We've Got A Bigger Problem Now
Watching the marches on the news last night, and reading the more detailed account from my friend wemblee in her blog, I am burning with the same amount of disappointment and frustration that these people felt. And felt strongly enough to express their distaste for their want for their rights to be regarded with the same amount of humanity as, say, a chicken in the state of California. They are putting themselves out there. Making themselves seen, and heard. And I greatly admire them for that.
But all of this also reminded me of an issue that has plagued me for many years now, and feels more and more relevant as more years go by: Is protest as effective a means of persuasion as it once was?
About two years ago I got into a heated discussion with Joe's mother, who spends most of her retirement traveling the country and protesting the war in Iraq. She's a formidable woman, having grown up in the 60's, where she marched against Vietnam as well as with Martin Luther King Jr. in Washington D.C. back in 1963. She remembers a time when protest mattered, when when people stood up and noticed when a horde of angry people walked by. But when she was showing us her photos from her recent march on The Mall, with thousands of kids playing bongos and dancing and waving signs with pithy, punny slogans, Joe wondered aloud who exactly they were trying to persuade. For the anti-war movement, they were already preaching to the choir. And those who support the war are going to look at Joe's mother in her love beads, flowing tie-dyed dresses and flowers in her hair and write her off as some kind of "fringe element". And this made me ponder the issue of protest in and of itself even further.
How saturated the media appears, these days, with flickering, hyper-edited images of protesting crowds from all over the world. I could flip channels down the dial probably pass CNN, MSNBC, FOX NEWS, HEADLINE NEWS and hell, maybe even ANIMAL PLANET at this point and see images of people marching for this, squatting for that, getting tear gassed for something-or-other. And maybe this problem deals more with me than anyone else, but just the fact that there is so much inflammatory protest imagery on the desperate-for-news 24-hour news programs that I don't even know what they are protesting, and it almost, sadly, deludes what interest I might have had to delve deeper and learn more.
But more so than that, when was the last time we drove past a group of protesters on the side of the road, read their signs, maybe even contemplated their issue, and had our minds changed on our deeply held convictions right then and there? If you were pro-life, and your car was blocked on the road by women carrying "Keep Abortion Legal" signs, are you going to think, "Hmm, you know, that's a pretty convincing argument," or are you going to be even more pissed at these people already because not only do they not give a fig about unborn babies, but they also don't care that they're making you 20 minutes late to work.
All I know is that on February 15th, 2003 millions of people all over the world protested going to war with Iraq. Millions. All over the world, on the very same day. Television, internet, the media at large, covered it all. And it didn't make a lick of difference. Not at all. True, their voices were heard. But not by the people who could have done something about it.
And I want to make it clear that I am not against protest. The February 15th protest is an example of making your opinions known, making yourself seen and heard, and exercising your right to express your opinions in an open forum. But an even stronger part of me wants to do something that might make an actual change. A change in the way people think, because it probes them, sparks an idea, and makes them get off their butts and think. And I don't know if in this new era and age marching changes the way people think like it probably once did years ago.
And I'm not saying I even know what new approach we could use that would be effective. The internet could be an incredibly persuasive tool if used not only smartly, but with an element of cagey ingenuity. Look how thousands of people were persuaded to go see the little indie film The Blair Witch Project with little more advertising than a simple website that piqued our curiosity. Of course this was all nearly ten years ago, but still, they planted a seed into people's heads in an almost subliminal manner, and let their curiosity germinate in time for the film's release. What about an idea, something that can meme itself out there and spread. And maybe working the press in ways that don't shine such a harsh light on the subject. A part of me wonders if Proposition 8 passed in a large part because of all the aggressive fundraising and celebrity donations against the law, which guilts people and makes them feel bullied. Did Massachusetts and Connecticut allow same-sex marriages without rich, beautiful high-profile celebrity-types like Brad Pitt and Ellen DeGeneres throwing money at the cause and making more culturally conservative lower and middle class people feel alienated to their lofty Hip Hollywood Agenda.
I'm not saying I know what the answers are. And I'm not saying protest doesn't matter. But I think the time of hobbleskirted Suffragettes, of Mario Savio with a megaphone on top of a police car, of protest that once changed minds and got things done, might possibly be coming to an end. And I would love to see and hear some ideas, of anyone has any, of getting ideas and viewpoints out into the world in a way that educates, elucidates, and just all-around makes a difference in this modern, media-saturated world.
