The body as a figure is often conscripted to foster public approval and ongoing support for war. One of the more visible images circulating is a photo depicting hundreds of unidentified bodies wrapped in white shrouds. Here, the specter of the body was put on full display; the fragile mortal human body. In this instance the juxtaposition is particularly striking: stark white figures contrasted against an unremarkable background; nameless lifeless bodies foregrounded by the youthful vigor and innocence of a lone skipping child, whose playful stride negotiates the chasm between life and death. Bodies effectively disembodied—dead flesh uninhabited—the body reduced to a container —no longer a subject. Such bodies can no longer speak their trauma. But even in death they might communicate without benefit of a voice. Simple bodies laid out in neat tidy rows are suggestive of one of the many fictions that conflict narratives propagate: the idea that war’s human terrain is manageable and that order might be achieved from chaos—all while life dances in the balance.
The story of this photograph proved to be a great deal more complex than was originally assumed, as the bodies depicted in it were not from Syria, but from Iraq.The original photo, taken in March of 2003, documented a recovery operation from a mass grave outside of Baghdad. The deception in this case, deliberate or otherwise, was overlooked not only by the U.S., but by other news organizations and governments, many of whom were using the photo to support calls for attacks on Syria [photo credit: Marco di Lauro. The photographer’s online portfolio can be accessed on his personal website at http://www.marcodilauro.com/blog/bbc-mistakenly-runs-dated-iraq-photo-to-illustrate-the-syrian-massacre/].
How do different images of bodies make us feel about war? What are your feelings about seeing images of soldiers’ bodies, civilian bodies, and children’s bodies displayed in the media? Do you think your are seeing the complete picture when you look at media portrayals of war casualties? Are some bodies more noticeable than others? Do you think it is appropriate for the media to censor graphic images of war and if so, why?
War exerts a major influence over the development of not only culture and institutions, but also on the development of social identities. The unequal distribution of power and resources causes invisible social problems such as American exceptionalism and the American Dream. The American psyche from efforts to the idea of the good war with the good life as well as the use of war and military service to make men in a time of economic precocity should be look at critically according to the article “Operation Delirium” by Raffi Khatchadourian. Americans largely invests on political economy of pharmaceutical industry and they are ideal target to drug trials. They believe knowledges obtain from their body is more important than issue that testify human subjects.
I understand Colonel James S. Ketchum is a very ambitious man and strongly believe his potential to success his clinical trials. However to bring a human subject into a drug trials without testing with animals and no follow up is disrespectful to human rights. Even today, people against to animal testing but his desire caused social issue that inequality of human rights. The soldiers were overly medicated and their mindset was believing they were doing good things for their nation. I also believe his mindset that to reach his goal, he is willing to make a certain amount of sacrifice. However in my perspective, he should not be the one who choose to do something with a human subject. In his perspective, a human subject is same as a product that can be treated whatever he wants to.
Medicalization by using drugs is also a national subjects that everybody believe appropriate but if people keep taking a certain drug periodically, they will get used to it and their tolerance will reach high and that drug won’t be working anymore and they should looking for another drugs that can be treated same as the drug that they took. Furthermore, this cycle will never stop. American psyche of medicalization is a best way to solve problems should approach more carefully by these effects.
Because of the embed system images of our soldiers and the causality the US military takes every year are often forgotten unlike back in the 1960’s when that was the very thing that captured the attention of America and sparked anti-war rallies. When the media shows the bodies of civilians from other countries it is meant to pull at our heartstrings in a sympathetic way as in prove the point that we need to intervene. Enemy soldiers show that we are winning, and that we can possibly win. Any time images are shown there is little to no explanation or context given and this allows the media to put whatever sort of spin they want. The media absolutely should not censor images, but rather show all aspects of war through visual aids.
Foucault shined light on the idea that bodies are produced as a the effect of power, essentially bodies are embodied with preconceived ideas of how they should act. Particularly during war, soldiers are consistently regulating, disciplining their bodies in social space. They become subject to measurement and project their body in space. Particularly Foucault concept of Dorsality, helps explicate how bodies are manipulated regulated, transformed and regulated in social space. Clearly, soldiers are constantly being regulated, they have to wear proper wearing uniform, their subjected to police regulations and proper sanity rules. The power of war becomes internalized through their social condition and the training they have to project. They are working to achieve the full maximum potential of their body.
We can use Foucault’s to make an analysis of bodys. Using this concept, we can make assessments of which bodies are more fit for suspicion. We view some bodies as suspect body’s- particularly in the Middle East. After 9/11 anybody coming from the middle East was portrayed as a suspect body. They were seen as these contaminated bodies, mixing with the population. So in the same way, many people might see the Syrian civilians as suspect bodies and especially with the controversial news outlet for information, this might incite the ambition of U.s citizens to side with the U.s government in the war with Syria.
It’s quite devastating that we have progressed so much in society and yet we have not come up with a different alternatives to resolving our issues. A picture like the one displayed, helps us ultimately realize how insensitive and unsympathetic we have become as a nation. Just imagine for a second, if that was your father, uncle or even brother,dead and wrapped up. I found it quite interesting how a innocent child is somewhat contrasted in a sense with the evil of war. Wars have been going on forever, it’s a selfish instinctual human behavior that has to be ultimately diminished. I mean if the child in the photo skipping across lifeless bodies didn’t spark any sympathy or any emotion in you than, I don’t know what will. What I hope people get out of this photo is we have to put an end to war, before it puts an end to us. Do it for our children, the future generation that will take on, after us. Let’s progress more as a country and find more reasonable ways to resolve our issues with nations, other than war.
