The Sensational Idiocy of Donald Trump's Propaganda Video for Kim Jong Un

[icymist]

In Singapore, on Tuesday, reporters covering the summit between President Trump and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, were surprised with a screening of what appeared to be a movie trailer. You could argue that, because tax dollars likely paid for the creation of the clip, we the people ought to share a producing credit. But the nature of the film—its grandiosity, its gaudiness, its chaotic logic, its indiscriminate idiocy—is such that we must understand Trump as its author.

The clip, a four-minute overture from Trump to Kim, is styled as a movie preview. A golden production logo announces this as a presentation of “Destiny Pictures,” and frequent stock footage finds the sun shining like a dime beyond the curve of a turning world. Is Trump inviting Kim to take command of Universal Pictures? Or join him in playing God? Does either of them know the difference?

In any case, the narrator insists that the fate of the world hangs in the balance, in sentences that combine pompous syntax, palatial rhetoric, and dodgy grammar. Flattering Kim’s vanity while reflecting Trump’s own, he says, “Of those alive today, only a small number will leave a lasting impact,” while crowds scurry as if in “Koyaanisqatsi,”and postcard images of tourist sites flow past—the Great Wall, the Great Pyramid, and also Times Square, because, according to Trump’s understanding of history, the visual noise of spectacle is a postmodern wonder to revere. These sights yield to a vast North Korean flag—an invitation to a tyrant to think more bigly and take his place alongside the men who built the Colosseum and the Taj Mahal.

“History may appear to repeat itself for generations,” the narrator says. “There comes a time when only a few are called upon to make a difference.” Trump appears in oratorical postures, in still photos taken at the State of the Union address and the U.N. General Assembly, manning the lectern like the Cicero of his day. Kim waves and smiles, and waves and smiles, and walks a bit and waves some more.

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-sensational-idiocy-of-donald-trumps-propaganda-video-for-kim-jong-un?mbid=social_twitter

[Ohiogal]

1. To think that our taxes paid for this garbage

Infuriating!

[Docreed2003]

2. I've watched this a few times now and here's what I think the real message is

This meeting had nothing to do with denuclearization for Trump. This is a business opportunity to him and this "movie" exposes all of that it blatant themes. Yes, this "summit" will play to his Fox News base, but it's purpose is for him to plant a Trump Tower in NK and to open that countries resources up for exploitation. The video spells that out pretty clearly.

[ProudLib72]

3. FYI: Leni Riefenstahl made that video

She is very accomplished, you know!