final project

My favorite unit throughout this book was the late modernism period as that is when things such as propaganda became a popular way to influence the public. In my final project I will compare and contrast the differences between FDR time’s propaganda with the 2016 election propaganda and election posters. This won’t be an apples to apples comparison as during FDR’s time a war was going on and there were different issues of the time, but I’ll do my best to compare the art styles and messages.

I found it hilarious that they were using the same format to get him reelected but it makes sense as the original “I want you for the U.S. Army” picture was incredibly popular (even today). One thing I noticed is that they said FDR instead of Roosevelt or President Roosevelt which heavily implies that FDR was his nickname and most popular name. I would assume that in the news instead of saying President Roosevelt, they referenced to him as FDR.

The image of FDR is drawn similarly to Uncle Sam as to associate FDR as Uncle Sam. It is a pretty popular technique that we still use today. Additionally I really the think the font at the bottom that says “Independent Voters Committee of the” is very clean and appealing.

One anti-FDR poster is shown above. It is quite clear what the message is, and it seems to be Japanese propaganda. It draws the people as looking really innocent and FDR is drawn in a way to make him look evil. The dead person in the poster is staring directly to you making you want to look away. I think it is really powerful because it sympathizes with the Japanese people and points the blame directly to one entity America/FDR to make it easy to agree with.

Now onto some modern propaganda…

This is an anti-Trump poster (however it might be pro-Trump in Russia). It is pretty clear that it implies that Trump is working with Russia or is on the Russian’s side. It seems like this was originally a picture with someone else on it but I am not sure. I did some research and CCCP is another name for USSR. It shows Trump patriotically standing next to a Russia flag while guiding the USSR ship to success.

Finally, this is some anti-Hillary propaganda. I actually draw both of them in the saw way but makes Hillary look old and Trump look like he is done with her. Finally, she also has a hat that say “Because I’m a woman and you owe me!” which is something that probably resonated with a lot of Trump supporters.

As you can see, people were savage back then and they are still savage now. The art style has become a bit more modern but also incorporates older pictures (as seen in the Trump propaganda). Im my opinion, not much has changed because I think they perfected the propaganda game during World War 2!

Thank you!