I Thought We Won the Cold War

Some things defy comment:

From Articulatory Loop (via Wonkette) comes this photo of a poster for the MARC commuter rails between Baltimore and our nation's capital. I'm speechless.

Comments

[von]

Is this a parody? Amazing.

[hilzoy]

Wow. Just wow.

What do you think people make of this who aren't familiar with socialist realism? Does it just seem vaguely retro to them?

[Edward_]

I don't know hilzoy. I hope von's right and it's a parody, but given the importance of the message, I find it difficult to believe someone thought humor was an appropriate vehicle.

[Gary Farber]

"Somethings defy comment...."

Such as the belief that there is a word "somethings." :-) (The poster? Been seeing it on various blogs for a couple of days; "socialist realism" is clearly not dead; beware of having a pole inserted in your neck!)

[Jackmormon]

That's the funniest thing I've seen all week.

[Edward_]

Such as the belief that there is a word "somethings." :-)

All your nouns are belong to us!

Really, though, Gary, I'm beginning to think you don't believe in a living, breathing, evolving language. ;-ppp

[bs23]

I thought the guy in front looked like Ahhhnold at first.

[Jon H]

"I don't know hilzoy. I hope von's right and it's a parody, but given the importance of the message, I find it difficult to believe someone thought humor was an appropriate vehicle."

Perhaps the artist was working within the bounds of the assignment to say, sotto voce, "Holy crap, are we in a police state now or what?"

[Phil]

Don't forget to assemble on the platform prior to boarding for the Two Minutes' Hate!

[Anderson]

This poster reminds me of the "Armada" SUV: somebody with an education put this forward, didn't think it had a snowball's chance in hell of getting approved, and then did a handstand when it actually made it past management.

In other words, I'm with Jon H: whoever the artist was, she doubtless had some opinions about the message she was being asked to convey, & added her own input. And no one "above" her was sharp enough to catch it.

[double-plus-ungood]

Ha ha, that's great, I love it. Wait for the "I heart The Patriot Act" posters coming soon.

But while the tone might well be Stalinist/Maoist/Fascist (oh hell, might as well just say totalitarian), the actual art is Deco, not socialist realism.

[double-plus-ungood]

Another poster in the same style..

[Dantheman]

I suspect this is a new form of advertising statement. There's a restaurant that has this theme to an even greater extent, Red Square, which has spots in Las Vegas (Mandelay Bay, I think) and at the Tropicana in Atlantic City. When I saw the one in Atlantic City, I doubled over in laughter. There were giant Lenin statues in the entrance, and plenty of faux Eisenstein scenes like these for decorations.

And of course the caviar plates range to over $100 per serving, and the vodka locker has over 250 brands, just like in the "Worker's Paradise".

[Phil]

Is this a good time to revive the old debate over "Communist chic" vs. "Nazi chic?"

[Phil]

I mean, a theme restaurant called "Red Square" is just about exactly as unfunny to me as one called "Auschwitz" would be, you know?

[Joel]

Beaten to the punch I guess, but socialist realism is not the style of that poster. Examples of socialist realism here. I'm not too up on the history of soviet poster art, but I think that socialist realism pretty much squashed the more stylized designed referenced in the above poster in the 1930's. Certainly, in film that was the case. A film like "Man With A Movie Camera" by Dziga-Vertov was unthinkable in the Soviet Union under Stalin's rule. I assume a similar path was followed in the other arts as well.

[kenB]

I mean, a theme restaurant called "Red Square" is just about exactly as unfunny to me as one called "Auschwitz" would be, you know?

Dunno... It's been called "Red Square" for 350 years (although the Russian word for "red" also used to mean "beautiful") -- no direct connection to Soviets & Communism; and it's still a tourist destination today. In theory, at least, it would be an entirely legitimate name for a Russian restaurant. But I guess if the restaurant is actively playing up the Soviet theme, then perhaps you have a point.

[cleek]

chinese and soviet motivational posters have been chic at hipster hangouts for many years now. i suppose that's not new news.

[cleek]

commie and soviet motivational posters have been in-style at hipster hangouts for many years now. i suppose that's not new news, though.

[cleek]

err... sorry about that. i did check, after the first post errored-out on me.

[Gary Farber]

"Really, though, Gary, I'm beginning to think you don't believe in a living, breathing, evolving language. ;-ppp"

I believe in it precisely as I believe in such a Constitution: where it is enlightening, expanding, and helpful, not merely ugly, ignorant, confusing, or careless.

