fandomhigh | Rage Against the Machine: Etc, Etc, Etc; Tuesday, Second Period [01/18].

"Welcome back, guys," said Summer, again from the front of the classroom sim, which was all decked out with an old-timey projector--don't worry, the quality of what they'd be viewing was fine, this was all part of the whole ~effect~--. "So, last week, we talked a little bit about warning signs of a Galactic Empire, and things to look out for, some subtle, most not, which then probably begs the question of how and why people could even fall for this crap in the first place.

"The first answer to that, obviously, is systemic oppression and threats of violence...or worse, of course, but the second part of it is often propaganda, which is forms of media created to push a very specific, often false, narrative with regards to a certain set of beliefs, politics, governmental power, war efforts, etc, etc, etc. Usually, this is the sort of stuff that's framed in a sense of unity, national pride, patriotism, blah blah blah. They're designed to make the person viewing it feel involved or that they could have some part in the greater good, despite the fact that the people creating the propaganda are the exact same people who took that agency away from them in the first place. It's basically mind manipulation without the actual mind control, and it can be stupid effective sometimes.

"Propaganda can also be used by the 'good guys,' though, too, and you could argue that literally everything is propaganda. This class is propaganda. I'm actively trying to radicalize you against oppressive regimes, and I do that through education when you're still young and squishy...well, some of you definitely not so squishy...and impressionable. Does that mean propaganda's only bad when the people we don't like are doing it? Or is it questionable coming from anyone, and it's important to be aware of propaganda when we see it and consider what ulterior motives might be behind every public message we're being fed?

"To springboard this discussion a little further, I've put together a compelation of various examples of propaganda I was able to root up from around the multiverse. We'll have a look and then we'll discuss what we've noticed and how that can help us when it comes to defending our galaxies from those who wish to take it over like complete and total dicks."

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Mmmm. Propagandistic.

It's a short one today; need plenty of time to get to those juicy brainwashing clips!

Summer dimmed the lights and let the projector roll over a series of videos and images of various pieces of propeganda she was able to stumble across, from military recruitment to news reels and commercials, announcement audio recordings to corporate information, all of it interspliced with a shit ton of posters from certain galaxies far, far away and a few from one maybe not so far away, too.

Feel free to include other examples that may have been in the reel as you discuss some of the content, what you think about it, what about it makes it effective (or not), and how propaganda can create certain narratives and why it's important to fight against them.

Edited 2022-01-18 10:23 (UTC)

She will be delicately avoiding talking about all of the many times she herself fell into the effects of good (...okay, let's be honest, it wasn't even good) propaganda before in her past...

Look, she's only human. You'd try to send your parents to heaven with a bunch of a balloons if giant space heads kept showing up in your sky threateningly, too....right?

I absolutely did not spend this whole post spelling propaganda with an E instead of the first A, how dare you, this is all propagandized LIES.

Kurt Wagner

Kurt watched and listened to the lecture, typing now and then and pulling up a few pages on his laptop as he did. When it was his turn to discuss he showed a few of the images he had pulled up to Summer and the rest of the class.

“Well, back in my timeline and all, there’s a lot of anti-Mutant propaganda going on. Got your normal crazy people on the sidewalk yelling about pure human bloodlines and all that. But there are a lot of big groups and corporations too that are very VERY anti-Mutant.”

Kurt paused for a moment before he started scrolling through the pictures he had found.
“There are the Purifiers who want to as their name implies purify humanity of the Mutant gene. There’s the Church of Humanity (and yes that IS a version of Kurt he is talking about there). The Friends of Humanity are definitely no friends to Mutants. And then there’s the group that calls themselves The Right. So… yeah. There’s plenty of propaganda to be seen. It’s… it’s something we Mutants fight against on a regular basis.”

Edited 2022-01-18 11:56 (UTC)

Summer nodded a little at the end of Kurt's contribution to the topic. "I remember you and Illyana mentioning the Friends of Humanity last week. It's interesting, though, don't you think, that there would be so many. Why not just join together in a unified front? That could be useful; what wedges keep them separate? Good way to sneak into the cracks and wear them down. Also, it's pretty clear to me that this is all very based in, like, you know, fear of the unknown, on their part. A shift in the paradigm; they'ere probably against mutants so firmly because they've actually got no leg to stand on, they fear their majority becoming the minority..."

Funny how this all felt kind of familiar, somehow. Huh. Weird.

"Also something to your advantage. Propaganda like this just reeks of desperation, really..."

Vi, whose poker face could best be described as 'inconsistent', physically flinched the first time the image of an enforcer but not quite flashed up. By the time the presentation had finished, her foot was tapping out a restless pattern and she was paying more attention to the exit than the screen.

Kurt had noticed how Vi was reacting by the end of the lecture as he was ~~handwavely~~ sitting next to her for that particular class. He looked over and tried to give her a reassuring smile as things finished up.

"Well they are also from different realities and timelines and what not. Seems like anywhere there are Mutants, there are those determine to wipes us out" Kurt said with a small sigh. "I have fortunately been lucky to never had ran into The Church of Humanity but have heard stories from other who have."

Kurt paused a moment as if trying to decide if he should say this next bit or not.

"I... I know not all humans are like this, obviously" he said with a nod and small smile to Summer. "But it does make it harder to argue against the Mutants who don't want to help the humans and who want to essentially wipe them out instead. I know that's not the answer either. But it's hard when the two sides can seem to get along or reach an agreeable solution.... and its definitely not for lack of trying on our part!"

Alara Kitan

“Well back home, my home world is very against getting involved in intergalactic affairs, especially military involvement,” Alara offered, “a lot of people think we shouldn’t be using our abilities to help outside conflict and it’s quite controversial, especially in elite academic circles …a lot of people think that those who choose to pursue physical based careers as being not a true Xelayan and those who do get looked down on,” she said, she glanced down, “I think we should be able to help other planets, especially since we’ve got the ability to help,”

You know what hadn't helped Vic's stress levels at all this class?

Some dumb vastaya kid whose parents hadn't taught him the value of personal space deciding to impose on hers, and having to clamp down on every Lanes raised, prison honed instinct yelling that she needed to reassert her boundaries right now.

So Vi returning that smile with a flat glare was honestly the best response he could have gotten.

Rage Against the Machine: Etc, Etc, Etc; Tuesday, Second Period [01/18].

Sign In - RatM, 01/18.

Listen to the Lecture - RatM, 01/18.

Discussion: Propaganda - RatM, 01/18.

Talk to the Teacher - RatM, 01/18.

OOC - RatM, 01/18.

Re: Sign In - RatM, 01/18.

Re: Discussion: Propaganda - RatM, 01/18.

Re: Discussion: Propaganda - RatM, 01/18.

Re: Sign In - RatM, 01/18.

Re: Discussion: Propaganda - RatM, 01/18.

Re: Discussion: Propaganda - RatM, 01/18.

Re: Discussion: Propaganda - RatM, 01/18.

Re: Sign In - RatM, 01/18.

Re: Discussion: Propaganda - RatM, 01/18.

Re: Discussion: Propaganda - RatM, 01/18.