Lying Liars in the Media and Icons of Dissentartengine.ca/kajustl/propaganda.pdfLying Liars in the...

Lying Liars in the Media and Icons of Dissent Justl 1

A Lie also called prevarication, is a type of deception in the form of an untruthful statement, especially with the intention to deceive oth-ers, often with the further intention to maintain a secret or reputation, protect someone’s feelings or to avoid a punishment.

To lie is to state something that one knows to be false or that one has not reasonably ascertained to be true with the intention that it be taken for the truth by oneself or someone else.

A liar is a person who is lying, who has previously lied, or who tends by nature to lie repeatedly.

Lying is typically used to refer to deceptions in oral or written com-munication.

1 Marar, Ziyad, Deception, Acumen Publishing, 2008, pg 30

2 Postman, Neil, Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the age of Show Business, Penguin Group, 1985, pg 92

Lying Liars in the Media and Icons of Dissent

When a man points a finger at someone else, he should remember that four of his fingers are pointing at himself.

Louis Nizer the Guinness Book of World Records ‘highest-paid lawyer in the world’.

Is our culture breeding liars? Do we lie to preserve our illusions about

ourselves? Do we really want to know the truth? It seems that we are not

designed to seek the truth so much as create meaning out of the complex world

in which we live in and to persuade others of our version of the truth1. This es-

say is a survey of public relations, the nature of lying and political caricature.

I will be investigating forms of deception and use them to illustrate the strug-

gle between the individual and mainstream media over reality and deception.

Artistic dissent through political cartooning and caricature are presented here in

overview and used as a crowbar to pry open a discussion about deception, the

search for meaning in a world of ambiguity and the potential of artistic opposition.

I want to investigate works of art, literature, media and film that emulate the

themes of deception. I want to carefully consider facial expressions, cross-

check the facts and question the deceiver. I am digging into the psychology of

lying, the history of deception in 20th century public relations and government

and into the physiognomy and psychology of liars. This inquiry is meant to

supply me with themes of psychological depth to inhabit my own drawing and

animation work.

Both a physiognomic theoretical approach to lying and facial expression

and a brief survey of propaganda will be attempted. The purpose of this

inquiry is to try to understand the psychology and cultural significance behind

the displays of deception in mainstream media and point toward a potent

art form to dismantle it. Mainstream media is a delivery system for public

relations and governmental and corporate interests where what is called the

news is not always real news. It is also said to be the nervous system of a

democracy and our “culture’s principal mode of knowing itself” 2. The state

of our culture can be witnessed in an overview of our culture itself. Political

satire and caricature can be trivial and comment on particular individuals at

its most benign or be a potent moral satire, addressing ideas about the nature

of our culture and of humanity.


3 Pilger, John, Freedom Next Time: Filmmaker & Journalist John Pilger on Propaganda, the Press, Censorship and Resisting the American Empire, Socialism 2007 conference in Chicago, Democ-racy Now website.

4 Postman, Neil, Amusing Our-selves to Death: Public Discourse in the age of Show Business, Pen-guin Group, 1985, pg 107

5 In a stunning switch from dismis-sive to disgusted, Oprah Winfrey took on one of her chosen authors, James Frey, accusing him on live television of lying about “A Million Little Pieces” and letting down the many fans of his memoir of addiction and recovery. “I feel duped,” she said Thursday on her syndicated talk show. “But more importantly, I feel that you be-trayed millions of readers.” Frey, who found himself booed in the same Chicago studio where he had been embraced not long ago, acknowledged that he had lied. A sometimes angry, some-times tearful Winfrey asked Frey why he “felt the need to lie.” Audience members often groaned and gasped at Frey’s halting, stuttered admissions that certain facts and characters had been ‘altered’ but that the essence of his memoir was real. “I don’t think it is a novel,” Frey said of his book, which had initially been offered to publishers, and rejected by many, as fiction. “I still think it’s a memoir.” Thursday’s broadcast, rare proof that the contents of a book can lead to great tabloid TV, marked an abrupt reversal from the cozy chat two weeks ago on “Larry King Live,” when Winfrey phoned in to support Frey and label alleged fabrications as “much ado about nothing.”

-Associated Press, Frey admits lying; Oprah apologizes to view-ers: Controversial author altered tale, claims to no longer fully recall details, 2006

I am interested in the role that lying plays in our culture. Our media is decid-

edly left or right slanted and works to maintain their bias. Newspapers and

television empires stations are owned by big business moguls . Back in 1928

Edward Bernays, one of the figureheads in modern propaganda, otherwise

known as public relations, wrote about an

invisible government that is the true ruling power of America. He was referring to journalism; the media. That was 80 years ago, not long after corporate journalism was invented. It is a history few journalist talk about or know about, and it began with the arrival of corporate advertising. As the new corporations began taking over the press, something called ‘professional journalism’ was invented. To attract big advertisers, the new corporate press had to appear respectable, pillars of the establishment-objective, impartial, balanced. The first schools of journalism were set up, and a mythology of liberal neutral-ity was spun around the professional journalist. The right to freedom of expression was associated with the new media and with the great corporations, and the whole thing was, as Robert McChesney put it so well, “entirely bogus” 3.

Lying and spin is unrestrained in our culture. We have access to a never-

ending stream of smoke and mirrors entertainment-based news. “Television

is altering the meaning of being informed by creating a species of information

that might be properly called ‘disinformation’ […] misleading information, mis-

placed irrelevant fragmented, superficial information, that creates the illusion

of knowing something but which in fact leads one away from knowing” 4 .

