Why propaganda is aimed at children through illustration

James Moore

Why propaganda is aimed at the youth through illustration This essay will question why propaganda is aimed at the youth through illustration, covering illustrations in times of political unrest. The youth appear to be powerless when covering the subject of politics, so why would anyone make an effort to involve them?

Firstly, to understand the subject, propaganda is a form of mass communication and persuasion. Thanks to the work of the Nazi party, and other such totalitarian movements, there is a deep seeded fear behind the word, as the technique was used to push what is widely considered to be evil ideals. On the subject of propaganda, Author George Orwell wrote, “All propaganda is lies, even when telling the truth” (Orwell, 1942) encouraging the notion that propaganda is always bad. This essay will discuss the use of such a vilified practice towards children, why they would be a targeted, and argue whether propaganda can have a positive effect.

Starting with the Nazi party, they saw propaganda as a means to enforce their beliefs. As stated in State of Deception, This entailed the Nazi’s having “To sell an idea, a case and an organization to their audience as the best possible choice (as leaders), not encouraging reflection or alternatives.”

(Steven Luckert, 2009) and so with this the Nazis sought to gain a following within Germany and Europe by conveying ideas of a utopian world accompanied with horrible images of their enemies, foremost of which being the Jewish.

The Nazi party understood that there was an importance to getting children on board with their ideals, considering themselves the ‘party of the youth’. In order to get the children on their side, they enforced mandatory membership to the Hitler youth and the league of German girls. They even went as far as to change the curriculum, introducing subjects such as ‘racial biology’ and giving the essays first example out as a schoolbook. Written by Ernest Heimer and published by Julius Streicher, it was called ‘Der Giftpilz’ which translates to the poisonous mushrooms in English, and was anti semantic propaganda against the Jewish.

Der Giftpilz Der Giftpilz wanted to illicit hatred towards the Jewish, going hand in hand with the educational teachings of the time. At first glance the book seems to be about a mushroom character with its cover illustration being just that. In fact this character is never featured again within the pages, simply acting as a crude caricature of the Jewish stereotype, with its long nose, Beard, Star of David, and the idea that they were poisonous. Inside the book are literal representations of the Jewish peoples:

Der giftpilz, Nazi children’s illustrated school storybook Written by Ernst Heimer, published by Julius Streicher

James Moore

Translations below

“A man was waiting for me at the station. He tipped his hat and was very friendly to me. But I could tell immediately that he was a Jew…”

“The God of Jews is money. To earn money, he commits the greatest crimes. He will not rest until he can sit on a huge money sack, until he has become the king of money.”

The book pinpointed “unfavorable” traits of the Jewish peoples, trying to even encourage wariness towards their acts of kindness “He tipped his hat and was very friendly to me, but I could tell he was a Jew”(Heimer, 1938) this extract from the page shows that the issue is simply being Jewish, regardless of their kindness. The book wanted the youth to really believe that the Jewish actually were poisonous to Germany, having no positive connotations expressed towards them, taking the human element away and leaving the cartoon villains portrayed within the pages of the book. Simply portraying their stereotypes to incite fear. This is why Germany aimed their propaganda towards children through illustration, because it could be used as an ‘educational’ means, as the children wouldn’t question what their schools gave them. But the schools weren’t the only ones teaching the children such things, so were the parents as Vladek Spiegelman explains in Maus, Mothers taught their children “Be careful! A Jew will catch you to a bag and eat you.”(Spiegelman, 1980) This memory acts as a sign that children had no hope of forming different opinions as the lack of alternative ideals worked on the public as a whole.

So Germany did see success with their methods. Melita Maschmann, a member of the National Socialism group had this to say in her post war memoirs “I became a national socialist because the idea of the national community inspired me. What I had never realized was the number of Germans who were considered unworthy to belong to this community” (Maschmann, 1930)

James Moore

The public formed against those that weren’t German. Another account from this time also comes again from Vladek Spiegelman of Maus, where he tells of a time he passed a group of German children, who went running to their mothers shouting “Help a Jew”, in order to escape he had to approach the parents and say Heil Hitler. Even the older youths were indoctrinated as British historian Stephen Roberts noted a “distressing worship of Hitler amongst students”(Roberts). With an “utter lack of any objective or critical attitude on the part of the youth, even with university students. They are nothing but vessels for state propaganda.”

