Monday 19 December 2011

Jonestown x 1,000,000

Browsing YouTube, I came across this clip from the time of Kim I's death, which, if it weren't for the quality of the footage, could easily be substituted for that of the current events.

At first, viewing the scenes of mass grief, I must confess I was laughing, but after a while that laughter dies away.

4 comments:

Angry Exile said...

There's something really quite disturbing about personality cults, isn't there? Mind you, I have similar thoughts about the way some people in the west react when their favourite manufactured band break up to pursue momentary solo careers - I think there was a helpline for people to ring when Take That split. Still, not quite in the same league as mass hysteria and genuflection toward a dead lunatic whenever the Adjective Leader pops his clogs.

Anonymous said...

I wonder how many genuinely feel upset and how many wail because they know it's a trip to the gulag if they don't.

Trooper Thompson said...

SAOT, sadly I think they're so brainwashed that they do feel it. How long could someone preserve sanity in a place like that?

Angry Exile said...

To add to TT's last point, probably the only people who are going to be shown on North Korean TV are going to be the ones who are showing the desired OTT grief, whether through fear or brainwashing or desire for personal advancement in the new regime. We're just not going to see the reaction of some poor, half starved peasants, which is another point - notice how everyone in the footage we've seen looks well fed and dressed?