Deception detection was a major theme in entertainment news. Popular fic-

tional television detective shows like Law and Order and CSI can be watched

day and night. Stories of unreliable narrators, forgers, deceivers, liars and

plagairists populate our novels and films. Exposé journalism creates celebri-

ties and documentaries of Jayson Blair, The New York Times plagiarizer;

James Frey, the man who lied to Oprah 5 about his biography, A Million Little

Pieces and; Steven Glass, the man who plagiarized and made up sources for

the New Republic. Political leaders are ‘pulling the wool over our eyes’, the

nightly news is an advertisement for governments and corporations. The is-

sue to be explored here is that of lying and deception as an underlying current

in our lives, an issue that has intrigued political theorists and philosophers but

has never had greater prominence than in today’s era of news spin.


Bold-faced LieA bold-faced, barefaced, or bald-faced lie is one that is told when it is obvious to all concerned that it is a lie.

6 Postman, Neil, Amusing Our-selves to Death: Public Discourse in the age of Show Business, Penguin Group, 1985, pg 102

7 Taylor, Philip, Munitions of the Mind: A History of Propaganda from the Ancient World to the Present Day, Manchester Univer-sity Press, 2003, pg 4

8 Taylor, Philip, Munitions of the Mind: A History of Propaganda from the Ancient World to the Pres-ent Day, Manchester University Press, 2003, pg 7

9 Taylor, Philip, Munitions of the Mind: A History of Propaganda from the Ancient World to the Pres-ent Day, Manchester University Press, 2003, pg 13

10 Pilger, John, Freedom Next Time: Filmmaker & Journalist John Pilger on Propaganda, the Press, Censorship and Resisting the American Empire, Socialism 2007 conference in Chicago, Democracy Now website.

“Television provides a new definition of the truth. The credibility of the teller is the ultimate test of the truth of a proposition, ‘Credibility’ here does not refer to the past re-cord of the teller for making statements that have survived the rigors of reality-testing. It refers only to the impression of sincerity, authenticity, vulnerability or attractiveness conveyed by the actor/reporter” 6.

Our post-industrialization society is a society of consumers. We consume

ideas and ideologies from governments, corporations, religious entities,

Hollywood films, etc. from any special interest group with the capital to

produce the content to inform us. Since the Enlightenment, and especially

with new faster and robust digital technology, we believe that we can access

information freely without much outside interference. Is this true? How freely

is information flowing? Is it being controlled? What are we not being told?

In this new global-satellite-television informed world it is necessary to ap-

proach the concept of propaganda. In all realms of science the term ‘propaga-

tion’ is used in relation to plants, organisms etc. It is a process of cultivation

and is neutral. The sowing, germination or cultivation of ideas in essence

should be seen as neutral. Propaganda as a means of delivery of informa-

tion does not seem to have maintained its neutrality7. The Vatican delivered

this term in the 17 century to defend “true faith” against The Protestant Ref-

ormation. The Congregatio de Propaganda Fide, or the Congregation of the

Propagation of the Faith appears to be the first use of the term8. The term

became associated with nastiness after being used by Britain in WWI against

Germany, and subsequently by the Nazi and Soviet regimes to strengthen

their causes. Dictatorial regimes transparently use the term propaganda. The

Nazis had their Ministry of Enlightenment and Propaganda, the Soviets

had their Propaganda Committee of the Communist Party, but democra-

cies like the United Kingdom use the title Ministry of Information and The

United States has the Office of War Information to promote patriotism 9.


Lying by OmissionOne lies by omission by omitting an important fact, deliberately leaving another person with a misconception. Lying by omission includes failures to correct pre-existing misconceptions.

11 Taylor, Philip, Munitions of the Mind: A History of Propaganda from the Ancient World to the Present Day, Manchester University Press, 2003, pg 32


Ironically, I began to understand how censorship worked in so-called free societies when I reported from totalitarian societies. During the 1970s I filmed secretly in Czechoslovakia, then a Stalinist dictator-ship. I interviewed members of the dissident group Charter 77, in-cluding the novelist Zdener Urbanek, and this is what he told me. “In dictatorships we are more fortunate that you in the West in one respect. We believe nothing of what we read in the newspapers and nothing of what we watch on television, because we know it’s pro-paganda and lies. […] We’ve learned to look behind the propaganda and to read between the lines, and unlike you, we know that the real truth is always subversive” […] The great Irish muckraker Claud Cockburn got it right when he wrote, “Never believe anything until it’s officially denied.” 10

In essence we are all propagandists as well as the victims of propaganda.

Our society seems thrive on propaganda. Shifts have occurred from face to

face communication to those mediated by third parties such as digital media,

e-mail, blogging, cellphones and Skype. We communicate with each other

indirectly and receive our information indirectly. Distance and time constraints

have been eliminated by a seemingly instantaneous flow of information. All of

these changes and mediation provide a fertile landscape for deception and

propaganda.

Propaganda is the communication of ideas designed to make people behave

or think a certain way. This is different than imparting an education to a recipi-

ent of information who is then able to make up their own mind about a particu-

lar issue. Propaganda is a deliberate attempt to directly or indirectly persuade

people to think in a desired way that benefits the persuader. Persuasion from

the time of Ancient Greece was seen as a means of rhetorical discourse. In

The Republic Plato advocates the appearance of truthfulness as the best

policy in democracy, but also points to the censorship and deception inherent

in the process of democracy 11 .