(Roberts) The Nazi effort was an absolute success at the time. And they understood that to achieve such success they had to win everybody’s favor, even and especially the children, hence the propaganda aimed at children through illustration.

So if that is the effect on Germany, what of their opposition, the winning side?

Naturally, this would entail that the work be created for a different means, this time to rally against the totalitarian ideals, with a healthy dose of American patriotism. This example comes from Walt Disney studios, a man who wasn’t shy of letting others know of his pride for his country, “Actually, if you could see close in my eyes, the American flag is waving in both of them.” (Disney) In terms of what he may have hoped to achieve with his wartime work, “ I would rather entertain and hope that people learnt something, than educate someone and hope they were entertained,” (Disney) He most prominently wanted to lighten the mood. In terms of his work for children, he said “Movies can and do have tremendous influence in shaping young lives towards the ideals and objectives of normal adulthood.” (Disney) He wanted the point their life in, what he believed to be, the right direction.

So, of all the propaganda created by the man/ company during the war effort, tis example is an early animation, “Der fuehrers face”

James Moore

Der Fuehrers Face Der Furhers Face, Walt Disney Animation studios Runtime 8:00

As can be seen in the stills above, the film portrayed Germany in a dreary, mostly grey, brown and dark green palette with most items shown in a swastika shape. The plot follows Donald through a workday, creating artillery for the German forces in a factory. The work schedule is rushed, with a stressed and overworked Donald at the helm. Adding to the stress, every time Donald steps out of line he is threatened by knifepoint. This was an effort to satirize some of the issues facing the German workforce at the time concerning working hours and workload. The animation starts with a Nazi marching band, singing a song echoing the words “Ve Heil”. Although the band consists of characters of all shapes and sizes, it isn’t until we get a closer look at the characters you notice to what extent the nationalities are exaggerated and are in fact caricatures of the Axis leaders (Herrman Goering, Mussolini and emperor Hirohito). This is played for the entertainment value, where these caricatures would be deemed deeply offensive in the modern world, back then these sides were killing each other. This isn’t the only time Disney has used race and stereotype for humor in national conflict, prime example being ‘Lady and the Tramp’ and the Siamese cats, given the Asian stereotype trifecta and devious characteristics, in response to yellow peril during the 18th century. They did so in an effort to reassure the young audience, these people that are fighting against you are nothing but a joke, you can simply laugh them off.

The film as a whole acts as a send up to totalitarian threats and plays them off for laughs, the. They wanted to lighten the

James Moore mood, but at the same time educate the evils of Nazi Germany, done through little touches, with the already noted ever-present swastikas, and certain objects having the features of Hitler, Germany was painted as a literal bad dream with such nightmarish elements, a fear children can understand.

So in all of this was Disney a success in their/ his aims to help America. The answer is an absolute yes, receiving an academy award, and according to the book “Disney during WWII”, it was found that “the army and navy relied more on Disney for training videos and propaganda imagery than they did any other studio”(Baxter,2014).

And questioning whether they did create to better the mood or just to make a profit, the large output from Disney during the effort was locked away and the company only broke even. This shows that they truly did want to help the youth; the propaganda was created to make the wartime effort easier for the children to bear.

Moving from the Second World War, something more modern, the campaign that helped bring the current president of the United States to power. This would be the Barrack Obama “Hope” campaign.

Obama Hope poster So how does this effect children and youths, this doesn’t at first glance seem to be aimed towards them, but this poster does in fact relate to youth culture at the time, by looking at its creator, Shepard Fairey. This wasn’t your typical graphic designer or artist; he was at the forefront of a relatively recent explosion in popularity for street art, where artists would take to the street to present their work, mostly illegally. The idea was to circumvent the common artists issue of finding an audience for your work within a gallery, and bring it to the audience. What really interested Fairey was repeatedly showing the same image to the general public, to see if he could forcefully create an icon. It started when he made a sticker depicting a famous 80’s wrestler Andre The Giant on a whim, and decided to hand them out to skater friends of his, whom then passed them on to others, eventually gaining speculation as to where the imagery came from and what it meant.

