Advertisements vs. Communist Kitsch

[Robespierre2.0]

Popular culture portrays the communist world as bleak and hellish, with everyone wearing the same clothes, listening to the same songs, surrounded by kitschy propaganda posters- The basic message capitalist propagandists want to get across is that no matter what you do, even if you overthrow capitalism, you will still be oppressed; you will still feel like a cog in the machine.

Now, I find humorous irony in the fact that communist poster kitsch has in fact, become incredibly popular in the capitalist west. People are drawn to the sharp contrast in colors, the avant-garde design, and the clarity of purpose.
To parallel this, look at billboards, posters, and other advertisements in capitalist countries, as I see them as our equivalent of 'propaganda posters'. Look closely at their message-
Essentially, they all say the same thing- "You are nothing without our product. Buy this product to give your meaningless life some semblance of meaning".
To those with enough money to buy the product, it is an attempt at seduction- Presenting you with flowery, ornate words in an attempt to get to your wallet.
To those without enough money, it is a reinforcement of one's feelings of worthlessness- The poster will often show somebody who has bought the product in an expensive car, surrounded by scantily-clad women (because male heterosexual desire is considered 'the norm' under patriarchy)- things we would consider symbols of success.

Now, look at communist posters. The common theme that runs throughout them is "All the commodities in the world are nothing without the efforts of common working people to make them".

Regardless of whether you think the socialist states of the 20th century actually lived up to their ideals, I personally would much rather live under a regime where I'm surrounded with encouraging, self-affirming messages, than messages that try to make me judge my worth as a person based upon whether I can afford a product or not. Those sort of messages can only be self-affirming for those parasitic motherfuckers who can afford anything.

[Invincible Summer]

I really like your analysis. I've always found communist propaganda posters to be really inspiring, but anti-commie media and propaganda have socialized generations into thinking they're icons of evil.

Yeah, workers of the world uniting together, regardless of race, really evil.

http://media.photobucket.com/image/communist%20propaganda%20poster/dahuawang66/062.jpg

[jake williams]

I'm not always even a fan of at least the caricature of communist propaganda. I'm in favour of advocacy, of course, but the notion of a totalitarian state which lies to its people is I think totally unnecessary. Communism is clearly in the interest of the workers. That needs to be communicated, but it doesn't need to be communicated in the same way capitalist propaganda (typically, advertising, but there's a really blurry spectrum from advertising as such to "social propaganda", take for example the Olympics where a certain brand is being sold for capitalist profit, but it is also being used to encourage nationalism) is, which entails the totalitarian control of information by capitalism to limit what workers see to that which is in the interests of the capitalist class for them to see. We're communists and we're right, and we can afford to debate.

[Robocommie]

I'm a very aesthetically oriented person, and I always thought that Soviet iconography was very beautiful. A lot of those Red Army medals, with their red stars contrasted against gold hammers and sickles, the busts of Lenin, the image of the idealized worker. It's all very stirring, I mean, it's meant to be.

However, I wouldn't want Socialist Realism to completely supplant the artistic traditions of the world's cultures. I wouldn't want Socialist Realism to become a sort of colonizing force. I personally would like the aesthetic imagery of each revolution to be defined by the folk art traditions of each region in which the revolution occurs. For example, the muralism in Mexico that caught on around the time of the Mexican Revolution, and the artistry of men like Jose Posada.

I've often thought that an ideal symbol of American Communism would be an idealized image of John Henry, the folk hero. He's a very very socialist character, I think; here's this guy, this guy who was born a slave, now working on the railroad, and he ends up fighting a legendary duel with a steam hammer to try and protect his and his fellow worker's jobs from the industrial revolution and big capital.

If a worker's state should ever be established within the US, I'd like figures like John Henry to play a very prominent role in the symbolism of it.


That needs to be communicated, but it doesn't need to be communicated in the same way capitalist propaganda (typically, advertising, but there's a really blurry spectrum from advertising as such to "social propaganda", take for example the Olympics where a certain brand is being sold for capitalist profit, but it is also being used to encourage nationalism) is, which entails the totalitarian control of information by capitalism to limit what workers see to that which is in the interests of the capitalist class for them to see. We're communists and we're right, and we can afford to debate.

I'm also totally down with this, absolutely. Socialist art and iconography should not be used to control, it shouldn't be used to propagandize, and we shouldn't try and control communication of thought and ideas. That's wrong, and I feel, anti-worker.

[FSL]

Mexican muralism, other then being beyond beautiful, is a great example of socialist realism. As far as I'm concerned, art must be in touch with the common man and "art for art" is something that should be avoided. That's pretty much what socialist realism is.

And thumbs up on soviet posters.