"Some things" is useful. Blurring them together doesn't seem to be, nor to add value. (No offense intended; I used to debate this stuff decades ago, and if you would like to offer an argument as to why pushing them together improves the meaning, by all means, please make it, my friend; ditto, say, using three dots to connect any phrases, which is, to be sure, far better than any number of random series of dots, which some prefer [my helpful suggestions: a punctuation mark that enables randomness makes for creativity!; also, disconnected thoughts might lead to connectedness in some larger hypersphere of thought ;-))].)

I actually am more of a descriptivist than a prescriptive, in fact. (As any fule kno, there are no actual "rules" of grammar.) However, I do desire a good reason to push aside and obscure a useful tool or meaning, rather than adopting any simple neologism for neologism's sake (much as I am a neophile).

[Phil]

I suppose we could entertain the unsurprising possibility that "somethings" was a typo, no? I realize it doesn't give people the opportunity to exercise pedantry, but it's more probable than Edward's attempting a clumsy neologism for the fun of it.

[Gary Farber]

"I realize it doesn't give people the opportunity to exercise pedantry, but it's more probable than Edward's attempting a clumsy neologism for the fun of it."

Or we could critique my words rather than his, but that would just be so so wrong.

;-)

[Edward_]

I suppose we could entertain the unsurprising possibility that "somethings" was a typo, no? I realize it doesn't give people the opportunity to exercise pedantry, but it's more probable than Edward's attempting a clumsy neologism for the fun of it.

Priceless.

I should note that in any other medium, I'm more on Gary's side of this issue, but blogging is so instantaneous that the time it takes to do professional proofreading would seriously change the best part of it: its speed. Having said that, I do have a spell checker at my disposal when composing a post and no one and no thing (heh) is pressuring anyone to put something as lighthearted as this up there quickly, but all the same...LET IT GO GARY...you're much more entertaining when you're exploding faulty conservative reasoning. ;-)

[M. Scott Eiland]

In theory, at least, it would be an entirely legitimate name for a Russian restaurant. But I guess if the restaurant is actively playing up the Soviet theme, then perhaps you have a point.

It might make an interesting name for a theme bar, though--with ugly furnishings, long lines, and lots and lots of cheap vodka to allow one to endure the unpleasant surroundings.

[KCinDC]

Maybe the artist who did the London Transport security poster in 2002 moved to Baltimore to continue subverting the message.

[Anarch]

Maybe the artist who did the London Transport security poster in 2002 moved to Baltimore to continue subverting the message.

Wow, those Samizdatans are cute. Also? Paranoid.

[KCinDC]

Well, I wasn't particularly endorsing the Samizdata post. It was just the best remaining image and discussion of the poster I could find. It's hard for me to imagine a designer presenting either poster with an absolutely straight face.

[Anderson]

I mean, a theme restaurant called "Red Square" is just about exactly as unfunny to me as one called "Auschwitz" would be, you know?

And Red Square was erected as a site for the extermination of whom, exactly?

[Sebastian Holsclaw]

I could be wrong but it looks to me like an attempt by the artist to subvert the message he was hired to convey. I would just refuse to pay for it.

[caleb]

Looks like the work of Ron English.

[sidereal]

So is the message that the lantern-jawed captain of industry is supposed to report the minority and the pole-dancer?

[liberal japonicus]

It might make an interesting name for a theme bar, though--with ugly furnishings, long lines, and lots and lots of cheap vodka to allow one to endure the unpleasant surroundings.

Stranger
themes exist

[Phil]

And Red Square was erected as a site for the extermination of whom, exactly?

I thought it was fairly clear from the context that I was referring to a Soviet-themed "Red Square." If you're unfamiliar with the history of purposeful exterminations which occurred under Soviet state communism, now would be a good opportunity to educate yourself on the matter. Otherwise, I suggest you're merely being tendentious.

[Gary Farber]

"I should note that in any other medium, I'm more on Gary's side of this issue, but blogging is so instantaneous that the time it takes to do professional proofreading would seriously change the best part of it: its speed."

This, of course, makes no sense whatever. It took me as long to read the above message and note its lack of misspelling as it did to finish writing it. (How on earth I ever was paid to be a professional proofreader at a slower pace, I have no idea; that is, I wasn't; does it actually take you longer to write, Edward, than to not mis-spell?; maybe that explains why i don't grok it.) To be sure, howsoever do I miss noting so many folks' mistakes, do you think? General slowness?

