The main reason on why the Smithsonian’s Enola Gay exhibit had burst into a complete and utter political nightmare was simply because its hot button issues were manhandled by all parties involved with the exhibit. Originally, the exhibit was to give a much darker view point of the use of the atomic bomb. It was to portray the horrors of melting cities and bodies, clear messages talking of the barbarism of war mixed with a fervor of racism, and all which resulted upon the use of the atomic bomb. Admittedly, the first draft of the exhibit was heavily skewed to the blight of the Japanese people with lots negative undertones surrounding America, and the enemy of the exhibit that first spotted this flaw was the Air Force Association. The mission
The world of today is a relatively primitive one, even with every advancement that humanity has accomplished we remain primitive in this aspect. There has been progress, even as slow in comparison to that of todays, it is progress.The ignorances and other human flaws are still very existent within every society, regardless of the boundaries between them be it geographical or cultural. Stereotypes and misconceptions exist in the modern society. Stereotypes arise when there is a single radical group who are accepted as the representation of their apparent subculture. Then the ignorant and misinformed take these “representatives’” behavior as a generalization of the entire group. While the less common misconception is made by some incomprehensible anomaly where an entire assumption is based around a single social group, that has never even proved to be true. There is a stereotype that is attached with the College educated community, they are believed to be almost guaranteed success. The fact that they have a degree in their respective field has built a stereotype of the “successful ones.”
The Enola Gay which dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima is now on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC."
Prosise, Theodore O.. "The collective memory of the atomic bombings misrecognized as objective history: The case of the public opposition to the national air and space museum's atom bomb exhibit" Western Journal of Communication 62.3 (1998): 316-47. 05 Aug. 2010< http://www.informaworld.com/10.1080/10570319809374613 >
Unbeknownst to many students in my generation, mounting hostility towards public arts funding also marked the cultural and political climate of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Debates had escalated over a number of National Endowment for the Arts grants, targeted at artists who violated sexual and cultural norms in their art, whether it was in painting, oral performance, writing, or photography. Most famous of these NEA outlaws was gay photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, whose photographs became the center of a national debate over the function of art, who should fund it, what is considered obscene and, as Laurie Anderson states, “the issue of control…and who controls what.
In the essay, “At the Buffalo Bill Museum, June 1988”, by Jane Tompkins, the author describes her trip to the museum and her perspective on the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. In her essay, she expresses her thought of the museum as, “the most disturbing places I have ever visited. It is also a wonderful place” (588). In the Whitney Gallery of Western Art, she admires the beauty, details, and veracity of paintings. However, she feels arts are not respected in there, for their meanings are altered. As Tompkins claims, “someone had taken the trouble to ferret out Remington’s statement of horror” (588). Moreover, she perceived, “Remington’s paintings and statues … are imperialist and racist” (590). In the Buffalo Bill Museum, there is no sign
The Hawaiian culture is both diverse and unique, with its own language, traditions, and beliefs. Despite these multi-faceted characteristics, certain broad stereotypes about the culture persist in the non-Hawaiian population. My paper will explore where race, prejudice and cultural stereotypes come from and how both Hawaiian and non-Hawaiian cultures reinforce these stereotypes.
The development of the atomic bomb and chemical warfare forever changed the way people saw the world. It was a landmark in time for which there was no turning back. The constant balancing of the nuclear super powers kept the whole of humankind on the brink of atomic Armageddon. Fear of nuclear winter and the uncertainty of radiation created its own form of a cultural epidemic in the United States. During these tense times in human history officials made controversial decisions such as the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Dangerous biological experiments and bombs tests were carried out in the name of the greater good and national defense. Some historians and scientists argue that the decisions and acts carried out by the U.S. during World War II and the Cold War were unethical because of the direct damage they did. The United States' decisions were moral because it can be proven their actions were aimed at achieving a greater good and those that were put in potential danger volunteered and were informed of the risk.
This review questions Maurice Berger´s assertion that “white [museum] curators, administrators, and patrons” seldom accept art outside the “mainstream” or art that “challenges dominant values.” Paradoxically, this quote supports the point of an article—Lisa C. Corrin´s “Mining the Museum”—rich in examples of exhibitions, curated by white artists and curators, and aimed at overcoming standard practices.