I'm open to suggesting! Anyone? *taptaptap* Is this thing on?
But all of this also reminded me of an issue that has plagued me for many years now, and feels more and more relevant as more years go by: Is protest as effective a means of persuasion as it once was?
About two years ago I got into a heated discussion with Joe's mother, who spends most of her retirement traveling the country and protesting the war in Iraq. She's a formidable woman, having grown up in the 60's, where she marched against Vietnam as well as with Martin Luther King Jr. in Washington D.C. back in 1963. She remembers a time when protest mattered, when when people stood up and noticed when a horde of angry people walked by. But when she was showing us her photos from her recent march on The Mall, with thousands of kids playing bongos and dancing and waving signs with pithy, punny slogans, Joe wondered aloud who exactly they were trying to persuade. For the anti-war movement, they were already preaching to the choir. And those who support the war are going to look at Joe's mother in her love beads, flowing tie-dyed dresses and flowers in her hair and write her off as some kind of "fringe element". And this made me ponder the issue of protest in and of itself even further.
How saturated the media appears, these days, with flickering, hyper-edited images of protesting crowds from all over the world. I could flip channels down the dial probably pass CNN, MSNBC, FOX NEWS, HEADLINE NEWS and hell, maybe even ANIMAL PLANET at this point and see images of people marching for this, squatting for that, getting tear gassed for something-or-other. And maybe this problem deals more with me than anyone else, but just the fact that there is so much inflammatory protest imagery on the desperate-for-news 24-hour news programs that I don't even know what they are protesting, and it almost, sadly, deludes what interest I might have had to delve deeper and learn more.
But more so than that, when was the last time we drove past a group of protesters on the side of the road, read their signs, maybe even contemplated their issue, and had our minds changed on our deeply held convictions right then and there? If you were pro-life, and your car was blocked on the road by women carrying "Keep Abortion Legal" signs, are you going to think, "Hmm, you know, that's a pretty convincing argument," or are you going to be even more pissed at these people already because not only do they not give a fig about unborn babies, but they also don't care that they're making you 20 minutes late to work.
All I know is that on February 15th, 2003 millions of people all over the world protested going to war with Iraq. Millions. All over the world, on the very same day. Television, internet, the media at large, covered it all. And it didn't make a lick of difference. Not at all. True, their voices were heard. But not by the people who could have done something about it.
And I want to make it clear that I am not against protest. The February 15th protest is an example of making your opinions known, making yourself seen and heard, and exercising your right to express your opinions in an open forum. But an even stronger part of me wants to do something that might make an actual change. A change in the way people think, because it probes them, sparks an idea, and makes them get off their butts and think. And I don't know if in this new era and age marching changes the way people think like it probably once did years ago.
And I'm not saying I even know what new approach we could use that would be effective. The internet could be an incredibly persuasive tool if used not only smartly, but with an element of cagey ingenuity. Look how thousands of people were persuaded to go see the little indie film The Blair Witch Project with little more advertising than a simple website that piqued our curiosity. Of course this was all nearly ten years ago, but still, they planted a seed into people's heads in an almost subliminal manner, and let their curiosity germinate in time for the film's release. What about an idea, something that can meme itself out there and spread. And maybe working the press in ways that don't shine such a harsh light on the subject. A part of me wonders if Proposition 8 passed in a large part because of all the aggressive fundraising and celebrity donations against the law, which guilts people and makes them feel bullied. Did Massachusetts and Connecticut allow same-sex marriages without rich, beautiful high-profile celebrity-types like Brad Pitt and Ellen DeGeneres throwing money at the cause and making more culturally conservative lower and middle class people feel alienated to their lofty Hip Hollywood Agenda.
I'm not saying I know what the answers are. And I'm not saying protest doesn't matter. But I think the time of hobbleskirted Suffragettes, of Mario Savio with a megaphone on top of a police car, of protest that once changed minds and got things done, might possibly be coming to an end. And I would love to see and hear some ideas, of anyone has any, of getting ideas and viewpoints out into the world in a way that educates, elucidates, and just all-around makes a difference in this modern, media-saturated world.
I'm open to suggesting! Anyone? *taptaptap* Is this thing on?
posted by Melissa at 4:26 PM
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