The Text-Image Combo - Communication with a side of identification!

Scott McCloud offers an excellent examination of the human ability to give life to the lifeless objects we interact with and create.  Specifically, he explains that the human experience is split into the realm of concept and the realm of senses, and that the interaction of these two communicate ideas and give life to inanimate objects. (McCloud 39) Both of our animated texts present pictorial depictions in a way that connects viewers to them and, in a sense, allows us to put ourselves in that tragic scene.

He also writes that the inanimate objects that we use “absorb our sense of identity” and, essentially, become one with us. That is to say that this computer is now an extension of me. Or that those drawings become an extension of the artists who drew them.  He carries this theory into the cartoon saying that they exist conceptually in the same way we exist physically. In a sense, we “lend” life to them. (McCloud 41) This lending of life allows readers to identify with the characters on the page and, in turn, the comic becomes an extension of their self. In this way, our creation is as conduit through which life is created.

           
By this logic, I believe that McCloud would find both of the animated clips of Hiroshima to be extremely powerful. Creators took note of even the most unnoticeable attributes and incorporated them into the faces of the characters. To McCloud, this makes for excellent “viewer-identification”. (McCloud 42) This identification may problematize our idea of representation, however, because of vast differences in interpretation. Representation, especially of people, has an expectation of accuracy and falls victim to subjectivity. To our creators, these depictions are accurate but, to me, they are caricatures:

            Mitchell would argue that these texts are a platform for discourse. (Mitchell 99) I believe he would argue that the text titled, “Animation Depicting the Hiroshima Bombing” was more compelling. This is because it included English speaking fighter pilots at the beginning and included captions for translation. According to Mitchell, “The text is an intrusion on the image.”, therefore its inclusion works to distance viewers from the bombers and connect us with characters down below. (Mitchell 209) The imposition of text on an image may strip the picture of its meaning or significance. By this logic, text communicates a message that conflicts with that of the picture’s and, therefore, stifles a comic’s ability to invoke “viewer-identification”. (McCloud 43) Where the pictures are drawn with the intention of being lifelike, because their language requires translation, we cannot relate to them as viewers.

           

            All things considered, both texts are discourse causing representations of past events and, ultimately, connect viewers to lifeless creations. Though one may be more critical than the other, both texts force viewers to think ethically and likely invoke the viewer-identification McCloud discusses in his article.