This is one image from a collection of pictures by Jonathan Hobin (see link for larger image and more photos from his collection, "In the Playroom"). In each picture, children act out major "news" stories that have shaped our history (within the last ten years).
1. As you can see, this image has no words in it. And yet, I imagine most of you can figure out what event this image relates to. Why is that? How does the picture (its visual clues and arrangement) convey its message? What themes are predominant in the image? How are each of the characters portrayed? How do their representations shape your understanding of the image? Of the event itself? What might you assume about the photographer's viewpoints based on this image? Is he biased? Or is he commenting on "bias" in media?
2. How does this picture relate to our course theme of "private vs. public?" (consider the setting, the scene and its context regarding "news" in our culture)
(Tips: Refer to "Consider the Following" section of more advice about analyzing sources. Read through all the posts before you post your own comment. Add something new to the conversation.)
This image is so easily recognizable because the second we see a plane and a building on fire we immediately think World Trade Center. If those clues dont give away what this is a picture of then the people who seem to be jumping from the building definitely do. It seems like this images intent was to evoke some difficult and sad emotions as a reminder of the attacks. I thought it was interesting how the artist seems to divide the room into two; one being the light side with a firefighter and one being the darker side with the child holding the plane headed toward the next building. With this contrast between light and dark it seems like the artist is biased toward one side of this event by depicting the child on the left as dark and evil. If you look closely you can even see what looks like a toy haunted house behind the child on the left side. In relation to our course theme it seems like this picture is trying to show how news given to the public is always given a negative spin for the side more unfavorable of the audience and vice versa.
ReplyDeleteI agree in terms of the good vs. evil battle that is seen. It is interesting to see little children portraying this scene; it makes me think back to when I was in Elementary school. This picture makes the viewer think of the moment or age they were when exposed to the events of 9/11.
ReplyDeleteI think that the innocence of children makes the viewer have a harsher reaction towards the event in the picture.
Another thing that I noticed was the children sitting on an American flag. This could be to show that America bonded together for this event and remember the "brotherhood" that formed.
This picture depicts the tragic events that occurred on September 11th. It is so easily distinguishable because this event was such a horrible tragedy for our country, which made it a major headline on the news. I think this picture shows that the media can influence the way we view or remember different events depending on what side the media choose to follow more closely. The boy on the left may represent people who know more about the news of the terrorists responsible for the horrible attack that day, whereas the boy on the right could represent the people who immediately think of the American heroes of September 11th. With that in mind, if a child were asked to role play the event, the child would choose the side he or she knows more about. This picture relates to our theme because by just turning on the Television, the public’s view is open to your home and the mind’s of those in it.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Lauren's comment, the role play of the children would be biased. Children's elders have taught them to have a negative connotation with terrorists and the ethnicity they were. Sadly, Muslims faced a bad rep after the attacks because they were stereotyped as terrorists or having those same thoughts. I think that if a child had to choose which they know about, or even want to know more about, I think any American child would pick the hero. It is who children grow up idolizing.
ReplyDeleteThe above photo definitely depicts the tragic event of September 11th as Lauren, Tyler and Austin mentioned above. I think there is irony in the photo with the children being young. The children look young enough to where they would not have been around to witness the event themselves. I also agree that the author is showing a bias in the photo with the theme of good vs. evil. I also noticed the dinosaur on the left near the child being depicted as evil, and a baseball glove near the child being depicted as a "good." The dinosaur would be representing destruction whereas baseball would be related or classified as an American pastime.
ReplyDeleteI also think the author is trying to depict America's innocence by using two children in the photo. In terms of private versus public, this photo was released for people to see. The people that were alive for the event would feel emotion towards this photo and possibly
remember exactly where they were when the event took place. Also, the photo is showing an aspect of another country invading America's "private" space by attacking
the twin towers.
For me it was as easy as for all of us to identify the event presented in the image. The two towers and the airplane, the "dark" side with a terrorist represented by a child and the "light" side also represented by a child remind us quickly on the events of 9/11. I could imagine that the author wants to show that this event is still in our minds and that nobody will forget about it soon. It will live on in and with our children.
ReplyDeleteRelated to our course theme I think that the author wants to show us that we need to be careful about what we share with people in public or in a private enviroment (e.g. at home). Children are always around their parents and even if we think they cannot notice or understand some things, they still get some of the information. I do not think that we want our children to re-enact a scene from 9/11. For that reason we need to notice who the people in our enviroment are, in public, but also in a private situation. In other words, we can hurt the people who are around us in public or private situations.
I think Nadine is on to something here. Children are privy to what happens in the news (thanks to television) even if they do not understand it. What effects could this have on children? How does the picture address this issue? Do you think this would have been a problem say... 50 years ago? Why or why not? Keep up the good work. Remember, avoid taking a side. Focus on rhetorical analysis.