Who says what a good lie is? Is it the philosopher Leo Strauss, who has been the intellectual inspiration for the neo-conservative move-ment in the United States? It is claimed that for Strauss drawing on the Noble Lie in Plato’s Republic, the truth is a luxury meant only for the elite few who can handle the dark and sordid reality behind the necessary illusions of the state. This justifies the right of the few to perpetrate the “Big Lie” over the many for their own good 12.


Lie-to-ChildrenA lie-to-children is a lie, often a platitude that may use euphemisms, which is told to make an adult subject acceptable to children.

13 Public relations is a mega money industry in United States. Companies like File City Gate/Incepta, Fleishman Hillard, Weber Shandwick Worldwide, Hill and Knowlton, and Burson Marstellar operate with funds in the billions.

Stauber, J., Rampton, S.,Toxic Sludge is Good for You: Lies, Damn Lies and the Public Rela-tions Industry Unspun, 2007

While advertising is the visible com-ponent of the corporate system, perhaps even more important and pervasive is its invisible partner, the public relations industry. This video illuminates this hidden sphere of our culture and examines the way in which the management of “the public mind” has become central to how our democracy is controlled by political and economic elites. It illustrates how much of what we think of as independent, unbi-ased news and information has its origins in the boardrooms of the public relations companies.

Toxic Sludge Is Good For You tracks the development of the PR industry from early efforts to win popular American support for World War I to the role of crisis management in controlling the damage to corpo-rate image. The video analyzes the tools public relations professionals use to shift our perceptions includ-ing a look at the coordinated PR campaign to slip genetically engi-neered produce past public scru-tiny.

14 Stauber, J., Rampton, S., Toxic Sludge is Good for You: Lies, Damn Lies and the Public Relations Industry Unspun, 2007

15 Curtis, Adam, The Century of the Self, BBC, 2002

Public relations tactics will be explored as well as the concept of propaganda;

it’s history and its uses. I will survey a history of propaganda and look specifi-

cally at Edward Bernays’ role in utilizing his uncle Sigmund Freud’s theories

of psychoanalysis as a tool to control the masses. Propaganda material, post-

ers, magazines, editorial cartoons, illustration etc. will also be surveyed.

We believe that we live in a society of democracy and have access to a

free press, but the propaganda of public relations firms influence our daily

thoughts and behavior. This propaganda apparatus inordinately dominates

commercial advertising and marketing. Its effects and have permeated every-

day life to try to influence thoughts and behavior. Public relations companies

operate with funds in the billions 13. They operate for big interest multinational

corporations with the most money. The activities of these companies are

insipid and invisible, yet we are engaged with them on a daily basis. They

manipulate pubic opinion and governmental policy for their clients. No politi-

cian makes a move without consultation with a public relations firm. Special

interests of the tobacco, petroleum, logging, mining industries, large corpo-

rations and government bodies are all implicated in the spin of the media.

The corporations with the largest influx of cash will have the most power 14 .

Edward Bernays was Sigmund Freud’s American nephew. He worked in pub-

lic relations in the 1920s and initiated the move to use Freud’s research into

psychoanalysis to manipulate the masses. Freud wrote about unconscious

desires, group behavior and aggression. He came to the conclusion that hu-

man beings could not be trusted to live in a true democratic society. They

were a bewildered herd requiring psychological techniques to harness them

and provide social control. Bernays also thought it was too dangerous to let

the masses be in control because of their unconscious drives. The ideal pub-

lic consists of passive consumers satiated by their consumption of goods and

services and their expression of themselves through objects, giving them the

illusion of power. People’s desires are in charge in this environment. They are

driven by desire. If you can trigger those needs and desires, you can get their

votes and money and complicity. This situation undermines peoples’ capacity

for democracy15.


White LieA white lie would cause no discord if it were uncovered, and offers some benefit to the liar, the hearer, or both. White lies are often used to avoid offense, such as com-plimenting something one finds unattractive. As a concept, it is largely defined by local custom and cannot be clearly separated from other lies with any authority.

16 Dreher, Christopher, The Father of Spin Makes a comeack, Globe and Mail, Sept. 11th, 2006

17 Tye, Larry, The Father of Spin: Edward Bernays & the Birth of Pub-lic Relations, The Economist , Oct. 17, 1998


Bernays demonstrated what public relations could do for big industry. By ex-

amining and analyzing society’s innermost feelings, repressed hidden uncon-

scious impulses and the primitive forces unleashed in WWI. Bernays worked

for large American corporations and proved that they could make people want

goods and services that they didn’t need by systematically linking mass-pro-

duced goods to their unconscious desires. By manipulating the inner irrational

desires that Freud had identified in his research, the masses could be made

‘happy’ and docile. Bernays was one of the main architects of the modern

techniques of mass-consumer persuasion. His ideas included celebrity en-

dorsements, outrageous public relations stunts, to eroticizing cigarettes and

automobiles 16.

His most notorious conquest was breaking the taboo on women smoking by

persuading them that cigarettes were a symbol of independence and free-

dom. In the 1920s it was illegal for women to smoke in public places. George

Washington Hill, president of American Tobacco decided that a potential mar-

ket was being lost due to the stigma attached to women smoking in pub-

lic. He hired Edward Bernays to expand his customer base for Lucky Strike

cigarettes, particularly among women. Slimness was becoming fashionable

for women, so he advertised cigarettes as a healthy alternative to candy, en-

listing the help of ‘experts’ to claim that cigarettes also disinfected the mouth.

Women were resistant; which was when Bernays hired psychoanalyst Dr.

