Having now read the article, I will also add that this article is exactly emblematic of why Western elites simply do not get this stuff. They don’t even have language to describe it.
Describing these videos as “Trojan horses” is such a bad metaphor. Likewise all the fake-history and myth-making that being politically informative and entertaining are somehow left-wing phenomena invented by Jon Stewart.
People don’t engage with politics rationally, they do it emotionally. Most people engage with most things emotionally; thinking is hard and energy-intensive. Easily absorbed cartoons and entertainment are not “Trojan horses” because there is no secret message. This is the fundamental misunderstanding conservatives have about media: the messages aren’t secret, they are overt and obvious, you just aren’t trained to understand them.
Taking a media illiterate person and flinging complex jargon and symbols at them makes them feel stupid, so they reject it. Feeding them simple symbols (made for children) that speak in the language of simple emotions makes them feel like an insider who understands secrets. This feeling is so good that people start hunting for symbols in things with limited understanding of how to properly do so or experienced knowledge, so they start finding whatever their mind expects to find: demons, angels, enemies, government communist agents, whatever they’re afraid of.
Trump’s camp has become so insular they’ve forgotten that even media illiterate people understand things like not being able to afford food while the president posts a video of himself shifting on you.
Having now read the article, I will also add that this article is exactly emblematic of why Western elites simply do not get this stuff. They don’t even have language to describe it.
Describing these videos as “Trojan horses” is such a bad metaphor. Likewise all the fake-history and myth-making that being politically informative and entertaining are somehow left-wing phenomena invented by Jon Stewart.
People don’t engage with politics rationally, they do it emotionally. Most people engage with most things emotionally; thinking is hard and energy-intensive. Easily absorbed cartoons and entertainment are not “Trojan horses” because there is no secret message. This is the fundamental misunderstanding conservatives have about media: the messages aren’t secret, they are overt and obvious, you just aren’t trained to understand them.
Taking a media illiterate person and flinging complex jargon and symbols at them makes them feel stupid, so they reject it. Feeding them simple symbols (made for children) that speak in the language of simple emotions makes them feel like an insider who understands secrets. This feeling is so good that people start hunting for symbols in things with limited understanding of how to properly do so or experienced knowledge, so they start finding whatever their mind expects to find: demons, angels, enemies, government communist agents, whatever they’re afraid of.
Trump’s camp has become so insular they’ve forgotten that even media illiterate people understand things like not being able to afford food while the president posts a video of himself shifting on you.