Atrocities And Images

I don't plan to view the images of Nick Berg, the American who was beheaded by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi or one of his followers as the event was recorded on videotape. This morning, I viewed an old photograph of Emmett Till, horrifically disfigured and lying in his coffin, which had been linked to by Hesiod at Counterspin Central. I can't stand to see another victim of an atrocity now. My sympathies are with Mr. Berg's family and friends, and I hope that Mr. Berg's killers will be brought to justice.

It's also sad to see the murder of Mr. Berg is being used to bash the media for supposed bias, to condemn by associations entire races and faiths, and to minimize the American abuses of Iraqi prisoners of war, just as Mr. Berg's killers used the abuse of Iraqi prisoners to justify the killing of a man who had no connection to those events. Neither event can justify or mitigate the other.

A few years ago, someone with intense pro-gun views took a photograph from the 1930s or 40s showing naked female prisoners being led into a pit by armed SS troopers and captioned the image "The Original Million Mom March" (or something very similar). No doubt the creator thought this was a clever and effective way to make his point, but he (or she) either didn't understand or didn't care about the meaning of his act. He took an image that was created by the women's killers, without their consent, and used it to advance his political argument. The women weren't harmed by the stunt, because they were no longer alive, and possibly none of their surviving relatives or loved ones saw the photograph used in this manner. But the use of the photograph in that manner was, to me, utter profanity.

Perhaps the images of Mr. Berg's death will serve a useful purpose, such as to help identify or locate his killers. I hope they are not used in a way that devalues his life, or the lives of anyone else who is not responsible for his death.