A.A. Brill, a leading psychoanalyst in New York City to find out what it was

that could draw women to smoking. Cigarettes, Brill advised, were a phallic

symbol of male power. The idea was to sell cigarettes as a symbol of emanci-

pation against the taboo against women smoking in public as symptomatic of

male oppression 17. At the 1929 Easter Day Parade in New York City he paid

cigarette-smoking debutantes to march on the arms of well-dressed gentle-

men. News photographers documented this event and the photos weredistrib-

uted all across the country. This public relations campaign was called Torches

of Freedom 18 This event impacted mightily on corporate America and there

began the practice of using manipulative tricks to sell products.


Noble LieA noble lie is one which would normally cause discord if it were uncovered, but which offers some benefit to the liar and assists in an orderly society, therefore poten-tially beneficial to others. It is often told to maintain law, order and safety. A noble lie usually has the effect of helping an elite maintain power.


20 Ibid.

21 Ibid.

22 Ibid.

23 Obrec, Linda, Marketing, motives and Dr. Freud, Detroiter Magazine, Detroit, Michigan, Dec. 1999

24 Dichter, Ernest, Berger, Arthur, The Strategy of Desire, Transaction Publishers, 2002

Mass production could lead to over production if people stopped buying prod-

ucts. People had been accustomed to purchasing good and services for need

or necessity. In an ideal marketplace people will attach irrational desires to

products. Powerful emotional symbols will make buyers seem engaged emo-

tionally or personally with an object. In the past, advertisements were func-

tional terms describing practical virtues of products19. Because of mass pro-

duction companies needed to transform how people thought about products,

to move from a from a “needs-based culture to a desire-based culture”20. The

citizenry worked best as “constantly moving happiness machines for econom-

ic progress”. They were “the all consuming self populating a stable society”21.

Democracy was to change relations of power and Bernays was to keep rela-

tions of power and stimulate the irrational self so the powers could do what

they wanted to do 22.

Sigmund Freud observed that the evidence form the death camps of

World War Two showed that there was an inner psychological force

that was so raw and fierce it was necessary that it be controlled by gov-

ernment or it could overwhelm democracy. Postwar America embraced

Freud’s ideas to understand the barbarism of the war. Psychoanalysis

became popular in structuring family life. Accepted patterns of society

were employed to tame and regulate emotions. Adapting to the consumer

society was the ultimate aim. Another example of one of the 1950’s pub-

lic relations researcher using psychoanalysis to sell lifestyle is Earnest

Dichter and his Institute for Motivational Research in New York City.

Motivational Research is defined as “qualitative research designed to uncover

the consumer’s subconscious or hidden motivations that determine purchase

behavior” 23. Why do people behave as they do and how do they respond to

advertising and buy what they do? He called this The Strategy of Desire 24.

Our media system is debased by this hidden industry. It functions through

a third party advocacy of ‘experts’. A public relations campaign that has an

expert lends integrity to a campaign. If an agency supplies an expert and

video footage of that expert endorsing a product or lifestyle choice, it removes


Emergency LieAn emergency lie is a strategic lie told when the truth might not be told because, for example, harm to a third party would result. Alternatively, an emergency lie could denote a temporary lie told to a second person because of the presence of a third person.

25 Greenwald, Robert, Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journal-ism, Political Action Committee MoveOn.org,




a step for news journalist, therefore saving the broadcaster money. The goal

of a campaign is to maximize product profits. If I want to influence you, I find

out whom you find credible and listen to, and believe, to sway your ideas.

Association with a university or company is a weapon in the public relations

arsenal. Third party scientists going to bat for public relations companies are

used in news reports daily 25. What appears to be an unbiased local news

story is actually a commercial product advertisement. The public relations

firm’s prime directive is to massage reality and construct identities. They use

all the contemporary technology and media in society to convince people that

what they want you to do is right.

As early as the Neolithic Period in 7000 BC anthropologists have discovered

that humans have been depicting weapons and warfare 26. These images

can be seen as propaganda if they were being used to influence or impress

certain ideas from one tribe of people to another. Communication through im-

ages and words; from cave drawings, stone monuments, epic poems, impe-

rial myths, Roman coins, tapestries, papal addresses and grand architecture

to newspapers and television broadcasts leave a trail of disinformation and

deception. Propaganda has been an integral part of warfare and terror since

humans began to communicate with each other27. Wars have been sold to us

by politicians and the public relations industry as an absolute certainty to pro-

vide the economic stability and defense necessary to deal with the conflicts.

War propaganda came of age under the Ancient Greeks. Henceforth it was to be conducted with growing sophistication. The Greeks had recognized the need for propaganda to galvanize and inspire their citizen-soldiers and had articulated its role within a civilized society. They appreciated the importance of public works as a psychological means of encouraging civic pride and popular loyalty and understood the need for censorship and propaganda campaigns to promote pub-lic support for specific military campaigns…[ they ]…recognized that propaganda was an essential ingredient of an organized and effec-tive society 28.

I


PerjuryPerjury, also known as forswear-ing, is the act of lying or making verifiably false statements on a material matter under oath or affirmation in a court of law or in any of various sworn statements in writing.

Using rhetorical persuasion is a way to communicate a point of view through

reason rather than emotion. The difference between propaganda and educa-

tion is that propaganda tries to influence through telling people how to think

where education tries to influence by teaching people how to think. Advertis-

ing and Public Relations are communication devices designed to enhance

the relationship between the public and a brand, product or organization. Any

media available may be used to communicate the desired message.

