Sanitized Imagery

On the first day of class, Christine and a few classmates made the point that the picture of the mushroom cloud is one of distance, safety, and sanitation. When I heard this, I was kind of mind-blown and really intrigued. I have had the privilege of having a first hand knowledge of what ground-zero Japan was like on that morning of August 6th, 1945. My grandfather Masami (pictured left) was about three miles from the city of Hiroshima where he worked on the railroads. I think he was about eighteen years old, when he experienced the bomb's affects. Among the terrifying imagery of the aftermath of the bomb, I specifically remember that he talked about people dying from their radiation burns in the nearby river and how people offered their gold watches or valuables in reward to have someone amputate their limbs which were trapped from the rubble. I would say that my grandfather's story is one that no one else in my family has heard, so I consider myself pretty lucky to be able to re-tell his story.

When I read Rey Chow's article she starts off her piece by making the statement that the image of the mushroom cloud "predominates and preempts the rest" (in regards to any image of WWII). She states that "As knowledge, 'Hiroshima' and 'Nagasaki' come to us inevitably as representation and, specifically, as a picture." She then continues to say that "Moreover, it is not a picture in the older sense of a mimetic replication of reality; rather, it has become in itself a sign of terror, a kind of gigantic demonstration with us, the spectators, as the potential target". As I agree with the first part, I somewhat agree and disagree with the second part. I agree that Hiroshima and Nagasaki are not a replication of reality but in fact a new form of reality, a reality in which cities can be gone in a few seconds to minutes. But on the other hand, I feel that the American people's viewpoint of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings were very "sanitized" because of the massive censorship that the American government was responsible for. Thus perhaps the "spectators" were not terrified of the possibility of total destruction but in a way too relieved or happy for their victory. The American people had no idea what was really happening to the Japanese people on the ground.