Brian Andreen THe U.S. vs. John Lennon
In the video we saw an interview between Gloria Emerson and John Lennon in which she stated “You don’t actually think you’ve saved a single live�. I think that this statement is as far from the truth as can be imagined. Pop culture has a huge sway over the beliefs and actions of the public. John Lennon and his outspokenness against the war most assuredly brought to the top of peoples minds problems with the war in Vietnam. In every anti-war protest there were likely hundreds if not thousands who if had not seen the outspokenness of John Lennon would not have been willing to stand up for what they believed in. In turn this increased demonstration allowed for even more people to see how upset others were about the war. John Lennon as well as other anti-war protesters were figureheads for peace. These figureheads without a doubt led to an earlier conclusion to the Vietnam War than would have other wise have occurred, prevented increased troops from being sent to Vietnam, and played a part in the decisions of those who fled to Canada in order to flee from the draft. I believe John Lennon’s actions were perhaps responsible for not saving a single life, but instead possibly thousands.
In class and the readings we discussed the fact that the media believed the government was extremely insecure to fear a simple pop artist as much as they did. Again I believe the media is showing there incompetence. What people believe is swayed as much by what they feel about the person saying it as they do about the subject being discussed. John Lennon was loved by so many people, that if even a fraction of those who knew of him listed to him based on personal feelings rather than facts, it resulted in a huge amount number of people taking up his beliefs. This same emotional factor is a huge contributor for people who were against the war and were on the border of protesting, and often in cases enough to drive them to protesting. A great example of how influential pop artists are is in politics today. In politics today both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are using pop artists to further there campaign ranging from Opera Winfrey to Chuck Norris.