Falsehood is a recognized and extremely useful weapon in warfare, and every country uses it quite deliberately to deceive its own peo-ple, to attract neutrals, and to mislead the enemy.

Arthur Ponsonby, Member of Parliament, England, 1928

The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government, which is the true ruling power of our country… We are governed, our minds molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized…

Propaganda by Edward Bernays, New York: Horace Liveright, 1928

This type of discourse recalls George Orwell’s dystopian world of 1984 where the Ministry of Truth produces lies and the Ministry of Love tortures people.

The Politics of Lying: the Assault on Meaning in Bush’s America by Henry A. Giroux, Tikkun Magazine, 2006

Through selective arrangement of facts and lies by omission, propaganda

has been deployed to appeal to the masses for support and/or to steer them

away from protesting government policy. The American media has become

dominated by propaganda. My purpose in this section of my research is to

produce an historical survey of public relations and politics within this century,

to place political cartooning and caricature in context. I will familiarize myself

with the subject matter and provide a context for the artwork that I will be re-

searching and creating. I am gathering videos, photographs and documents

of political leaders. They are examples of politicians engaging in lying and

deception and will be used as source material for drawings, animations and

research into the human mechanics of lying.


Misleading / DissemblingA misleading statement is one where there is no outright lie, but there still remains the purpose of making someone believe in an untruth. “Dissembling” likewise implies presenting facts in a way that is literally true, but intention-ally misleading.

29 Anderson, G., Heller, S., The Savage Mirror: The Art of Contem-porary Caricature, Watson-Guptill, New York, 1992, pg. 12

30 introduction by Tom Brokaw to The Gang of Eight, political editorial illustration publication, Farrar Straus & Giroux, Feb. 1985

31 Anderson, G., Heller, S., The Savage Mirror: The Art of Contem-porary Caricature, Watson-Guptil,New York, 1992, pg. 10

32Lucie-Smith, Edward, The Art of Caricature, Cornel University Press, 1981, pg 9

33 Applebaum, S., Simpicissimus: 180 Satirical Drawings from the Famous German Weekly, Dover Publications Inc., New York, 1975, pg. ix

34 Rosenthal, Mark, The Art of Simplicissimus, Die Aktion Productions, 1979, pg 1

35 Applebaum, S., Simpicissimus: 180 Satirical Drawings from the Famous German Weekly, Dover Publications Inc., New York, 1975, pg. ix

In that straw that might break the camel’s back, we have the essence of a definition of caricature.

Caricature by C.R. Ashbee, Chapman Hall Ltd., 1928 Caricature and Political Cartoon

Is political caricature as powerful as it once was? Caricature was a potent

means of dissent against political deception in the 18th to early 20th century.

It is a critical social commentary and a highly volatile art. The caricaturist

wields the power to bring individuals of stature into public scrutiny. “With a few

strokes the caricaturist may unmask the public hero, belittle his pretensions,

and make a laughing stock out of him” 29 The impact of drawings in the age of information where we are inun-dated by 24 hours of news is still a potent one…the political cartoon is a simple true vision of man’s reaction to the maniacal, the tragic, the comic, the amazing world in which we live. They are an inter-pretation and witness of the times and an enduring vision usually strengthened by the passage of time […] bound together by a com-mon trait: a fierce independence from the constraints of conventional wisdom and the political establishment. They depend upon allusion, metaphor or allegory. The content is political, social and cultural. They harness the great power of humor 30.

The term caricature came into English use in the 18 century from Venice

where artists who practiced anthropomorphism called their style of art cari-

catura. It comes from the Italian caricare and means ‘to load or change’. The

social commentator and satirist William Hogarth was said to have used it first

to apply to his own work 31. What we call caricature can quite easily be an allegory or emblem-atic drawing, whose purpose is not to make us smile, but to make us think. What the label does usually imply is some degree of fantasy or exaggeration, plus an attempt to use a genuinely ‘popular idiom’. This last point is crucial. There is plenty of evidence to show that the true definition of caricature is to be found, not by examining any par-ticular manner the artist happens to adopt, but by trying to discover what kind of audience he has in mind 32.

Simplicissimus magazine was a primarily pictorial satirical German weekly

magazine started by Albert Langen in April 1896 in Munich. Langen was in-

spired by the magazine, Punch, from the United Kingdom. “Its design and

philosophy both were thoroughly modern and avant-guard, yet it clearly struck

a vein of deep need in the German public and became an influential force that

lasted for decades” 33. In a manifesto-poem published in 1896 by Frank Wede-

kind, Der Simpl proclaimed itself to be “free and young and without forbear-

ers” whose aim was “to strike the lazy nation with hot words” 34. It had con-

tributions from all over Europe including those from the Dada movement 35.


Jocose LiesJocose lies are meant in jest, and are usually understood as such by all present parties. Teasing and sarcasm are examples. A more elaborate instance is seen in story-telling traditions that are present in some places, where the humour comes from the storyteller’s insis-tence that he or she is telling the absolute truth, despite all evidence being to the contrary, for example, a tall tale.

36 Applebaum, S., Simpicissimus: 180 Satirical Drawings from the Famous German Weekly, Dover Publications Inc., New York, 1975, pg. vii

37 Anderson, G., Heller, S., The Savage Mirror: The Art of Contem-porary Caricature, Watson-Guptill, New York, 1992, pg. 20

38 Applebaum, S., Simpicissimus: 180 Satirical Drawings from the Famous German Weekly, Dover Publications Inc., New York, 1975, pg. vii

It was distributed internationally and banned by the state almost immediately.

