VL-IV: Chap 9- Close-ups

[kelber at mindspring.com]

But as the passage I quoted indicates, pictures can be used to change people's minds.  This one certainly affected public opinion of the Vietnam War, as did pictures of the My Lai massacre:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/05/asia_pac_enl_1115306756/html/1.stm

-----Original Message-----
>From: rich <richard.romeo at gmail.com>
>Sent: Feb 12, 2009 3:16 PM
>To: kelber at mindspring.com
>Cc: pynchon-l at waste.org
>Subject: Re: VL-IV: Chap 9- Close-ups
>
>u don't even need "good guys"--plenty of incriminating evidence of
>many mugs taken by friends or buddies as some vile form of
>souvenir--lynching postcards, einsatzgruppen/wehrmacht group shots of
>mass shootings, hangings, all the crystal clear digital video/pics
>taken at abu ghraib
>
>remember the pulitzer shot of the dying baby and the patient
>vulture--an awesome but also very troubling picture--an image that's
>heard to get out of one's head.
>
>is the camera evil?  I can't answer that
>
>rich
>
>http://pulitzerphotos.wordpress.com/2008/09/06/baby-stalked-by-vulture-in-sudan/
>
>On 2/12/09, kelber at mindspring.com <kelber at mindspring.com> wrote:
>>>
>> A number of people have observed that cameras=evil in Pynchon's world.  In
>> this case, though, it's an instrument of truth.  The good guys
>> use filmed close-ups of bad guys to reveal their true intent.  Close-ups
>> reveal the soul, but they also turn the filmed person into an object,
>> a mug shot, frozen in a lie.  It's this latter aspect, maybe, that causes
>> TRP to be camera shy.  WHo wants their life and work to be defined
>> by a frozen moment?
>>
>> Laura
>>