In the modern era, stereotypes seem to be the ways people justify and simplify the society. Actually, “[s]tereotypes are one way in which we ‘define’ the world in order to see it” (Heilbroner 373). People often prejudge people or objects with grouping them into the categories or styles they know, and then treat the types with their experiences or just follow what other people usually do, without truly understand what and why. Thus, all that caused miscommunication, argument or losing opportunities to broaden the life experience. Stereotypes are usually formed based on an individual’s appearance, race, and gender that would put labels on people.
Maddox, Robert. “The Biggest Decision: Why We Had to Drop the Atomic Bomb.” Taking Sides: Clashing View in United States History. Ed. Larry Madaras & James SoRelle. 15th ed. New York, NY. 2012. 280-288.
The media’s portrayal of gays was a picture of perversion. Homosexuals were looked upon in disgust, uneasiness and fear. Schools taught children that being homosexual was one of the greatest offenses one could commit. Many books, newspaper articles, and other documents were published to convey homosexuals as disturbed individuals.
What a sensation was made about the Sensation exhibition in the Brooklyn Museum of Art. The focus of Mayor Giuliani’s outcry was the piece “The Holy Virgin Mary” by Chris Ofili. Funny, he didn’t give attention to some of the other outrageous works including the pubescent female mannequins studded with erect penises, vaginas, and anuses, fused together in various postures of sexual coupling, or the portrait of a child molester and murder made from what appears like child hand prints or bisected animals in plexiglass tanks full of formaldehyde. Would it ever have made headlines with a different title, like “Afro-lady”? I don’t think so. I guess targeting religion gets a little too personal. Giuliani said, “You don’t have the right to government subsidy for desecrating somebody else’s religion. If you are a government-subsidized enterprise, then you can’t do things that desecrate the most personal and deeply held views of people in society.” You would think that the government paid these artists, right? It turns out that the show consisted of Charles Saatchi’s privately owned collection VIEWED in a public museum. So what does that mean to you? Well, when I found out that tidbit of information, it didn’t seem so offensive anymore. Taxpayers didn’t pay these young British artists to create controversial pieces. Taxpayers fund the museum itself to stay open. Museums have a variety of exhibitions all year. What is wrong with having one displaying a private collection? This is a common thing with museums. Otherwise, how would the public ever get to view extensive artistic compilations of the wealthy? Some collections are beautiful, others perturbing. But, who draws this line? Who gets to decide? The individual. If you do not want to submit your eyes to horrendous, offensive creations, then don’t!
David Thelen, “History After the Enola Gay Controversy,” JAH 82, no. 3 (December 1995): 1029-1035 https://troy.blackboard.com/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_17_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_369657_1%26url%3D (accessed February 15, 2014).
A museum gives us insight on the culture from an out standing point of view, and the things we are shown are supposed to be looked at from the outside. The people who decided what things to exhibit did not belong to that community saw it, and decided what they considered is different to what we are used to, and what we would be interested in learning from that. The display of things in a Museum are things that we look at as something that is outside from normal. In contrast to the movie or movies, where scenes substantially show how the person felt and dealt with situations and tools from their own perspective, with their own knowledge and experience and through different means such as real images, sounds, language and others produces a different knowledge on the racial discourse. When looking at exhibitions in museums the other culture is unknown, and almost uncomfortable to us, but in movies we can be standing in their
When first arriving at the museum it was an old styled, rustic, building that was not very modern, which I think fits into the theme of the museum. The outside of the building had history, similar to how the inside of museum is filled with a history. There was also an impressive statue of former president Theodore Roosevelt. I thought it was an interesting display, but Theodore Roosevelt was an advocate for the preservation of national parks and the conservation of animals, moreover, I thought it was a great tribute to him. I think the outside of the museum shows how rich the history of the world is and there is so much to learn. The past has been polished for the people of the present to understand and admire. Overall, I felt every exhibit was easy to understand and not intimidating; subsequently, it was easy for children and adults to look at.