ReplyDeleteThis could definitely have enormous effects of children of a young age. Like Nadine was getting at, kids are so impressionable mainly because they might not realize the bias of what they are hearing has. Without this knowledge they would make a judgement on this picture that one side is evil and the other side is good and they may even begin to generalize those feelings toward one race as they grow up. Fifty years ago kids probably didn't have this problem in such excess as we do today because outside of their friends and family they really didn't have that much exposure to outside sources trying to persuade them to feel one way or the other.
ReplyDeleteAs most people had said, this picture strongly depicts the 9/11 event by showing the two towers with one on fire and the other about to be crashed by a plane. The theme that stands out is that the people being attacked are good and they are the ones being invaded and that the attacker is bad and they are invading the privacy of the good. As Nadine said when kids see this they are going to think that the kid on the left (attacker) is evil as the photographer also wants to show this too by making the room darker on the left and brighter on the right. What the picture did not show is why the attack took place. Did they invade us because we invade their privacy first? We need to keep in mind the reason why others invade our privacy first. The photographer (maybe unintentionally) chooses the lighter skin as the victim and the slighter darker skin kid as the attacker. Does this mean something? He also made the clothing of the attacker dark and the victim light. This adds on to the effect that darker is bad making the photographer bias.
ReplyDeleteThis image is portraying the horrific events of 9/11. The image is set as perfectly to the day that you could in a child's play room. The room is painted with clear skies, the kids are playing on an American Flag. One of the towers is on fire and the other is about to be ambushed by the second plane. They Even recreated people falling out of the building. Even the lighting on the kids and the clothing they are wearing portrays stereotypes of who they "represent". The photographer, I believe, is making a statement about how Americans view people who wear head dressings. He knows that the media has portrayed people with traditional head wear as terrorists. Because of this, he chose to dress and use lighting effects on the child the way he did.
ReplyDeleteThis event was defiantly a public event. The perpetrators wanted to make a statement to the American public and to the world about who they are and what they are capable of. The media made this a public event just about the second it happened. Still to this day we are hearing stories that are somewhat related to 9/11 in some way on a daily basis.
As most people said this picture is portraying the most horriable terrorist attack in USA which is 9/11. Most people focus on the role representative by these two boys, but if you look the image carefully, you can see the small words under the picture "the twins". I assume that the photographer want to convey an idea which is even the twins who live in the same family circumstances, if they expose under the different public influence, they will build different personal characteristic. As the picture shows, the left side boy is a terrorist who represents the evil and desperation.The right side boy is a fireman who represents the justice and hope.
ReplyDeleteI think in the most of time, public media orients people's thought and behavior.If most of the media report that we will give the terrorists a big revenge. These reports by public media will burn up the flame of revenge for people(private). However, nobody will think why these unscrupulous terrorists attacked us, even they are at the expense of life.
i agree with the "twin" point. both private and public environments influence children's personalities and behaviors.
Deleteand i see some ironic meaning. the boy on the right, who reprents justice and hope, looks so bored and dull~ while the boy on the left looks more vivid.
I find this image disturbing but also very interesting. It is very obvious that the author is representing 9/11.I think the detail put into the image is amazing. From the dinosaur and baseball glove to the hood on the "terrorist" child, everything is representative of the actual day. I feel as though the author wants to represent how this event was seen by children. People try to shelter young children from tragic events but with the media, it is nearly impossible. I think parents should explain events like 9/11 to their children. I feel this was because when the children just see what happened on the news they make their own predictions and assumptions about the event. They do not fully understand how something so terrible could happen so they make up their own, usually wrong, explanations. What these children see in public should be explained by their parents in private.
ReplyDeleteThere is a key point you bring up that should be built off of. How the children are making assumptions of there own. With all of the media now and ease of access to information even children can find anything and without proper control things like 911 could be "playful" which is what the artist is portraying.