Simplicissimus was viewed officially as immoral, revolutionary and so-

cialistic 36. The illustration styles presented in Der Simpl emulated Art

Nouveau, Nabis, Expressionism and the Symbolists. The artists of Der

Simpl commented on those features of German life that were most dis-

liked outside Germany: the puffed-up clergy, the rotund bankers, the

didactic professor, the tourist, and the military dandy. Simplicissimus was the

most significant of the late 19th century publications for its devotion to art at the

service of society 37. It started out as a cultural and arts magazine until World War

I broke out over Europe. It was sarcastic, brash and filled with politically potent

content, and an immediate modern graphic style. The strength of the draw-

ings and passion of the caricatures, the skewering of the political figures all

look remarkably modern. Costumed representatives of Germany’s military-

industrial complex and its wealthy merchant class and elitist aristocracy jux-

taposed with the starving and angry mass, all have their archetypal place in

the 21st century.

In1898 Kaiser Wilhelm’s objections to being ridiculed on the cover resulted

in the magazine being suppressed and publisher Langen taking five years’

exile in Switzerland and a fine of 30,000 mark, a six month prison sentence

for the cartoonist Th. Th. Heine, and seven months prison for the writer Frank

Wedekind. In 1906 the editor Ludwig Thoma was imprisoned for six months

for attacking the clergy. These controversies only served to increase circula-

tion, which peaked at about 85,000 copies. Upon Germany’s entry into WWI,

the weekly dulled its satirical tone. It began supporting the war effort, and

considered closing down. During the Weimar era the magazine continued

to publish and took a strong stand against extremists on the left and on the

right. As the National Socialists came to power, they issued verbal accusa-

tions, attacks, threats, personal intimidations, then arrests against the artists

and writers of Simplicissimus. It continued publishing, in declining form, until

finally ceasing publication in 1944. It was revived from 1954-1967 38.

Der Simpl published the satiric caricatures of the Dadaist George Grosz. He

engaged in a critical analysis of the politics of his time with caustic sarcasm


Contextual LiesOne can state part of the truth out of context, knowing that without complete information, it gives a false impression. Likewise, one can actually state accurate facts, yet deceive with them through sarcasm or exaggeration.

39 Steadman, Ralph, quoted in Rewald, S., Buruma, I., Matthias, E., Glitter and Doom: German Por-traits from the 1920s, Metropolitan Museum of Art Publications, 2007

40 Matthias Eberle quoted in Rewald, S., Buruma, I., Matthias, E., Glitter and Doom: German Por-traits from the 1920s, Metropolitan Museum of Art Publications, 2007

and a cast of characters invented specifically to comment on the Weimar re-

public’s classes and economic interests.

It was my first encounter with the works of the German artist George Grosz, when I was in my twenties, which showed me that drawing need not just be a space-filler in a newspaper: in the hands of an honest man, drawing could be a weapon against evil….Look at [his drawings] and you know the world is sick. You may say that he was sick too — but it is a common mistake to believe that sick drawings indicate a sick mind, rather than a reflective indictment of society. His drawings scream indelibly of human depravity; they are an eloquent-ly barbaric response to life and death, right through the First World War and into the wild, helpless excesses of 1920s Berlin, which rot-ted away the lives of all those caught up in its suicidal glee 39 .

George Grosz, I Shall Exterminate Everything around Me That Restricts Me from Being the Master (1921)

In reaction to World War I George Grosz fiercely caricatured military and capi-

talist corruption and violence and the rise of fascism 42. Caricature is a primar-

ily humorous exaggerated portrait meant for political or social satire. It relies

on the premise that outward appearances can be exaggerated to emphasize

personality traits. The devices of caricature have been used to study human

character and physiognomy 43. It is a popular and public art form used to

engage its themes in social context. It speaks to us privately as individuals

and rapid print production makes it available to everyone. It engages in the


Promotion LiesAdvertisements often contain statements that are incredible or exaggerated predictions such as “You will love our new product”.

41 Rewald, S., Buruma, I., Matthias, E., Glitter and Doom: German Portraits from the 1920s, Metropolitan Museum of Art Publi-cations, 2007

42 Anderson, G., Heller, S., The Savage Mirror: The Art of Contemporary Caricature, Watson-Guptil, New York, 1992, pg. 10


ephemeral quality of a newspaper and magazine and comments on whatever

is going on at the time. The gross and the sublime seem to co-exist within the

same framework.

George Grosz, Toads of Property (1921)

From the beginning, the models he looked to were not the plaster casts of antique sculptures he was forced to draw when he stud-ied in Dresden and Berlin; they were, rather, taken from the realm of popular imagery. The figures he admired were not the heroes of antiquity and history but those of dime novels. Grosz studied and collected children’s drawings and toilet graffiti. He was fascinated by garish pictures of horrifying atrocities and catastrophes of the sort displayed at carnivals and riflemen’s gatherings, and he loved the lu-rid illustrations in western novels and detective stories. And of course he knew the great caricaturists of the past: William Hogarth, whom he explicitly names as a model, Honore Daumier, Wilhelm Busch. Over the years he extracted from these widely divergent sources a unique and characteristic drawing style. With this style, he prowled the metropolis, studying its marginal districts, circling around such subjects as crime, nightclubs, bordellos. He was fascinated by the lower depths of society and of people 40


ExaggerationAn exaggeration occurs when the most fundamental aspect of a statement is true, but only to a certain degree.

