Image impact

[asterroc]

Having a very interesting conversation with Foxtrot comparing a couple of images. Rather than recreating the discussion here, I'll post the two images and see what y'all think of them.



Edit: Some people weren't seeing the proper image on the left before. I replaced it with a different version of the image, should work now.

Comments

[jrtom.livejournal.com]

Some general comments:

* I suspect that most of those here have at least some idea who Captain America is and perhaps some vague notions about his character. That is, we have some context that probably predisposes us to view him positively (and Hitler negatively).
Contrariwise, I (at least) have no idea who that second guy is, and the mask doesn't help. Plus there's a lot of controversy about our actions in Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. whereas there's very little (in the US) about our involvement in WWII.

* I'd be very interested to know how the second character is actually portrayed in the comic itself. Maybe it's intended as commentary on how American Power is viewed by those outside America.


Responding to the "is it possible to be 'racist' against Germans?" thread: it may depend on your definition. There's plenty of discrimination based on country of origin, or associated ethnicity, 'round the world. Still true in the US, for that matter, although the ethnicities and countries of origin are different. (Irish are pretty much assimilated/accepted at this point, and same for Italians, but that sure wasn't the case at the beginning of the 19th century.)