The official reason was to record for posterity. Propaganda remember literally means truth.
frank theriault wrote: > On 9/28/07, Bob Sullivan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> Bill and Tom, >> >> What is a propaganda photo? >> The flag raising at Iwo Jima was an inspirational moment by design. >> It was a premature 'celebration' of victory, 2 days into a grim 30 day >> battle. >> The flag was raised to inspire those fighting on the island below. >> >> The photo took on a propaganda aura based on how the media handled it, >> the events themselves (a difficult battle), and the qualities of the >> photo itself. The US government used the photo as the centerpiece of >> a massive War Bond drive - the kind of promotional campaign that would >> make Nike look like a lightweight in comparison today. (Imagine >> financing Vietnam from 'donations' to War Bonds instead of deficit >> spending!) >> >> Propaganda is a loaded word. >> > > It may be a "loaded word", but IMHO, whether intended as propaganda or > not (and as Rosenthal was there with the armed forces, it's hard to > believe that he had no awareness that the photo could be used for > "inspirational purposes"), in fact it was used to promote a cause > (that of raising the war-weary spirits of Americans on the "home > front" of WWII). > > It may have been a good cause, to be sure, but it was still propaganda. > > Good propaganda? > > I think so. > > But propaganda none-the-less... > > cheers, > frank > > -- Remember, it’s pillage then burn. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