44 Laqueur, Walter, Weimar: A Cul-tural History, Perigree, 1974

45 Laqueur, Walter, Weimar: A Cul-tural History, Perigree, 1974

46 Orlow, Dietrich, A History of Modern Germany, 1871 to pres-ent, Prentice Hall, 1997, pg 62

46 Orlow, Dietrich, A History of Modern Germany, 1871 to pres-ent, Prentice Hall, 1997, pg 136

47 Ekman, P., Friesen, W.,Facial Action Coding System:The Manual, A Human Face, Salt Lake City, 2002

George Grosz, Blood is the Best Sauce (1921)

Here we have the Weimar Republic as it is lodged in the popular imagination: a place of sexual debauchery, poverty, corruption, violence and decadence. The idea of decadence – not just in the moral sense, but also in the sense of the end of civilization, a doom – was of course prominent on both right and left amid the political and economic shambles of postwar Germany [...] it was a sense of finis Germaniae. But surely this sense of doom is also a retrospective at-tribution on our part; Weimar culture is coloured by our knowledge of the horror that was to totally destroy it 44.

Walter Laqueur calls Weimar “the first truly modern culture”. His book

Weimar: A Cultural History covers the establishment of the Weimar Re-

public after World War I. It outlines the hostility to the Republic from both the

“factional idealistic left and the chauvinistic idealistic right” 45. Both highbrow

and mass consumption literature flourished, with Simplicissimus heading

attacks on the values of the establishment with tabloid-like satiric muckraking

journalism and political caricature 46 .

The glitter of the Weimer era’s golden years was particularly dazzling in the fields of art and literature [...] from architecture to films, from the novel to interior design the Weimar years continue to influence our own times 46 .

On a psychological level, deception and propaganda are extremely potent

themes for my research and artmaking practice. My research also includes

publications in psychology journals by Paul Ekman and his many research

partners. The Facial Action Coding System or FACS is a system created

to classify human facial expressions 47. Paul Ekman and Wallace Friesen


BluffingPretending to have a capability or intention which one does not actually possess. Bluffing is an act of deception that is rarely seen as immoral, because it takes place in the context of a game where this kind of deception is consented to in advance by the players. In these situations, deception is accepted and indeed expected as a tactic.

48 Darwin, C., The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. London: Murray, 1872 quoted inEkman, P., Friesen, W.,Facial Action Coding System:The Manual, A Human Face, Salt Lake City, 2002, pg 1

49 Ekman, P., Friesen, W.,Facial Action Coding System:The Manual, A Human Face, Salt Lake City, 2002, pg 1

50 Ekman, P., Hager, J., The Inner and Outer Meanings of Facial Expressions, Social Psychophysi-ology: A Sourcebook, New York: The Guilford Press, 1983, pg 1

51 Introduction to the DataFace Site: Facial Expressions, Emotion Expressions, Nonverbal Communi-cation, Physiognomy,<http://www.face-and-emotion.com/dataface/general/homepage.jsp>

52 Ekman, P., Hager, J., The Inner and Outer Meanings of Facial Expressions, Social Psychophysi-ology: A Sourcebook, New York: The Guilford Press, 1983, pg 1

53 Introduction to the DataFace Site: Facial Expressions, Emotion Expressions, Nonverbal Communi-cation, Physiognomy,<http://www.face-and-emotion.com/dataface/general/homepage.jsp>

54 Ibid.

originally developed FACS in 1976. It is a categorization of the physical ex-

pression of emotions, used by psychologists, police investigators and cartoon

animators. Darwin argued that some emotional expressions revealed through

the face are innate and the same for all people 48 . Until recently a contrary

view that facial expressions are not valid indicators of emotion was widely ac-

cepted 49 . Ekman et al resolved this issue definitively by pointing out method-

ological problems that had confused other researchers 50 . They showed that

observers could agree on how to label both posed and spontaneous facial ex-

pressions in terms of either emotional categories or emotional dimensions.

Much evidence, including reanalysis of negative studies, indicated that facial

expressions can provide accurate information about emotion. They have in-

disputably shown that there are constants across cultures in the emotional

meanings of certain facial expressions 51. The Facial Action Coding System

measures all visible facial movements 52. There is a lot of information in the

Ekman research and a lot of unanswered questions about precisely what the

cues are for each emotion. Is it possible to describe and quantify every action

the face can perform? If it is possible, facial measurement may be able to tell

us which muscles or combinations of muscles are involved in each emotion.

Ideally, FACS would differentiate every change in muscular action, but it is

limited to what a user can reliably discriminate when movements are inspect-

ed repeatedly, in stopped and slowed motion. It does not measure invisible

changes in tone or vascular and glandular changes produced by the auto-

nomic nervous system 53. Some muscles always signal a particular emotion,

such as the muscles around the corners of the eyes, the zygomatic major,

which produces a smile and is characteristic of joyfulness. These muscles are

never involved in a negative emotional expression without blending its own

message with other emotions. Other muscles, such as the corrugator, are

involved in expressions which convey many different emotional messages

and non-emotional messages. Some emotions, such as happiness and dis-

gust, can be signaled by the action of only one muscle, but other emotions,

such as sadness, need the action of more than one muscle to be signaled un

ambiguously 54 .


Lie DetectorA device intended to detect an involuntary physiological response that all persons exhibit when lying but never when telling the truth. Because there is no such specific lie response, the lie detector of popular fancy is mythological.