Some media outlets keep pictures PG because they are not allowed to broadcast graphic pictures on live television or even other media sources. I think that these pictures are only on the glimpse of what’s really happening in those places, just simply put, surface leveled pictures. There’s more to it of course, and somehow we are not being accessed with this raw informative pictures and true events occurring in Syria. In egypt, when the people tried to overthrow Hosni Mubarak, the government cut off internet and phones, so that brutality of his control would not be leaked to other countries. These images would have resulted in bloody pictures of the police attacking people with rocks, real ammunition, tear gas and so on. In the same way, I think the media wants to limit our view of what is going on in Syria, and make them seem like the bad people.
Its very unfortunate that the media has to limited us from information going on in Syria. For some, particularly the older generation, the news is an essential source of gathering logistic information of what is happening in the world. This isn’t only applied to Syria, but also other issues. Fox news is run by republicans, the news channel gives them a platform to push their ideas on you. Fox new is not on the side of democratic presidents. Most coverage is negative especially during the 2012 presidential campaign, obama wasn’t given positive coverage. The media wants to shape our views in certain issues. Even i
Images of bodies during war evoke heightened emotion and alertness. The medias decision to display images of soldiers’ bodies, civilians bodied, and children’s bodies may serve to expose the ills of war. War has its casualties but the bodies also signify victory and struggle. The United States particularly focus their efforts on building a unified army, one that fights for its nation under the most horrific circumstances. When images of bodies are displayed in the media, citizens may feel comfort knowing there country is fighting to protect them. Media tends to highlight images of bodies that bring about the most emotion whether it be photos of the opposing forces or hometeam. Media tactics usual avoid displaying distorted bodies of our soldiers because they would like to keep citizens in good faith and security. If we as U.S. Citizens constantly turned on the television and saw pictures of war U.S. Casualties it would make the conversation about war increasingly difficult. Censorship in the media is used to mask negativity and limit public knowledge. The viewers are only allowed to see soo much and hear soo much when dealing with the topic of war. The child playing in the sea of bodies displays an irony in which war can sometimes be misunderstood. Photography such as this can help to skew images of war or create an unclear picture. Sometimes visual imagery of bodies can confuse the naked eye. There is no clear story only an image left up to interpretation, which is often the problem with media.
As far as I can remember, images of war, terrorist attacks and other tragic events have been shown throughout media coverage. Dead bodies in all types of physical condition are televised. I’ve always asked myself why would the media show in such a cynical manner. Do some of the people that belong to American society find these images to be bearable for the eyes and ears? Does American see each other above everyone else? Why is seeing images of Americans under these conditions so wrong? Our news media does a great job of covering up negative stories in time of war. I be
Is e this is a problem because we are all fed these stories and images that do not make America seem vulnerable to the people. The media sanitizing war is essentially the same as lying to the public. We aren’t shown and told the truth about what’s really going on here and overseas. Misinformation is the worst thing that can happen during times of war.
This is a problem because*
Something for everyone to think about with regard to the issue of showing/hiding bodies are cultural differences reflected in media practices as this pertains to the televising of graphic imagery of war casualties. For example, throughout Europe and the Middle East, it is common to see photos and film footage of bodies, particularly children’s bodies, burned and dismembered beyond recognition. There is no such parallel here in the U.S., as these types of images are almost never shown on the evening broadcasts and can only be seen by those who would search them out. What do you think about this? Do you think that our news media deliberately “sanitize” war? And if so, why might this be a problem?
Footage and images of deceased or injured bodies evoke a lot of emotion in people viewing. One may get a sense of what is happening at war. The violence is non-stop and you know groups of people are getting hurt physically and emotionally every day because of combat. The media do the job of showing us the aftermath of combat, but to a certain extent. There are other images, from photography that isn’t shown in the media that are very powerful. For example, the photograph above shows the countless number of bodies in bags and the innocence of a young child jumping around and over bodies of his people. One may draw conclusions that the child is already used to all the exposure of violence and dead bodies. Some bodies might be hidden because they might be too graphic to show to the public. Torture, dismemberment, scars and burns inflicted on innocent children, men and women, soldiers and the enemy have to be kept discrete for many viewers. I have seen images from Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya that I believe show much more than just tired, injured or dead bodies. Those photographs instill a sense of pain, suffering and even hopelessness from so much war. Some bodies in pictures have gone through more stress and injury than others. I believe every human body has their own story. Too difficult for someone who isn’t at war to comprehend.
I think that showing bodies, regardless of whose body it is, evokes some kind of emotion out of a viewer. I think there is a lot of symbolism involved and manipulation of the images in order to invoke feelings that go one way or another, depending on what story is being told with those images. The image above is one that is used a lot and was used recently when talking about the chemical attacks on Syria. It was used to show the innocent lives of civilians and especially children, that were cut short by the use of chemical weapons. It was a way of trying to manipulate the public into saying yes, we must go into Syria and stop chemical warfare. However, most of the pictures being flashed on television and used in the newspapers were in fact images of people that were not killed in the chemical attack in Syria. These innocent people are now being used as a tool in manipulating the masses into thinking one way or another about something. It is definitely a strategic action taken by the press. I think we avoid using pictures of dead soldiers though in order to protect the profit of war. If we saw pictures of our soldiers, dead, the same way we see these photos like the one above, we would want to pull out of war. We would never approve war again, not socially, if we saw images of our actual family and friends, our neighbors dead from war we would never agree as a society to approve war. We would not allow our friends and family to enlist and go off to war knowing the real horrors behind it, of what they deal with when they are in war.