After a teenager crashed a Cessna into a bank building, it looks as though Osama might end up becoming more popular than the Beatles
George W. Bush has a big problem on his hands. His war on terrorism has produced an unforeseen side effect which may be harder to overcome than chasing after a renegade Saudi millionaire. Thanks to an overzealous propaganda machine, he might have created the world's first terrorist superstar.
Terrorists as pop icons are not a new phenomenon. These pop stars usually exist in those areas of the world where "terrorism", or what we understand to be terrorism, is regarded as a legitimate liberation struggle. Even so, the influence of these political pop stars have always been local and limited.
Osama and his band have been different, and can be said to be the "Beatles of terrorism". This was a worry at the beginning of US involvement in Afghanistan, in that there was a latent fear the conflict might spread. Even so, the situation was still considered to be somehow manageable. Yet now, after a teenager crashed a single engine Cessna into a bank building in Tampa, Florida, it looks as though Osama might end up becoming more popular than the Beatles.
In many ways, this should come as no surprise. The mass media's coverage of "all war all the time" has forced people to talk -- and think - in terms of terrorism. What is more, the Bush administration's emphasis on "evil" adds to the problem. The ferment of teenage rebellion is based on what society considers evil; thus sex, drugs and rock 'n roll have all become the focus of adolescent angst.
It is this aspect to the tragedy that perhaps explains why the mass media covered the incident in Tampa the way they did. In Hungary, the weekend when the plane slammed into the building was more or less quiet. Nevertheless, Hungarian radio and television at least mentioned the incident, while on CNN there was no news whatsoever about what happened. Admittedly, on the teletext there were a few lines, but it took at least 24 hours when a report was finally broadcast.
Like other media outlets which eventually got around to covering the story, the incident was referred to it as simply an "accident". Only afterward did the propaganda machines of the western world concede that the plane was deliberately flown into the building. However, they were all quick to highlight that the boy had no terrorist connections and that even though he left a note expressing his support for Osama bin Laden, he nevertheless "showed patriotism" in wake of the September 11th attacks.
The reluctance on the part of international media outlets like CNN to appropriately cover the story betray the sense of unease that perhaps the propaganda war is not going so well after all. One would have thought a more in-depth analysis into what had happened would have ensued; instead, the story quickly disappeared. The teenager was dismissed as a loner, with no attempt to explain why he would have committed suicide in such a way.
Yet avoiding the issue will not make it go away. Indeed, it may even compound the problem further. The word "evil" doesn't have the fiery ring it once had. Adolf Hitler and the Nazis were considered "evil", but that hasn't stopped many in the US from adopting the look and ideology of both the leader and the regime.
The image of Osama bin Laden has no doubt seared itself into the consciousness of the western world. Consequently, these images and the behaviour it spawns will be invariably adopted by those who feel they have no other means at their disposal to express their rage against the machine. This doesn't necessarily mean planes crashing into buildings, but cars and trucks will also do. In fact, in the late 1990s one such incident occurred in Montreal, Canada, where a man deliberately drove his car into the municipal courthouse.
Such acts of violence and despair long preceded the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. However, now that they have been ingrained in the popular imagination thanks to media overkill, it has obtained a certain measure of perverted legitimacy. This, thanks to the creation of an icon which can intimidate and shock society more than Elvis ever could.
George W. Bush has a big problem on his hands. His war on terrorism has produced an unforeseen side effect which may be harder to overcome than chasing after a renegade Saudi millionaire. Thanks to an overzealous propaganda machine, he might have created the world's first terrorist superstar.
Terrorists as pop icons are not a new phenomenon. These pop stars usually exist in those areas of the world where "terrorism", or what we understand to be terrorism, is regarded as a legitimate liberation struggle. Even so, the influence of these political pop stars have always been local and limited.
Osama and his band have been different, and can be said to be the "Beatles of terrorism". This was a worry at the beginning of US involvement in Afghanistan, in that there was a latent fear the conflict might spread. Even so, the situation was still considered to be somehow manageable. Yet now, after a teenager crashed a single engine Cessna into a bank building in Tampa, Florida, it looks as though Osama might end up becoming more popular than the Beatles.
In many ways, this should come as no surprise. The mass media's coverage of "all war all the time" has forced people to talk -- and think - in terms of terrorism. What is more, the Bush administration's emphasis on "evil" adds to the problem. The ferment of teenage rebellion is based on what society considers evil; thus sex, drugs and rock 'n roll have all become the focus of adolescent angst.
It is this aspect to the tragedy that perhaps explains why the mass media covered the incident in Tampa the way they did. In Hungary, the weekend when the plane slammed into the building was more or less quiet. Nevertheless, Hungarian radio and television at least mentioned the incident, while on CNN there was no news whatsoever about what happened. Admittedly, on the teletext there were a few lines, but it took at least 24 hours when a report was finally broadcast.
Like other media outlets which eventually got around to covering the story, the incident was referred to it as simply an "accident". Only afterward did the propaganda machines of the western world concede that the plane was deliberately flown into the building. However, they were all quick to highlight that the boy had no terrorist connections and that even though he left a note expressing his support for Osama bin Laden, he nevertheless "showed patriotism" in wake of the September 11th attacks.
The reluctance on the part of international media outlets like CNN to appropriately cover the story betray the sense of unease that perhaps the propaganda war is not going so well after all. One would have thought a more in-depth analysis into what had happened would have ensued; instead, the story quickly disappeared. The teenager was dismissed as a loner, with no attempt to explain why he would have committed suicide in such a way.
Yet avoiding the issue will not make it go away. Indeed, it may even compound the problem further. The word "evil" doesn't have the fiery ring it once had. Adolf Hitler and the Nazis were considered "evil", but that hasn't stopped many in the US from adopting the look and ideology of both the leader and the regime.
The image of Osama bin Laden has no doubt seared itself into the consciousness of the western world. Consequently, these images and the behaviour it spawns will be invariably adopted by those who feel they have no other means at their disposal to express their rage against the machine. This doesn't necessarily mean planes crashing into buildings, but cars and trucks will also do. In fact, in the late 1990s one such incident occurred in Montreal, Canada, where a man deliberately drove his car into the municipal courthouse.
Such acts of violence and despair long preceded the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. However, now that they have been ingrained in the popular imagination thanks to media overkill, it has obtained a certain measure of perverted legitimacy. This, thanks to the creation of an icon which can intimidate and shock society more than Elvis ever could.