DeleteUnfortunately, this image is incredibly recognizable because it signifies one of the most tragic events in American history. The attacks on the World Trade Centers in New York City have, in this case, been put into the form of children and represented by many nostalgic toys from our past. This image is incredibly powerful with the use of kids "playing" out a scene that took so many lives. The author puts a disturbing twist on the event by doing this, and then dividing the roles of the "American side" and "Terrorist side." Obviously the boy with a dark hoodie and airplane depicts the evil, while the boy with a firetruck and toy hat on acts as the American sacrifice in the situation. Now, I assume that the author was trying to be as unbiased as possible when setting up this scenario and that he is actually addressing the media's somewhat skewed representation of the event by putting it into a whole new context. This event was public, as was this photo, and I feel that to say this is a private matter is unfair to the greater population that had to witness and experience it. It is private in the sense of what people had to feel themselves and how they had to cope with such an event; but, this is as public as its gets in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Tyler, I agree with the theme of the picture which is ‘good vs. evil’. The picture provides us the information that two children are simulating the scene of 9/11 terrorists attack. In the picture, apparently, the kid on the left side acts as a terrorist who is driving the plane crashing on World Trade Center which stands for the evil while the kid on the right is trying to make the fire fighter put out fire and rescue people in the building which stands for the good. From their facial expression, the kid on the left seems insidious, which is common on villains’ face in movies. But the kid on the right is totally opposite. From his facial expression in the picture, he looks serious. I feel like that he is trying his best to end the tragedy. The scene can tell the children how horrible it is when 9/11 happened in 2001 since the bricks scatter over the area and people are falling from the building. I think the picture is related to our topic, ‘private vs. public’. When 9/11 happened in 2001, people in worldwide can see how horrible it is through television and websites, which I think it is public. Comparing with it, the scene in the picture can be regarded as private. I think it will have great different feelings between watching television and staying in the scene with props in hands.
ReplyDeleteThis image above is demonstrating the most unfortunate disaster that has ever happened in American history. As most of our classmates has mentioned, the author is presenting the event by applying kids and toys in this picture. In my opinion, I think he is trying to convey the message that although the young generation may not experience this painful incident, they are supposed to remember the history in an appropriate way and try their best to avoid the same tragedy in the future. Moreover, we can acknowledge from the name "the twins" that all humans are not born enemies and it is time for us to set aside our feuds. The blue sky and the little kids also show us that hope still exists in our life.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of the course theme, I think the author wants to emphasize public media’s function. We need to make sure that the public media is used to benefit all private individuals. It must speak out for justice. However, it cannot be used as certain people’s tool to fulfill their own interest. This image is a good example of how good public media works. It has portrayed the painful history as real as possible. At the same time, it helps to release our sadness and advocates that we should learn from the history and abandon hatred.
The image is showing 911. There are two towers made identically with one on fire. There is a plane coming towards the other building and firemen are waiting by. The image is not just showing the events of 911 the whole images is suggesting much more. Stereo types for one is one of the biggest things portrayed. Why is the boy who is the terrorist have a hood on and phase is shaded darker? This shows the author is commenting on what media in America is biased on what a terrorist should look like. Another message portrayed is the common thought that if we forget events such as this or don't teach the significance that it can be repeated. A way such as playing this event can be installed into kids mind that its fine and eventually the overall perception of this event could turn into a playful setting. Yidong Zhu did an excellent job at explaining this and I wanted to bring up again. The way the author is suggesting that this is playful is by the use of normal kid toys. None of the toys by themselves could be seen as suggesting something bad, but when arranged in a way portrays something like 911.
ReplyDeleteThe course theme is even portrayed in this picture. Information is easy to access now and events like 911 can be learned before ever taught in a history class. The media is constantly shaping the whole world around us and almost not making us think for our own. The news is a powerful source that can promote stereo types and everything. Even something as simple as tv can alter the minds of anyone and can invade a "private place" and turn it into a public thought.
As everyone already knew this is showing the event of the twin towers falling on 9/11. The theme of the characters is good vs. evil like most people have mentioned already. The blonde haired boy makes you think of the heros that helped save people and some giving their lives to do so, and the hooded boy on the left makes you think of the terrorist that did this. How this relates to our topic of private vs. public is the fact that media and news give us images like this on a daily bases and make us feel the way they want. This effect is easier on younger kids. I remember when the event first happened and I was only in third grade and I based all my opinion from the news because that was my only source of information so news plays a huge role on our emotions and opinions.
ReplyDeleteI believe the most striking part of this photo for me is the morbidity of the detail of the building being damaged (specifically the people jumping out of the flames) and the fact that the children are right next to it. The hauntingly relaxed nature of the children makes me initially shocked at the photographer for having the children pose in such a picture. My instincts would be to not expose a child to such a horrible image, but then I am reminded that 9/11 was an event that everyone was exposed to, young and old. I believe that is what the photographer is trying to convey with this collection of photos. The fact that no matter how gruesome the event, if it effects everyone enough to be all over the news, everyone is exposed to the event. Public invading private, if you will.
