North Korean documentary about Western propaganda

[Teacher]

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[Teacher]

Looks like Noam Chomsky is really popular in North Korea

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

This has to be a joke, right?

:lol::lol::lol::lol:

[Lenina Rosenweg]

I wonder if the video is a subtle dig at the DPRK regime itself? The puritan angle to it is also interesting-Elvis as a "degenerate drug user", etc.

I believe an al-Qeada spokesman used to quote Chomsky a few years ago.

[Khalid]

This has to be a joke, right?

:lol::lol::lol::lol:

What's so funny about it?

[Brosa Luxemburg]

What's so funny about it?

It's extremely hypocritical for North Korea, of all countries, to produce a video attacking propaganda. That's what makes it hilarious. Of course, I know that some of you Maoists have a soft spot for the Kim dynasty and Juche so you will probably criticize my post for being bourgeois.

[MrCool]

American Flags fade to NSDAP flags, with some footage of Nuremberg rallys.


Do North Koreans even know about the European Front in WWII?

[Althusser]

There is a hint of irony, but look past it. If this video wasn't put out by North Korea, everyone would be raving about how spot on the video is.

[Khalid]

It's extremely hypocritical for North Korea, of all countries, to produce a video attacking propaganda.

Sure, if you ask a liberal.

[Brosa Luxemburg]

Sure, if you ask a liberal.

...or someone with common sense...and no, there is no way in hell I am a liberal.

[Drosophila]

Most of the stuff in the film that doesn't praise North Korea to the skies is mostly or completely true.

[Khalid]

...or someone with common sense...and no, there is no way in hell I am a liberal.

How's it hypocritical to attack bourgeiois propaganda if you are one of the main targets of the largest propaganda machine in the world? Well, maybe if you think that the Kim Cult is in the same caliber and has the same purposes. I see some serious liberalism in that point of view.

[passenger57]

Cool, thanks for that video. Any thing that helps the left dig out the axis of evil (US Imperialism, European Imperialism, Israeli Imperialism, NATO and its tentacles and allies such as IMF, World Bank, Colombia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey etc) is not perfect but it helps to overthrow world capitalism


.

[Rafiq]

The worst part is the films cheap, conspiracy theorist-esque conservativism. It's not too much for us to admit that capitalism itself isn't "controlled" by anyone, i.e. There is, of course a ruling class. Of that there can be no doubt. But members of the ruling class are humans as well, actively participating in the ongoing process that is the capitalist mode of production. That isn't to say we should paint, on them, a human face (Of course, they will suffer in mass numbers in the midst of a revolution, should they refuse to submit), though the point is that their interests are still constrained by material conditions, and the magnitude of their decisions doesn't transcend beyond the capitalist mode of production. (We still have to remember capitalists, although keen in joining hands come a revolutionary situation, are still very competitive and wouldn't hesitate to cut each other's heads off, if so much was at risk in turn for doing so).

Though, if we want to talk propaganda, Western Liberals have absolutely no right in calling out North Korea on propaganda, as the propaganda infurstructure in the Western Countries (and in Liberal-Democratic countries) is far superior than that of any state. The Bourgeois state, as we know, has never been more dynamic and effective than in the form we see today in Western countries. (Advanced Capitalism, etc.) The propaganda of the DPRK is at least honest in that any North Korean citizen (Or, any citizen of any 20th century socialist country, as a matter of fact) is able to differentiate propaganda, from apolitical information.

[NewLeft]

I love how they show the dear leader then cut to the next section, "cult of celebrities."

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

How's it hypocritical to attack bourgeiois propaganda if you are one of the main targets of the largest propaganda machine in the world? Well, maybe if you think that the Kim Cult is in the same caliber and has the same purposes. I see some serious liberalism in that point of view.

I've never heard anybody start a party political broadcast in ANY western country with 'dear leader', 'invincible leader', 'eternal president'.

You actually must be blind to not see this. :rolleyes:

[Brosa Luxemburg]

How's it hypocritical to attack bourgeiois propaganda if you are one of the main targets of the largest propaganda machine in the world?

...because the North Korean state also puts out large amounts of propaganda to defend it's ruling class and enforce it's ideology...you've cat to be kitten me!


Well, maybe if you think that the Kim Cult is in the same caliber and has the same purposes.

To enforce the ideology of a ruling class? To keep the workers of North Korea in blissful ignorance? To enforce nationalism and quasi-racist sentiments? Yeah, it's used for the same purposes. Anyone who lives in the real world recognizes this.


I see some serious liberalism in that point of view.

Or common sense. I mean, I hate the propaganda machine in the United States, don't get me wrong, but that is no excuse for North Korean propaganda.

[Brosa Luxemburg]

I've never heard anybody start a party political broadcast in ANY western country with 'dear leader', 'invincible leader', 'eternal president'.

You actually must be blind to not see this. :rolleyes:

The poster is either blind, misinformed, or confused. ;)

[Yuppie Grinder]

How's it hypocritical to attack bourgeiois propaganda if you are one of the main targets of the largest propaganda machine in the world? Well, maybe if you think that the Kim Cult is in the same caliber and has the same purposes. I see some serious liberalism in that point of view.

Because the bourgeois North Korean state probably pumps out as much propaganda as any other state on earth.

[Martin Blank]

Oh, come on, folks! See this for what it is: a political intervention. This is North Korea attempting to provide political leadership for the movements like the indignados in Spain and the #Occupy movement in the U.S. The leftists here mostly do it with newspapers, not video, but it's the same damn dynamic playing out.

In and of itself, the documentary is pretty interesting, even though dragging out the Rothchilds and 9/11 "truthiness" was kinda fucked.

I also do find it fascinating that NK sent out agents to collect information on western propaganda. That really does seem like a Kim Jong-il move -- very James Bond villainesque.

