20080815

Military Send Off

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Battle imagery and Metaphors of War in the Jericho fandom.
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Earlier this week I announced in not so many words I was leaving the Jericho fandom. In response to my doing so KrzyKitty wrote:
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“Another one has fallen. As I dig my claws in for the long battle ahead, another ranger calls retreat. With each retreat, the weight of impending doom grows. As each safe house closes, the light at the end of the Jericho tunnel diminishes. I will not falter in my faith, will not give up my hope or resolve that we will win this battle. I am here till the end. God grant peace to the fallen and rest for the weary ones who soldier on…..”
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Wow, who said anything about retreat?
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The honest answer is, on any given day, it could be just about any of us. Within our ranks war metaphors and battle imagery are about as plentiful as nut jokes. Sometimes the nut jokes and war metaphors have overlapped as evidenced by the friendly "Shelling" of NTN targets and by the early “Not Understanding Term Surrender” Slogan. The Nut/war theme has certainly been visually incorporated into our campaigns:
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And who could forget “Mister Peanut goes to War”? This one is apparently a poster from WWII but the significance of Mister Peanut I have not been able to determine. Jericho Fans however gladly attached to it their own meaning.
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The evocation of war extends deep into American history as well. Rich Becker and Rubberpoultry collaborated to create this homage to the American civil war:
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All along, Jericho and the community surrounding the show have been exposing a thru line in American wars and the countries history. This collaboration it should be noted has been embraced by both sides and the winds of influence have blown both ways. My hat remains forever off to the folks who conceptualized Jericho and the fans who embraced it.
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The importance and timely relevance of a show where the central theme is war cannot be overstated. Of course, stories of war are relevant no matter when they are told. They help us to examine, understand and appreciate how seemingly insignificant events can escalate into the unthinkable.
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Upon further consideration it is no surprise that the language and imagery of war have been adopted by the Jericho fandom. War is to no small degree why we are here huddled in the safe houses and continuing to fight on all fronts.
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My name is terocious and I am reporting for duty. ;-)

9 comments:

Debby said...

Yeah!!! I am so glad that you are not leaving!!! You brought a smile to my face with this post.
Debby

Anonymous said...

I'm glad you are back from your short vacation.

Gwen, who is also on a short vacation

Anonymous said...

Welcome Back!

Anonymous said...

Excellent! Welcome back.

Anonymous said...

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

Ok, I'm not as eloquent a speaker/writer as you - no kidding! Thank goodness you're back, Tero. Your absence the last few days has been noticeable, and I've missed you so much. Thank you for coming back to us - and thank you for what you give to all of us. I hope we can all give something back to you too!

NightShade

terocious said...

@ all

Thank you. I feel good about my decision and the only thing which remains to be worked out is realistically organizing my time so as to keep all the balls in the air. (The realistic part of that is one I always have trouble with. :-)

@ Nightshade

You are pretty darn eloquent.

Thank You.

K6 said...

Nice to have you back at work Ranger.

k6

Anonymous said...

We've butted heads on more than one occassion, but I am glad to see you sticking with your blog.

I have always found your writing to be a thought-provoking read. You have a talent for it and I often wonder why you have not explored it as a profession.

I may not always like or agree with what you write, but you have always made entries that welcomed responses from all views.

I'll leave this signed from Anon., as I imagine you know who this is.

In short, Welcome Back.

terocious said...

@ K6

Given the nature of the post I feel there is nothing left to do but salute you. By the way K6 at some point I would like to discuss with you featuring some of your photoshop work in the Junctions Creative Fandom Series.

@ Anonymous,

At the risk of sounding too sado-masochistic butting heads with you has also been a thought provoking pleasure. I Thank you, thank you and thank you. I have considered writing for a living and it means a great deal to me to be encouraged to do so. (Fortunately it is not something I need to do before I reach a certain age. ;-)