ReplyDeleteThis photograph clearly represents the horrifying event on September 11, 2001. It is easy for any of us to understand what this photo is identifying because, we were alive when this event happened (and old enough to understand that it was very bad), and because the major subjects in the picture are images that have been engrained into our heads since that day. The visual clues that convey the message that this is a photograph of September 11th include; two tall buildings, representing the twin towers, the fire coming from the building with the people jumping out, the child in the firefighting costume, and the child in the dark hooded sweater holding the airplane above one of the buildings. A very prominent theme that I noticed, as well as many other students in our class, was the “good versus evil” theme. The artist shows the “firefighter,” which we picture as helpful, honest, heroes, in the brighter light (good) and the “terrorist,” which we recognize as invaders, cruel, and people with a negative reputation in the dark hooded sweatshirt (evil). Each character is conveyed by costumes, actions, and facial expressions. The child dressed as a firefighter, with a stoic yet somewhat fearful look, and holding the fire ladder as to help the situation, is conveyed to be a more positive character. The child dressed in a hooded sweatshirt, with the angry/mischievous look, and holding the airplane just above the second building, which has yet to be destroyed, is conveyed to be the more negative character. Their representations help shape the event itself, for me, because the age that the children look to be was about the age I was when it happened. I knew that it was a serious event but being only eight years old I could not comprehend the severity of the event. I think that it would be safe to assume the photographer was a biased American. The photographer showed how negative the terrorist was in the situation, as far as we Americans are concerned. The photographer also showed how positive the firefighter was in the situation. Had the photographer been biased for the Middle East he would have showed the “terrorist” in a completely different, more positive light. I believe that it would be hard for someone to be unbiased in a situation such as the event of September 11, 2001.
ReplyDeleteThis relates to our course theme because the event was expressed to the public and depending on where you lived during this time changed how you dealt with it in private. There’s no question that this event was international news because it was an international event. Living in America I know how public the media made this tragedy. The media showed this tragedy all over the world and as Americans we all privately grieved as well as publicly. Since this event was a worldwide event the Middle East also got the information publicly and had their private feelings about the situation. Whether their feelings were in celebration or grief, those feelings were private to them and their families.
I too did notice the different facial expressions that were displayed in this photograph. The mishievous, scornful look of the child representing radical Islam contrast greatly to the child that seems struck with grief and sadness of whom reprents America.
DeleteIt is great that you noticed how they are similar in age to oursleves when we experienced the tragedy on September 11, 2001. I think we all felt some pain though when we that age. Whether it being witness to our mothers crying or seeing the billowing smoke and flames emerge from what we could comprehend as a tower at the time. Those who were still infants during that day and those who were born in the wake of 9/11 would lack that feeling of pain to the degree that we experienced. It would be important though for newer generations to view camera footage of the attacks to know why we fight the wars we fight.
As the media brings world issues and events close to home in a visual manner it is now easier than even for people, and children, to see what is going on. Children, unlike most adults, still retain a strong imaginative and artistic mindset. This would make children much more susceptible to portraying events in their play, but all without the knowledge of the pain that most was inflicted.
ReplyDeleteLooking at the set there is an American flag rug that is beneath everything else. This can be interpreted to be American soil, of which was attacked for the first time since Pearl Harbor sixty years before. Good and evil is seen in dueling above the free grounds of America as evil tries to destroy what freedom has built. In the white strips of the American flag carpet there is writing. This writing is difficult to read, but it may very well be that of the U.S. Constitution. The Constitution and the freedoms it provides explains why America was attacked.
This is certainly a morbid picture, but the analysis cannot bypass any detail. Seen falling from the towers depicting the fallen World Trade Center Towers are people. Army men toys to be exact. The perishing men and women portrayed represent the victims of the attack. Both on September 11th, 2001 and in the ensuing war against the evil. The hooded boy, holding the aircraft, represents Islamic extremist and evil. He is destroying everything the blonde boy is seeking to protect. Representing the fallen heroes, the brave men and women that ran headlong into doomed towers, is the blonde boy. His facial expression is full of emotion. He is sad and overwhelmed, while the hooded boy has a look of disdain and even looks mischievous.
The articles lying on the ground have their own story also. The baseball glove, the dinosaur, the teddy bear, the house, and the school bus. They all represent the emotions of the American people in the moments during and after the attacks. The bus represents the children where at school and the parents that were out at work. It was a normal day and nobody was expecting such a tragic event. The house was also attacked on this day. The families of the victims were devastated. Home was never the same as there was one person for many families that would never be greeted home after work ever again. The dinosaur, the baseball glove, and the teddy bear all represent the innocence of the children of fallen mothers and father. This toys are their healing process. The attempt to be comforted by the distraction of material objects with the empty void created as a result of radical terrorists.
This set was created by an artist that knows the difference between good and evil. He portrays each character so that there is no question as to whether one is of good intent and the other of bad intent. The use of dark colors and the hood pulled over the head of the child represents a cloaked plan that is devious and evil in nature. The use of bright colors and the firemen helmet clearly shows that the other child is trying to be the hero. There is a bias towards good in this set, and it is of human nature for the victory of good to be fought for with everything possible.
Today the world is too wonderful. sometimes we lose our judgement or we can not tell what is right or wrong. Sometimes too things influence children's lives. From the picture above,I find the eyes of them are not friendly,to some extent, a little bit evil. Maybe we should give them a peaceful and positive environment
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