Visual+Elements+-+Examples+From+Former+Students

Part of the class presentation assignment is locating an image that speaks to themes and issues of your text.

Here are some examples of visual elements that students in a former course of mine located, including their captions. Remember that when you post your visual element, you should post a 2-3 sentence explanation of the image.

These image examples pertain to an in-class presentation about the 1954 science fiction movie, //Them!//, paired with readings about Communist anxiety during the 1950s. Note that some of the visual elements are from historical sources, ranging from movies to advertisements, while one student linked the readings to a contemporary video game.

I chose this image because I believe that it expresses the concepts discussed in my paper and those concepts found in the assigned readings from Cyndy Hendershot and George F. Kennan. Moreover, this image visually demonstrates nuclear anxiety, "otherness," and the concept of containment while also calling attention to the fear of spreading Communism from within America. Specifically, these concepts are expressed by the violent flames in the background, the words, "Is This Tomorrow: America Under Communism," and the scene of "Ivan" beating an American man and woman. It is interesting to note how the man being beat is an African-American--exposing the racism of the time--and how the choking and submission of the woman contains allusions to rape and subjugation of the womb to birthing future fascists. Credit for the image is as follows: <@http://propaganda-history.blogspot.com/2011/05/democracy-of-fear-american-paranoia.html>



I chose this image because I felt it conveyed the growing worry of the American people concerning nuclear fallout. As you can see it was an advertisement in LIFE magazine in 1957 and comes in seven different sizes to fit adults and children. These are an example of how the government was trying to soothe the American public about nuclear war. "Look! we have masks that will protect you!" is how I view this advertisement. [|http://books.google.com/books?id=Nz8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA24&dq=nuclear&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Gt6UUfDjG5Di8gTVvYHIDw&ved=0CEYQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q&f=true]

This image is of the monster Godzilla, from the movie of the same name, and like the mutated ants in //Them!// it is a monster created from the use of nuclear technology. I chose this image to show the Japanese's film representation of a creature created from a nuclear bomb. Godzilla acts as a metaphorical representation of nuclear weaponry and how its effects must be countered and contained. Considering the Japanese connection to nuclear weaponry (Hiroshima and Nagasaki) I thought he was an interesting extension of science fiction from this era, and a representation of how two different cultures can find similar ways of depicting a concept. http://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/godzilla1954c.jpg

This is the cover of a magazine that explains how to make a fallout shelter for your family and what you will need.This kind of thinking was a result of the anxiety felt at the time. With the Soviets as a world power with nuclear technology, I argued that Americans were reeling from a loss of control. This loss manifests itself in things like the Civil Defense ads and fallout shelters and all the things that championed preparedness. Preparing for these disasters gave back a sense of control and safety. However, after reading //Hiroshima// it is hard to believe the home shelters would do much good in a direct attack- showing a sort of naivety or blind hopefulness.

http://www.authentichistory.com/1946-1960/4-cwhomefront/3-civildefense/1-educating/ffshelter/The_Family_Fallout_Shelter_1960.html



Fallout 3 is a game created back in 2008 which takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where the entire United States has become an irradiated wasteland. Why I feel this is appropriate with the assignment is the world Fallout 3 presents is a stylized 1950s nuclear apocalypse. Music, fashion, cars, and style follows a lot of things that were associates with the 40s and 50s. There are even mutated monsters you fight in the game similar to monsters found is science fiction movies of the time, including incredibly large ants.

Image Provided By: http://www.gamehounds.net/2010/08/23/fallout-3-starters-guide/