Propaganda
The role of propaganda cannot be overlooked in American politics. However, the image presented by Shepard Fairey is one of the most outstanding images based on propaganda and believed by most of the target people. Before the election of President Donald Trump, fear prevailed across the US with people of other races other than the whites fearing for their lives. Trump’s campaigns were based on white supremacy, and the other races had a reason to worry. The image dubbed “We the People Are Greater than Fear” has been the choice for this discussion for the authenticity associated with the information contained in the image.
The primary characteristic of propaganda is the presentation of lies by omission. The image by Shepard Fairey qualifies to be propaganda owing to its several characteristics. First, the image focuses on the negativities associated with the impending success of President Donald Trump. Although the image did not direct feature Donald Trump in its art, the message was clear that people from other races needed to remain united for the days of struggle that were quickly appearing as the day of elections neared. Moreover, the image appears to be a correction of the mistakes made in the past since Americans are aware of what they want.
Shepard Fairey started the work of art several years ago. However, his outstanding works were witnessed during Barack Obama’s campaign period. The images made then, however, appear to have failed to satisfy Fairey hence the recent changes in the method of passing information. The central theme of Fairey’s work has been propaganda, and thus strategies have been coming out daily to help in making the spread of propaganda effective. During the 2008 campaigns, the images extensively used the image of Barack Obama to promise hope, although the promise does not appear to have come true. One of the omitted bits of the 2008 works was the explanation of how Barack Obama would singe-handily bring hope to the millions of Americans. Therefore, the recent “We the People Are Greater than Fear” omits the part with promises and reminds the Americans what they need.
“We the People Are Greater than Fear” is based on the challenges facing Americans, and hope is not given through promises. Also, the image of Donald Trump is omitted to avoid a case of affection where the decision-making capacity of the Americans will be compromised (Cheles, 2016). Fairey uses the challenges facing the non-white races and reminds them of what is already happening in America. Besides, the image shows the need to incorporate the less valued races into the American system by using the American flag to cover a member of the discriminated races. Therefore, the works of Fairey are aimed at reminding the Americans of what they need as a society using propaganda.
In sum, the image dubbed “We the People Are Greater than Fear” has been the choice for this discussion for the authenticity associated with the information contained in the image. Moreover, the image appears to be a correction of the mistakes made in the past since Americans are aware of what they want. Therefore, the works of Fairey are aimed at reminding the Americans of what they need as a society using propaganda. Generally, the image is a move to disadvantage Donald Trump in the run for the presidential position.
Reference
Cheles, L. (2016). Iconic images in propaganda. Modern Italy, 21(4), 453-478.