Acts of Volition

Framing Terror

Posted by Steven Garrity on in - 37 comments

CNN Screenshot from June 8, 2006

The media is a buzz today with the news of the killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq. I have no doubt that he was a bad dude. However, it’s worth taking a look at how this is being presented and covered.

See this screenshot of the CNN.com US home page. Note that they went to the trouble of framing and matting photo. I can only assume that some framing shop in Washington D.C. got a call from a Whitehouse aide with the weirdest rush-job they’ve ever had.

For bonus points, you can click the photos of the dead man to watch video of the actual bombing that killed him.

We’re getting pretty used to this kind of media presentation by the US government. It’s worth stepping back and taking a look at how absurd things have become. They framed it. Are they going to hang it up in a dining room?

Comments

Gormless -

It's not like they put the framed photo on display in the US: it's displayed in Iraq. And it's not surprising to me at all: it's very common to see framed death photos paraded around during mourning in the Middle East. In fact, having a framed photo like this may be perceived as proof that the guy is indeed dead.

ramanan -

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Gormless, its not like the US army is going to take the framed photo and march through the streets with it. It is a bit creepy.

Alan -

It may be that without framing it, there would have been a cultural insult that would have been taken in Iraq as not about al-Zarqawi personally but the Islamic perception of death and after life generally. Just a guess but I can't figure out why the military would go to this weird length otherwise.

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Bet it's going abovce someone's bed tonight.

Ann -

I wondered how a guy who just had a couple of big old US bombs dropped on him could look so good. Also, though I'm don't know, do we really always die with our eyes closed? The whole picture thing seems very suspicious to me - maybe they had it on standby.

Steven Garrity -

We weren't the only ones who thought the frame/matte was weird. See A chilling portrait, unsuitably framed - published in the Washington Post.

Alan -

OK - then it is just freaky.

Mandy -

http://www.hellodita.com

I said the same thing.. I dunno, I can't get my head around the idea that they took the trouble to frame this picture. They keep showing it almost everyday on either TV, or on news sites. It's really sick IMO. I can't see why this is a good thing? Won't this disrespect for the dead cause my trouble between the two nations?

James Mc Parlane -

http://blog.metawrap.com/blog

Good, I'm not the only person who noticed.

Jukka-Pekka Keisala -

http://www.jpkeisala.com/

Exactly, I also talked to my colleagues that it’s amazing how news are nowadays putting close-up of a dead man like a hunted animal into a front page and TV. Bad guy or not still we should not do it.

Ellen -

I hadn't noticed the mat job around the photo. It seems the US has taken the time to present themselves as well-put-together people, a classy group; they even make the effort to frame photos of their enemies. I'd imagine that photo will be in G.W.B.'s rec room, right next to Cheny's "pheasant". Too bad Abu Musab al-Zarqawi doesn't have antlers.

Bob -

The amazing thing to me is that there was so much uproar over a distant, blurry image of Janet Jackson's boob, but this dead guy's face has been splashed all over the media and not one peep.

I guess we're concerned for the children when it comes to a woman's breast, but don't consider images of dead terrorists to be a problem.

Something's not quite right here.

marby -

Kind of along the same lines we have the Ken Lay story today in my hometown of Houston. The talk shows were abuzz with stories of people "rejoicing" over his death. I can't imagine that if we really stop and think about it we want to rejoice over any man's death. This is not what mother taught us.

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