HW 30: Citizenship Symposium: Animation and Politics

HW 30
The citizenship symposium as Keene State College is an all week affair that includes many informational lectures. I have now attended 2 symposiums. The title of this session was “Animation as Political and Social Constructions”. The names of the speakers were Jiwon Ahn, Sander Lee, and Mark Timney. All three speakers are professors at Keene State College. The talk of the lecture over all was how politics can be played out through animation. The three different speakers chose specific examples of certain animations that had some sort of connection with politics and social constructions.
Jiwon Ahn explained that animation mobilized to challenge everyday life. Her animations that she showed on the big screen were examples of punk art. The images were portrayed as typical images of “innocent” girls. She showed a variety of examples of artists, however she showed and explained more of the artist “KaiKaiKiKi”. One thing I learned about her speech was that the artists she showed were more open about nudity. To prove that I was there Kim sneezed, and it made Ahn lose her place in her speech. One of the quotes form her speech was, “I went to get a picture framed…and he thought it was my work. This is how simplistic this artist’s work is”.
The next speaker was Sander Lee. His speech was exploring the cartoon of Donald Duck and how he dreamed he was in a concentration camp following Hitler’s rules. He used animation to show the social constructions of how stubborn Donald Duck usually is, but then conforms and submits to all the orders he was being given. Lee was explaining how no matter how stubborn people were (like Donald Duck) that had to collaborate and submit to the higher power (in this case Hitler). Something interesting I learned from his speech was that I was somewhat surprised that cartoons somewhat imitate the Holocaust and then are shown to children. Something to prove that I was there was that he said “Brunny” instead of “bunny”. One quote he said was, “Bugs identity is interesting in terms of the Nazi’s”
The last speaker was Mark Timney. His speech was very interesting and fun to listen to. He explained the cartoon “South Park” and how there could be a moral lesson behind each episode. He explained how the social constructions like compromising, thinking critically, and being an active citizen can be taught through the animation South Park.An interesting thing I learned and pondered on was if the show South Park makes us even more critical of the U.S. government. To prove I was there Mark looked like he was wearing a wig. A quote he said was, “ The use of ridicule or scorn, often in a humorous or witty way, to expose follies and vices”