I chose this theme for a variety of reasons, but the main passion came when I stopped and thought about this year’s political election and the coverage that’s come from the media about it.
The original story as quoted by Dictionary.com is explained as follows:
“The hero of a German folk legend, popularized in The Pied Piper of Hamelin (1842) by Robert Browning. 2. (sometimes lowercase) a person who induces others to follow or imitate him or her, especially by means of false or extravagant promises.”
In the story, the Pied Piper uses a flute to hypnotize rats and runs them out-of-town saving the city. The Pied Piper is often portrayed as the “hero”, but in some instances could be looked upon as a Villain. He’s a hero to the village, ridding them of their vermin problem and saving them from potential disease and financial ruin at the hands of the rats. He could be a Villain by how he tricks the rats to follow him to their demise.
Look closely at today’s politics. Politics comes in various forms such as: Socialism, Communism, and Capitalism. It’s led by people who believe in specific principles looking to be an elected official to carry out their beliefs or become a totalitarian Dictator or King. In order to win their seat of power they must get others to think like they do and believe in their message and vision. These politicians are the Pied Piper. They look to deceive people into believing their lies and hope they believe it without question. They may not have a flute to hypnotize us but they do have the media.
The media in its various forms: social media, radio, TV, and newsprint are used to hypnotize us into believing what the Pied Piper believes. The media takes actual stats and skews them to fit a political agenda, making one side look better than the other. They gang up and attack other people for certain things and ignore others. By doing this they trick the public into siding with one or the other – which ever they believe. Hearing it over and over, we naturally begin to believe the lie thus becoming a form of truth… we will never know it’s a lie unless we search and actively challenge what we hear. The problem is most lies are simply an opinion that we blindly take as fact.
This is happening a lot in schools. I always see homework that has questions based on an opinion or agenda rather than the truth. To those learning that have no idea the other side take this as a truth and are then hypnotized into a false reality.
I am fed up with the game so that’s why I created the “Pied Piper”. This is a rebellion piece of mine that attacks the “sheeple” or anyone that blindly follows trends, fads, news, groups or politics/religion without properly investigating the truth before hand because they believe what they were told is the unbiased truth. They will defend these lies to the extent of hurting others to the point of possibly murdering those who don’t conform to the vision of the truth they accept even if it’s a lie in disguise.
So how does one succumb to this trance? I figured it out and placed those answers in the picture. However, it may be hard to pick out so I will describe what makes it so easy to trick someone.
- Look at the model. She is confident yet elegant. Having a sense of confidence is a major factor in persuading people because it shows you are a leader who believes in what you preach or believe yourself. If you looked unsure or rattled they would not take you seriously. So I made sure the model portrayed a sense of confidence in her poses.
- Stand Out. People are attracted to those who stand out. The costume is a steam punk style that helps the model stand out. By standing out she commands your undivided attention willingly or not. When someone has your undivided attention it’s as dangerous as a snake that hypnotizes you before they strike. This leaves you vulnerable to her actions or words.
- Mystique. She is mysterious and that entices a lot of people to follow to find out more. She floods your thoughts as you try to figure her out. The mask does this for the model. You don’t know who she is, if she’s hiding from you or not, does she have a secret? Is she good or bad? We want to know what her intentions are but they are hidden behind the mask. We can’t read her facial expressions so we don’t know what to believe or not believe. It also opens her eyes to be the focal point, and most people who are hypnotized are done through the eyes. You can’t look away.
- Her Intentions. We don’t know her intentions but it doesn’t matter… she’s beautiful, cool looking and full of confidence that’s all we need to go on. If she doesn’t believe in something, we won’t either because we want to be JUST LIKE HER and we will defend her and take everything she says as truth. Will she lure you into corruption or lure you away from corruption. Those who are blind to the truth won’t know until they take the mask off and open their eyes.
The moral of my story and photo is to never go blindly with anyone. Open your mind to new things, and by all means research everything because there are too many liars out there.
Model – Missy Rae
Outfit – Purchased at Ravens and Rockers, Tampa, FL
Mask by – Balocoloc Artisans of Venice (Epcot)
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