Regarding the Pain of Others

Reading Journal

Week 8: March 7th, 2016

Text: Regarding The Pain of Others

Observations:

        The beginning of this passage starts by explaining how often times photos are taken in ways that make them look better than they actually are in real life. This is then compared to the contrast of “uglifying” a photo to show something at it’s worst. In order for this to have the right response they have to shock the viewers.

        The next paragraph follows up with an example of what Canada did in regards to smoking. On packs of cigarettes they placed common issues that smoking can cause; cancerous lungs and damaged hearts being two of the images. Studies were then taken and showed that people were 60% more likely to stop smoking when these images were presented to them compared to only having the written warning on the box.

        Next, the narrator brings up the question of how long would these affects actually show such strong results. People have a way to deal with horrific images the same way they are able to overcome scary things in everyday life. Although there are examples of events that people can repetitively be shown and have it make them feel the same way every time, but the narrator doesn’t believe people want to be horrified continuously.

        On the second page of the passage the narrator turns the focus on the photos of war and how we don’t see the brutal images of the aftermath to the soldiers; mainly there faces. This then turns to the topic of concentration camps from the second World War and how the images that the people saw were misleading because they weren’t taken until troops showed up so it neglects to see what the camps really looked like when they were fully functioning.

        In the next couple paragraphs the narrator states that images leave opinions, fantasies and misinformation untouched. How photos give us a sense of present and past and how sentiment is easier built around images rather than verbal slogans.

        The concept of collective memory is introduced halfway down page 652. Here the narrator explains how society decides what is important from certain events, and that this is the story of how it happened. Certain images are meant to create certain thoughts, examples being the A-bomb, Martin Luther King’s speech and the first astronaut to walk on the Moon. The narrator suggests that these are the visual equivalent to a sound bite.

        On the final page the narrator brings up the idea of museums, what they stand for and what historical events we have or have not constructed a museum for.

        Halfway down page 653 the narrator brings up the point that there is in fact no museum for the History of Slavery anywhere in the United States. Perhaps because it’s a memory too terrible to remind people of perhaps because America doesn’t want to remind people of the horrific acts that once occurred on it’s soil.

        The narrator ends the passage with an idea of what Americans see themselves as and how images are used to achieve this idea of their country being the solution or cure to the Worlds evil.

Interpretation:

        The author of this passage, Susan Sontag, I believe wanted her readers to look deeper into photos and images because they are often misleading. Not only are photos misleading in everyday media for models or movies, but they are skewed for historical events as well.

        I personally think it’s important that our society does have certain images that create certain responses, but it’s also crucial that it’s viewers understand that there’s always more to uncover from those same photo’s.

        The one image I think of that is presented to me each year is the photo of the towers in New York being hit on 9/11. That image speaks a lot to the people that were alive when it happened but thinking ahead ten or even twenty years when kids’ see that they wont know right away what that did to our country and the actions that took place soon after if they don’t dig deeper into the subject.

        The second major topic I believe Sontag wanted her readers to think about is this idea of America and how the country views itself. I thought it was interesting when Sontag brought up the point of how the United States doesn’t have a museum that shows the entire History of Slavery. I found this interesting because every school teaches it to students, yet somehow there’s no museum for it.