Title: Please be generous, give me high marks.
Date: Thursday, March 5, 2009
Time: 5:49 AM
North KoreaIn our old traditional chinese homes, we hang framed portraits or photographs of our ancestors up high on a blank wall in reverence to our ancestors long gone. In sharp contrast, paintings or photographs of their leader, Kim ll-sung, hang on the walls of every home in North Korea. Issued by the state to every household, it is mandatory to display the potraits as a mark of forced reverence to their dear leader. Families would begin and end their day by bowing down to the image. Portraits also hang in ordinary offices, classrooms, shops, factories, hospitals and libraries. In more recent years, they have been joined by a second portrait, that of Kim Jong-il, the son and succesor of Kim Il-sung.
This regimented society permeates even the art scene in North Korea. No art gets published, shown or displayed without the vetting of the government. Kim Jong-il even dictates that there can be no uncertainty or mystery expressed in comptemporary art, no individual hopes or expressions. "A picture must be painted in such a way that the viewer can understand its meaning. If the people who see a picture cannot grasp its meaning, no matter what a talented artist may have painted it, they cannot say it is a good picture."-Kim Jong-il.
The two examples given above shows how much control Kim Jong-il has over the people of North Korea. He is treated like a god and all must obey him. With news black out and limited contact with the outside world, the North Koreans would grow up thinking that this regime is the norm. It's frightening that a simple leader is able to control the lives of so many people. And even more frightening to me is that we could all be kept under denial, like the animals in Animal Farm. Who knows if the way we see our world may be entirely different from those of others?
-Alexandra Wong (1) 3e4
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After that title of yours, who could resist not giving you a high mark? hahaha...
Anyway, yes this is an interesting piece of information, although it won't come as a surprise, especially after reading about the other authoritarian regimes. I guess propaganda is a dictator's best friend.