[NewLeft]

Those clips of North Koreans protesting from Occupy Pyongyang?

[Comrade Jandar]

How wonder how Professor Chomsky feels about being featured in the documentary.

[L.A.P.]

I kind of like this, puts it into perspective from the viewpoint of a foreign nation. It's especially interesting when it's coming from a state like North Korea. The fact is, American propaganda is much more extensive, effective, and subtle than anything the North Korean state could produce.

[Martin Blank]

I wonder if the video is a subtle dig at the DPRK regime itself? The puritan angle to it is also interesting-Elvis as a "degenerate drug user", etc.

I saw the comment about Elvis as exposing the hypocrisy of the "war on drugs". Elvis smoked more weed and snorted more cocaine than Wavy Gravy on a weekend binge. That he was made an "honorary federal agent" in the "war on drugs" by Nixon and Hoover, in spite of the fact that virtually everyone knew he was even doped up at the Oval Office meeting, speaks volumes.

[KurtFF8]

I haven't watched the doc all the way through, but it is quite an interesting addition to the "anti-capitalist/anti-US" collection of docs out there. It's unfortunate to hear that it contains some conspiracy theory material though.

As for the source, whether you believe it to be hypocritical of the DPRK to produce this or not (and the irony is certainly quite obvious considering the country's propaganda apparatus is quite intense), it should be judged for what it brings to the discourse more than the source.

[RedHal]

Take away the DPRK content and it looks and feels like a Zeitgeist movie, mostly correct in it's exposure of the vastly superior and sophisticated western propaganda model.

[RedHal]

How wonder how Professor Chomsky feels about being featured in the documentary.

You know Chomsky has no problem with his work being published in Holocaust denial books http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faurisson_affair

[tbasherizer]

I'm going to actually hazard a guess here and say it's not actually from the DPRK. Does anyone here speak Korean to know his (the Korean guy speaking in the video's) accent? I suspect, judging from its massive Americo-centrism, that it is made by Western DPRK sympathisers. The tourist minders in the actual country itself are just starting to catch on to digital photography and memory cards- I doubt their propagandists would be able to pounce on Occupy Wall Street so easily.

I could be wrong, though.

[MarxSchmarx]

I'm going to actually hazard a guess here and say it's not actually from the DPRK. Does anyone here speak Korean to know his (the Korean guy speaking in the video's) accent? I suspect, judging from its massive Americo-centrism, that it is made by Western DPRK sympathisers. The tourist minders in the actual country itself are just starting to catch on to digital photography and memory cards- I doubt their propagandists would be able to pounce on Occupy Wall Street so easily.

I could be wrong, though.

All told I've probably seen about 100 hours of North Korean television in my life. I would be very surprised if this was, in fact, genuinely north korean.

I'm yet to see the whole thing, but there are in the opening scenes already several things that are somewhat suggestive that this is a western, and probably north american, cover of sorts. First, while people in north korea are surprisingly knowledgable of the outside world, the repeated references to fox news is really telling. Fox news is a notoriuos propaganda arm in america and canada, but its recognition is virtually zilch for the vast majority of people outside of north america, even quite educated and informed people. Similarly they feature tv personalities that american leftists despise but hardly anyone outside the country recognizes. there are occasional references to similarly rather uniquely british symbols of right wing propaganda, but the overwhelming amerocentrism is striking.

Another thing is that this is very, very unlike most of the tv footage we routinely see coming out of north korea. for instance, the idea of north korean tv, which normally shows 24/7 drab images of one kim or another visiting some factory, military drills, or wholesome family dramas about the youngest daughter of a family of folk musicians who wants to be a soldier instead showing among the more provocative images of jessica simpson and Katy Perry out there is just incredulous. Treatment of sexual topics, almost invariably rape by Japanese and American soldiers, is incredibly discrete even in print. It could be that late night tv in the DPRK is much raunchier than the rest of the material, but still... I wouldn't be surprised if the opening credits, for example, were thrown in by the creators precisely to deflect this obviously glaring contradiction to north korean media practice.

Moreover, a lot of the criticism are aimed precisely at the sorts of creature comforts the DPRK pretty shamelessly uses on its own citizens. What's somewhat depressing about a lot of dprk propaganda is that it frequently tries to convey an impression of how modern, prosperous - even western - life in the dprk is. For instance, advertisements for dprk cars take their cues from western automobile advertisements, and their images of grocery stores reinforce the same idea that the sort of consumerist paradise also exists in NK.

It could be that this is aimed for a foreign audience by the DPRK, but that too I find somewhat unlikely given its references to the eternal president etc... Thus, language issues aside, it's very unlikely this aired in, or was even produced by, North Korea.

[Public Domain]

I'm going to actually hazard a guess here and say it's not actually from the DPRK. Does anyone here speak Korean to know his (the Korean guy speaking in the video's) accent? I suspect, judging from its massive Americo-centrism, that it is made by Western DPRK sympathisers. The tourist minders in the actual country itself are just starting to catch on to digital photography and memory cards- I doubt their propagandists would be able to pounce on Occupy Wall Street so easily.

I could be wrong, though.
Well, if anyone wants to debate that, here's the recently posted "unedited" Korean version:

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[Arlekino]

I watched documentary one I could not get it why political science fold face are cover up?

[NorgeKommunistAntiIsrael]

A bit funny! ;) But they also have propaganda as strong as the gringos. Kim Jong-il made up the Hamburger?! Or is born under a double rainbow on a mountain top?!

Hahaha, is this really true? Do North Korea have TV? ;) I was a bit surprised if this really is a real program in DPRK about propaganda. They are that locked that it's really dubious. Isn't it? Is this real or a joke? I agree that this MUST be a joke! :lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol: :lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol: :lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol: