extremely awkward and uncomfortable. When I say rape comes to mind it's not in its usual sense. Taking into consideration of the video's context it metaphors the idea that the government is not giving us a choice in the matter of ObamaCare, whether we want it or not we are going to have to take it or be penalized for it. Just as rape victims have to make the choice to speak out against their attackers, this video is that small percentage of people that are courageous enough to speak out and make others aware of situation.
The image of the patient being white, young, and to just be getting out on their own is also an important aspect of this video. The general appearance of the female patient was made to look softer than that of a model because the video is trying to make a point that this ObamaCare movement affects the general public as a whole. The video creator knows their audience very well and caters to this with the female's appearance and lack of knowledge about ObamaCare. The lack of knowledge about ObamaCare was intentional, it portrays how much the general public knows or lacks thereof. This video was purposely created with such a lack of knowledge with character as to capture our attention better and make us think about how much we really know about ObamaCare. It may be a loud and obscene way to catch our attention but with our desensitization from the use of social media and seeing so many events and videos on a daily basis, it may have been the only way the video creator could have so effectively caught and kept our attention. The video creator also aims at younger audiences, college students, graduates, and others that are just in the midst of starting to be on their own. They make the point that we should become informed about what kind of decisions we make and that we should question what our government does and just not accept every action they take. The video creator in a sense is trying to empower us not to just sit back and accept what the government does but be involved and take action if their actions are not to the best of the people.
Soft power according to Webster's Dictionary is "a persuasive approach to international relations, typically involving the use of economic or cultural influence." An excellent example of this would be Russia's Free Pussy Riot. The Free Pussy Riot is all about making peaceful performances that voice how basic right are under threat in Russia. Pussy Riot does this all while expressing gender equality, democracy, and of course the freedom of expression, that are clearly contained in their Russian constitution. Pussy Riot also make strong images voicing these opinions as well. This image is strong in the sense that it shows Pussy Riot in chains. We know Pussy Riot fights for woman's rights and the chains that they are wearing convey to us the message that they do not have any rights. The chains in this image could also stand for the obstacles that Pussy Riot is trying help push along. The black mouth covers with Free Pussy Riot written on them is a way that Pussy Riot is saying to us that they "quietly" make themselves known. When I speak of "quietly" I refer to this as non-violent, obviously Pussy Riot has made an uproar in Russia. The colorful ski masks that the girls of Pussy Riot wear are to keep their anonymity. It could also be used in a sense so other women could visualize themselves in these courageous women's position. The bright and colorful outfits of these feminists are used because the group crosses pop culture with that of political issues. They do this in an attempt to help associate more people and to help convey the message they want to spread in a more communal language.
