CC: Propraganda Similarities

As someone who has studied propaganda films as well, as had propaganda victims within my family I think a lot of the disgust and fear I have for the 'I Pledge' video has deeper roots.

I see it as a very bold step in the wrong direction with messages delivered by many people whose voices are influential for the ill-informed Americans. When I watched this video I thought of two things, Triumph of the Will and my uncle.

Triumph of the Will, a Germany propaganda documentary by Leni Rienfenstahl is hands down one of the most brilliant documentaries and most scary portraits ever presented to the world. I'll never forget when we watched it in my doc film class my professor told us that we might be confused at the end of the night and boy was he right!

Technically, this film is superb and the information it provides about Hilter's Germany is both terrifying and tantalizing. After watching this film one could easily see how people feel in love with the idea of Hitler. The idea of serving him or helping him improve the country. The film promotes ideology that is both rational, heartfelt and reasonable. Much like many of the ideas seen in the "I Pledge" video.

If I remember correctly some of the main themes in Triumph of the Will was unity, so there is no big wonder why the 'I Pledge' video made me remember this historical propaganda doc. I dug a little through my old college paper and found a few important quotes, "The Party is Hitler - and Hitler is Germany just as Germany is Hitler!" Also, at a youth rally: "As you selflessly work for this nation...As you are loyal to us, so will we be loyal to you."

Do me a favor, watch the end of the I Pledge video starting at 3:52- end.


Transcript:
All: I pledge to be a servant to our President and all mankind, because together we can, together we are, and together we will be the change that we see.

Some other key phrases from other portions of the 'I Pledge' video are, "I pledge to be of service to Barack Obama." and "I pledge to integrate into my heart what I already know in my head, which is that we are all in this together."

Now, do me a favor, watch the beginning of this clip from Triumph of the Will starting at 0:10 - 1:45




Transcript from the clip:
Here we stand. We are ready to carry Germany into a new era
Group Leader: Here we stand, ready to carry Germany into a new era. Germany! Comrade, where are you from?
1st Man: From Friesland.
Group Leader: And you, comrade, where are you from?
2nd RAD Man: From Bavaria.
Group Leader: And you?
3rd Man: From Kaiserstuhl
4th Man: From Pomerania.
5th Man: And from Königsberg.
6th Man: From Silesia.
7th Man: From the seaside.
8th Man: From the Black Forest.
9th Man: From Dresden.
10th Man: From the Danube.
11th Man: From the Rhine.
12th Man: And from the Saar.
All in Unison: One Nation, one Leader, one Reich. GERMANY! Group Leader: We are all at work together
All: In the turf marshes and we in the furnaces and we in the quarries. we are reclaiming the North Sea. We are planting trees. We are building roads from village to village from town to town. We are making new fields for the farmers. Forest and fields, land and bread, for Germany! CUT to closeup of Adolf Hitler

Now, I realize that they aren't saying the same exact words but there is something eeirly creepy about this scene compared with the 'I Pledge' video. The chanting. The "for the good of the whole" mentality. The environmental undertones. The exhalation of the leader. These qualities are what led me to classify the 'I Pledge' video as undoubted propaganda!

I actually found the whole documentary on YouTube. Click here to check it out! Seriously recommended.


Now, you heard me mention my uncle wayyyy up at the top of the post. Well, I wanted to share a little personal story that I've been hearing my whole life. As many of you probably know already, my family is Cuban and my uncle, specifically, had a very disturbing run in with some creative education.

My uncle was just going into first grade when Fidel was just getting vocal about his true political goals. My grandmother told me that one day my tio came home and was sitting at the table having a snack when she asked him how his day was and he said that Fidel had visited his school. My grandmother, not quite understanding asked him to explain. This is what he said,

"Well, the teacher had us all take everything off our desk and close our eyes. Then she asked us to pray to God for a piece of candy. So everyone prayed and when we opened our eyes there was no candy on our desks. So then the teacher told us to close our eyes again and this time to pray to Fidel for a piece of candy and we opened our eyes and everyone had a piece of candy on their desk!"

Can you imagine first grade students in Utah when they went home... "Mommy, we learned to serve our President today!" I don't know about you but that sounds kinda similar to, "Mommy we learned to worship Fidel today."

I immediately thought of this story when I saw the 'I Pledge' video earlier this week and I wanted to take a moment and explain why I was so greatly affected by the YouTube video. These couple of examples are just a few personal 'off the cuff' facts that came to my mind when I saw the ad. They are by no means the most wonderful or perfect examples for why this video is scary.

Even though this video is fishy, it is by no means a one time example of the indoctrination that the youth of this country is facing on a daily basis. I'm going to do a little researching on this, but on the radio today I was listening to FoxNews talk about the textbooks. The facts that our children are using to learn, or I should say, not learn the truth about American History. Textbook "writers" are creating this rose-colored fairytale about U.S. History that are simply inaccurate in so many ways. They have been slowly indoctrination students for years!!

My mother said something to me today and as each hour passes I'm more and more convinced shes right. She said, "This country is going to destroy itself from the inside out and the roots started growing a long time ago." I really hope that she is wrong in this case but I know I can't sit around and just hope.

When I have kids I know I'm going to become aware of what they are are learning. I know its difficult but it is so important to teach your children the real foundation, history and beliefs of this country. For some really good resources check out this foundation called Wallbuilders. They have CD's, MP3 and a bunch of really useful information.

Good Luck America!