[sidereal]

I don't think it's tendentious to point out that the only way to associate Red Square with massacres is via the fact that they both happen(ed) in Russia, by which link you could just as well invalidate 'Siberia' or 'Czar' or 'Kursk' or 'Vodka' as the name of your bar. And certainly nothing so direct as, say, Auschwitz.

As has been pointed out, Красная площадь predates Soviet Communism by centuries, and is quite pretty.

Tiananmen Square Pub might bug me.

[sidereal]

Gary -
"rather than adopting any simple neologism for neologism's sake"
... . .
"grok"

J'accuse!

[Phil]

maybe that explains why i don't grok it

So we're adopting the lowercase "i" as the first-person pronoun now, or was that a typo?

[Jon H]

Phil writes: "If you're unfamiliar with the history of purposeful exterminations which occurred under Soviet state communism, now would be a good opportunity to educate yourself on the matter."

Occurred under *certain periods* of Soviet state communism. So its not *quite* right to pin the worst abuses on Soviet Communism as a whole, rather than on screwed up individual rulers.

The record of Soviet rule would be significantly different had they jumped right from Lenin to Khruschev. Far from free, but different, and probably much less bloody without that paranoid sociopath Stalin's long reign.

I suspect that's why there is Soviet kitsch, but not so much Nazi kitsch (except in Asia?). It wasn't a fever of Stalinist pogroms all the way through. Communism petered out through a mellowing senescence. The Nazis, however, were pretty much balls-out evil for their brief time in power.

Anyway, the century's champion in the death-toll category was probably China. The responsible parties are still in power, and we can't seem to send them enough money, which will probably end up being used against us in commerce, in the financial markets or in a theater of military conflict.

Which strikes me as a rather bigger problem than ironic Soviet kitsch.

[liberal japonicus]

not so much Nazi kitsch (except in Asia?)

Specifically, The Jail in Taipei and The Third Reich in Seoul. Still, if you have something like this, you are definitely dealing with flattening of affect

[morinao]

It's not Asian Nazi kitsch, but the most jarring thing about browsing shopping malls in Japan was all the little swastikas adorning the mall directories. It took a while to get used to the idea that they're a legitimate symbol for a Buddhist shrine. It took a longer while to get used to the sight of a Buddhist shrine in a shopping mall.

[CaseyL]

Granted the style of that poster isn't exactly "Socialist Realism," it's the combination of the vaguely-socialist realism style and the "Watch, Ride, Report!" motto that jars.

Reporting left-behind parcels, OK. Reporting other passengers who are behaving oddly, I'm not so keen on. Define "behaving oddly." Thanks to the munificence of our social services, there are a *lot* of clinically crazy people on the streets, and mass transit is a perfect place to involuntarily meet them. I hate to think of some poor schizo, who already has problems with mysterious voices and paranoia, getting hauled in on a security sweep.

[john]

1930's machine age.

[Barry]

But CaseyL, that poor person would then get state-of-the-art psychiatric treatment. State of the art for the 18th century, of course, but at least it'd be free.

[The Bastard]

Sorry, didn't mean to have so many trackbacks show up!

[Edward_]

not at all, TB...makes the post look more popular. Thanks for the links!

e

[Larry Epke]

I think that should read "Report to the nearest Gauleiter!"

[Stygius]

Note that the badge reads "MARC Marshals." MARC doesn't have marshals. The Maryland Transit Administration Police (MTA) is the agency.

[Railroad Stone]

Does anyone else think it looks like that guy is about to be clubbed over the head?

[syd]

"MARC Marshals"

as in "you've all been deputized."

It's perhaps TOO clever.

By the way- it's real- and it won an award.

HERE YOU GO

[sensible_driver]

Jesus Christ, lighten up! Not everything is a Conservative Conspiracy. It's a retro poster put forth by public service division of government- not an edict from the White House.

Get over it!

[otto]

In light of Sebastian Holsclaw's comment above:

I was listening to a Brazilian artist a few years back discussing censorship and artistic expression. He made a comment that because censorship was more repressive in Brazil than in the US, Brazilian artists tended to produce more meaningful art, whereas since American artists were allowed to say anything they ended up saying nothing.