Obama Hope presidency campaign, silkscreen print

This sparked an interest in Fairey, and not content with the success of his little inside joke, he wished to know why this happened. It is here he decided to study Heidegger's theory of phenomenology, where he learnt the idea that people

James Moore have become numb to their surroundings and need unique experiences to get a sense of wonder. From this he decided he wanted to create those experiences with his work, advancing his Andre design and adding a command “Obey” to the work.

Studying and taking an interest in propaganda, Shepard has worked hand in hand with the subject ever since. So we have an artist that creates effective propaganda, well renowned with the youth, even having an obey clothing range that achieved some popularity. This was propaganda that thanks to its roots in street art and youth culture was cool and trendy. In response to the work of Shepard, Steven Heller wrote, “Fairey’s work appeals largely to young audiences, his work exudes a youthful cachet”(Heller, 2009) , or in other words, his work is cool.

But does the work in question conform to the evil connotations of the word propaganda? Arguably not, being another example of propaganda created with good intentions, and again a positive response from the general public.

By having that “cool” element to the work, it sparked an interest with the younger generation in to politics, without them realising. Fairey created the work because he thought he was doing it for the right reasons, making no money from the campaign. Fairey had this to say about Obama, “From the first moment I heard him speak, I was impressed”(Fairey,2009) and on other politicians, “Most politicians come across as used car salesmen, willing to say anything for a vote, and for that reason, few of them ever inspire young people.”

(Fairey, 2009) He truly believed Obama was different, the right change that America needed and the world could get behind. He calls his work “socially conscious

James Moore capitalism”, always trying to work with movements and figures he would believe would strive for the betterment of the world. He truly believed that Obama would be a transformative figure.

As stated the poster was well loved and also inspired its own art movement, two books on the subject of art for Obama titled “Art for Obama” and “Design for Obama”, both feature the work of literally hundreds of young artists, a prime example of the combined efforts of Obama and Fairey inspiring the youth to take action, and rally together to garner votes for the campaign.

Fairey and the members of the Obama understood that gaining support of the youth would help their cause, offering not only strength in numbers, but also their unique creative voice to capture the attention of the public.

In conclusion Having three different examples of propaganda aimed in some way towards youth, all serving different purposes (to sway towards a totalitarian regime, to ease the struggle of war and rally together for a good cause), one theme has run prominently behind each as a motivation. They were all a product of the understanding that youth are important to have on your side, despite lacking the ability to fight for your cause; they can certainly spread your message through multiple means. This was seen with the state of Germany during the Hitler reign, as documented within the memories of Vladek Spiegelman in Maus, Disney retained a status in the hearts of the public and is a much beloved Company, being one of the biggest in entertainment currently operating, and finally Obama gained the position of president of America.

Whilst the youth may seem to be of little use to companies and leaders, those that have included and aimed their efforts towards them, have become no laughing matter.

Bibliography Baxter, J. (2014) Disney during world war II: How the Walt Disney studio contributed to victory in the war. United States: Disney Press.

Bernays, E. L. and Miller, M. C. (2004) Propaganda. United States: Ig Publishing.

Bryman, A. (2004) The Disneyization of society. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.

Byrne, E. and McQuillan, M. (1999) 'Deconstructing Disney', London: Pluto, pp. 1-19.

Der Furhers Face, Jack Kinney, RKO radio pictures, 1943 Exit through the gift shop, Banksy, Revolver entertainment, 2010

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Fairey, S. (2005) Shepard Fairey, obey giant: [exposition, Paris, la base 01, 22 février-5 avril 2003]. Edited by Franck Shephard Fairey. France: Franck Slama Editions.

