DOXA program | sat may 25

Propaganda: pro•pa•gan•da
Pronunciation: "prä-p&-'gan-d&, "prO-
Function: noun
Etymology: New Latin, from Congregatio de propaganda fide Congregation for propagating the faith, organization established by Pope Gregory XV died 1623
Date: 1718
1 capitalized : a congregation of the Roman curia having jurisdiction over missionary territories and related institutions
2 : the spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person
3 : ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one's cause or to damage an opposing cause; also : a public action having such an effect
- pro•pa•gan•dist -dist/ noun or adjective
- pro•pa•gan•dis•tic - gan-'dis-tik/ adjective
- pro•pa•gan•dis•ti•cal•ly -ti-k(&-)lE/ adverb

Propaganda - Ideas communicated for the purpose of influencing the thoughts of another, especially in the modern sense, distorted principle intended to deceive. (Ballentine's Law Dictionary, 1969.)
(www.stasaints.net/Studproj/HAH1st/gp1/)

Propaganda techniques - refers to the deliberate attempt to influence a mass audience to act or think a certain way. Usually the term is associated with an intent to deceive.
(www.msjhs.org/staff/brunak/prop.html)

Propaganda Film - Persuasion films that are made with the intent of convincing the audience to have a particular point of view. This was especially apparent with the rise of film and the onset and experience of the first world war. Though many feature films contain a message of one kind or another, propaganda films function exclusively with the intent of conveying a specific and even esoteric message.
(film glossary: barnesandnoble.com)

Film has a profound impact and influence on society. Media images can have the ability to sear into our subconscious like no other images can. A picture can say a thousand words and some pictures speak louder than others.

Pictures moving at 24 frames per second can wield power of near biblical proportions. It is therefore, no accident that the 20th century advances in visual mass media gave rise to both documentarians and propagandists in the field of filmmaking.

Growing up in a small town in the 60s, I was one of those people who was (and still can be) dazzled by images on the silver screen and I relied on movies and television to be my window on the world. My pre-teen-school-days were punctuated with the dreaded 'educational/scare' films that brainwashed all of us into not only fearing strangers (Red Light / Green Light: Meeting Strangers:1965) but also, to fear cars (Mechanized Death:1961) and even our own bodies (It's Wonderful Being a Girl:1960/1966). Thousands of feet and millions of 16mm film frames not only stood in as a celluloid babysitter, but taught the kind of propaganda that even the most jaded and sadistic educator was too embarrassed to broach.

But what really separates propaganda from documentary film? In 1967, the CBS broadcast, "The Homosexuals" attempted a balanced report on homosexuality in America, but how do 'we' see it today? Now, the big question is, who are 'we'?

The more I researched the meaning of propaganda, the more I came to realize that perhaps 'propaganda' is, ultimately, in the eye and the mind, of the beholder. Filmmakers can bring to the film their agenda and subjectivity which is manufactured through their particular belief system but, the audience, with all their prejudices, politics and social mores, sits as the jury.

So, I leave it in your hands.

Are these films propaganda or documentary?. I invite you all to hiss, jeer, and enjoy."Crush the Monster".

Anita Bryant Pie in the Face
Director unknown (USA, 1977, 3 min, 16 mm film)

One of Anita Bryant's "Save Our Children" television news conferences is zapped by a pie-wielding gay activist.

Go Home Bob
Director: Szu Burgess (Canada, 1995, 3 minutes, video)

Fundamentalist preacher Bob Larson meets "mob scene" at the University of Winnipeg.

Gay or Straight: Is There a Choice?
Director: Don McBrearty (Canada, 1975, 20 min, 16 mm)

Imaginatively retitled Homosexuality and Lesbianism for educational distribution, this early documentary offers a genuinely interesting exploration of issues in the debate about heredity vs. environment in determining homosexuality. Interviews with "average" gays and lesbians we see a gay man riding his bike, shopping, and playing his piano, and a lesbian couple washing their Volvo and buying groceries are counterpoised with comments by psychiatrists. The views of enlightened psychiatrists and "homophiles" are juxtaposed with the opinions of proponents of "aversive conditioning" homo-cure therapy. We are treated to footage of aversive conditioning (using electric shocks in conjunction with homoerotic images) and an interview with a homosexual who survived this form of "treatment." The result is a nuanced portrait of Canadian norms and beliefs about homosexuality circa 1975

Red Light / Green Light - Meeting Strangers
Director: unknown (USA, 1965, 20 min, 16mm film)

Ever wonder where society gets the idea that lesbians and gays are sick, predatory creatures? Red Light/ Green Light provides the answer. This educational film warns kids to stay clear of the "red-light people." Perhaps in 1965 the distinctions were more obvious, but in 2002 it seems that many green-light people may have changed their colour! You decide.

The Homosexuals
Director: Reuben Siegel - CBS Documentary (USA, 1967, 45 min, 16mm film)

On the evening of March 7, 1967, Mike Wallace brought America's nightmare into the living rooms of the nation. Not news of a Russian invasion or an earthquake destroying San Francisco... no, it was much more horrific, more terrifying and threatening...it was "The Homosexuals."

Wallace interviewed anyone who would talk about homosexuality, from "out" homosexuals to self-loathing closeted gays. "Reparative therapists" spout expert opinions, like Dr. Irving Beaver who "blames" homosexuality on overbearing mothers, and Dr. Charles Socarides who can't use the words "happy" and "homosexual" in the same sentence. Clergy and law enforcers join the medical profession in parading their biases. Meanwhile, "homosexual panic" breaks out in Boise, Idaho!

Where are they now? Dr. Charles Socarides still thinks homos aren't happy even though his gay son worked as Bill Clinton's White House liaison to the gay and lesbian community. Warren Atkins aka Jack Nichols, who lied about his name because his father was in the FBI in 1967, went on to become senior editor of the online magazine Gay Today. Mike Wallace has, apparently, expressed regret over his involvement in this documentary, noting that at the time, he "lacked the perspective to see gay people as anything more than stigmatized, marginalized and ashamed people."

Running time: 90 minutes

Szu Burgess is an award-winning documentary photographer whose work has been exhibited in Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal, Chicago and New York in both group and solo shows. A critical writer on film and theatre, her essays, reviews and photos have appeared in several Canadian magazines including Swerve, Winnipeg Tonight and Canadian Dimension.

With a degree in Theatre, Drama & Aesthetics from the University of Winnipeg, Szu co-taught "Feminist and Gay & Lesbian Theatre" at the U of W focusing on "stage plays adapted to film".

She was a curator at the Counterparts Gay and Lesbian Film Festival and the Vice Versa Lesbian Film and Video Festival, both out of Winnipeg and interned with MIX : NYC experimental Gay & Lesbian Film Festival.

Szu works as a stills photographer for both dramatic and documentary film and video productions across Canada. She has also been a cinematographer for award-winning films.

She has served on the Board of Directors of Counterparts: Wpg's Gay & Lesbian Film Society, Swerve: Winnipeg's Gay & Lesbian Community Paper, Video Pool and Winnipeg�s Ace Art Gallery.

A profile of Szu and her photography/mixed media work was written by Robert Enright, and featured in Border Crossings Magazine.

previous program | next program

Graphic Design by Jacqueline Verkley. Web Design + Graphics Adaptation by Terra Poirier › lineargirl media