Fairey, S. and Gross, J. (eds.) (2009) Art for Obama: Designing manifest hope and the campaign for change. New York: Abrams, Harry N. Heller, S. (2009) Design for Obama: Posters for change: A grassroots anthology. Edited by Spike Lee and Aaron Perry-Zucker. Cologne, Germany: Taschen America.

Luckert, S., Bachrach, S. D., Phillips, E. and Tapper, B. (2009) State of deception: The power of Nazi propaganda. Washington, D.C.: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. [internet] available from <http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Disney/DerFuehrersFace> [29/01/2016] [internet] available from <http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/higher/history/nationalism/nazi/revision/4/> [29/01/2016] [internet] available from <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-34131911> [29/01/2016] [internet] available from <http://www.educationforum.co.uk/workers.htm> [29/01/2016] [internet] available from <http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/oct/30/yellow-peril-dr-fumanchu-rise-of-chinaphobia-christopher-frayling-review> [29/01/2016]

Citations, Quotes & Annotation Baxter, J. (2014) Disney during world war II: How the Walt Disney studio contributed to victory in the war. United States: Disney Press.(Baxter, 2014) Bernays, E. L. and Miller, M. C. (2004) Propaganda. United States: Ig Publishing.(Bernays and Miller, 2004) Bryman, A. (2004) The Disneyization of society. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.

(Bryman, 2004) Fairey, S. (2005) Shepard Fairey, obey giant: [exposition, Paris, la base 01, 22 février-5 avril 2003]. Edited by Franck Shephard Fairey. France: Franck Slama Editions.(Fairey, 2005) Fairey, S. and Gross, J. (eds.) (2009) Art for Obama: Designing manifest hope and the campaign for change. New York: Abrams, Harry N.(Fairey and Gross, 2009) Heller, S. (2009) Design for Obama: Posters for change: A grassroots anthology. Edited by Spike Lee and Aaron Perry-Zucker. Cologne, Germany: Taschen America.(Heller, 2009) Luckert, S., Bachrach, S. D., Phillips, E. and Tapper, B. (2009) State of deception: The power of Nazi propaganda. Washington, D.C.: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.(Luckert et al., 2009, pp. 78 – 91) Images Andre the Giant sticker [internet] available from <https://backfromthe.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/andre-the-giant-has-a-posse.jpg> [29/01/2016] Barrack Obama Hope poster [internet] available from <http://images.huffingtonpost.com/200810-11-BarackisHope.jpg> [29/01/2016] Der Furhers face poster [internet] available from <http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/disney/images/c/c9/Der_Fuhrer's_Face_Poster.jpg/revisio n/latest?cb=20110712014141> [29/01/2016] Der Furhers Face stills [internet] available from <http://americandigest.org/a_donald_duckbaionette.jpg> <https://s-media-cacheak0.pinimg.com/236x/8c/b2/41/8cb2419b08eed26485dd92011e1a1af4.jpg> [29/01/2016]

James Moore Der Giftpilz cover [internet] available from <http://www.wolfsonian.org/sites/default/files/library/XB1989.123.jpg> [29/01/2016] Der Giftpilz pages[internet] available from <http://hankeringforhistory.com/wpcontent/uploads/Der-Giftpilz-Jewish-God-is-Money1.jpg> <https://s-media-cacheak0.pinimg.com/564x/97/20/b5/9720b5e3819d7209e04112cbafef7885.jpg >[29/01/2016] Lady and the tramp Siamese cats [internet] available from <https://lordwhatsmymotivation.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/cats.jpg> [29/01/2016] Shepard Fairey obey logo[internet] available from <http://logonoid.com/images/obeylogo.png> [29/01/2016] Shepard Fairey street art [internet] available from <https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/222/448189901_e8fd5881ed.jpg> [29/01/2016] They live poster [internet] available from <http://t1.gstatic.com/images? q=tbn:ANd9GcQX8MepQQzDRYB-DGdiKOnjhJzsb9AitL-Av_fUEmjSK7psyRR2> [29/01/2016] They live still [internet] available from <https://whispersystems.org/blog/images/theylivemessages.png> [29/01/2016]