55 Ibid.

56 Ibid.

57 The Nature of Physiognomy, Data Face, Psychology, Appear-ance and Behavior of the Human Face, <http://www.face-and-emo-tion.com/dataface/physiognomy/physiognomy.jsp>

58 Gombrich, E., Kris, E., Carica-ture, King Pengiun Books 1940, pg 1


There are many ways to spot a liar who is covering, masking or hiding a false

expression with another behavior, or suppressing a spontaneously occurring

expression, or faking an expression that is not genuine. There is no spe-

cific diagram that can be used to tell if someone is lying but there are clues

to deception. The facial expressions that reveal deception are usually very

brief, as in micro-expressions, or expressed together with other behaviors

that obscure them 55. There are behaviors that one must perceive very rapidly

to break apart expressions and evaluate whether they are genuine or false.

Catching liars requires detailed cognitive processing 56. The chance of suc-

cess increases if the liars’ behavior can be viewed repeatedly in slow motion.

This way the micro-expressions can be identified. In our culture of documen-

tation, of television and YouTube, it is relatively easy to trace video footage in

order to study the physiognomy of high profile celebrity or political deceivers.

In real time this is a more complicated endeavour.

Language, facial expressions, body language and behaviour are interpreted

to attribute states of mind to ourselves and others. We also rely, however suc-

essfully or not, on physiognomy. Physiognomy is the interpretation of outward

appearance, especially the features of the face, to discover a person’s pre-

dominant temper and character. In 1806, Charles Le Brun created a series of

comparative drawings of human and animal faces depicting the physiognomy

theory 57. Physiognomy helps one to judge character according to features of

the face. LeBrun studied the specific lines linking different points of the head

in its complex geometry. They revealed the faculties of the individual’s spirit

or their inner character. The angle formed by the axis of the eyes and the

eyebrows could lead to various conclusions, depending upon whether or not

this angle rose toward the forehead to join ‘the soul’ or descended toward the

nose and mouth, which were considered to be animal features. “The reduc-

tion of the physiognomy to a conventional formula made it possible to keep

certain politicians constantly before the public eye in all sort of symbolic roles

[ the caricaturist ] with a few strokes may unmask the public hero belittle his

pretensions, and make a laughing stock of him ” 58. For Ralph Steadman, this

power serves as a multifaceted release, he admitted to wanting to murder

Ronald Reagan before he drew him, but never after 59. Certainly caricature


FabricationA fabrication is a lie told when someone submits a statement as truth, without knowing for certain whether or not it actually is true. Although the statement may be possible or plausible, it is a misrepresentation of the truth.



62 Zunshine, L., Theory of Mind and Fictions of Embodied Transparency, Narrative, Ohio State University, 16.1 (2008) 65-92 2008

is a more appropriate way of setling disputes rather than waging wars or

committing murder. “In a funny way, cartooning is a means of forgiving mans’

worst qualities, by exposing them.” 60 .

Physiognomy reveals the subtleties of emotion conveyed through facial

expression. The movement of the muscles of the face, body language and a

person’s outward appearance can hold clues to their inner theatre. While

the words people say may reveal one aspect of their character, their façade

may reveal another. According to evolutionary theory, we wear clues to our

emotions on our faces 61. Being able to accurately depict facial expression

is a key skill that adds life and realism to human studies in animation and

caricature. The underlying musculature and proportions of the face reveal

clues to the meaning of facial expressions and in turn our thoughts, feelings

and emotional state. People smile, laugh, shout, cry and tell lies with so-

phistication. A photograph of someone laughing in hysteria compared to the

same person screaming with terror can look pretty much exactly the same.

Caricature can clarify emotional content in a way that photographs can’t. In

caricature, a smile or laugh is drawn with the corners of the mouth turned up

while a frown or scream is drawn with the corners of the mouth turned down.

We all know that in real life, some people’s mouths turn down when smil-

ing but equally we all understand a turned up mouth may mean a smile, or

more generally, happiness. In caricature one hints at the meaning intended in

otherwise ambiguous situations.

In face to face communication we percieive people’s body language and fa-

cial expression as both an informative and a deceptive source of information

to discern for what is going on in their minds. “This double perspective is

fundamental and inescapable, and it informs all our social life and cultural

representations” 62. We cognitively negotiate complex information about each

other and our world every moment. How are the rapid changes in technology

changing our peception of ourselves and others? We seem to be searching

for the truth, or at least for ways to uncover deception. Do we really want to

know the truth? The disembodied nature of electronic communication leaves

us more vulnerable to deception.


Using Abstraction to Obscure the Truth

People use abstract language to conceal the truth from others.

Language varies in its level of abstraction. At a very low level of abstraction, words provide specific details about what is going on, in-formation about who, what, where, when and why.

On the other hand, at a high level of abstraction, events and actions are described in very broad and general terms.

When speaking at a low level of abstraction, others have a fairly good idea about what is going on. By comparison, speaking at a high level abstraction obscures the details.

63 Olsen, Curt, Bernays vs. Ellul: Two views of Propaganda, Tactics, PRSA, 2005

64 Ibid.

65 Ellul, J., The Technological Society. Vintage, New York, 1964, p. 22

We live in a culture of suspicion. There is a crisis of trust in modern govern-

ment and it ripples through our mainstream media into our entertainment, our

stories and our preoccupations. At the heart of Edward Bernays’ ideas about

propaganda is the idea that the individual “has no taste for taking on the great

burden of answering for his or her own life or actions. He or she therefore

turns to propaganda to lighten that burden of responsibility and for comfort.

This human need for psychic ease is amplified by a society that increasingly

emphasizes sensate experience over thought and reflection” 63. Jacques Ellul

also saw the power of the mass media exerting control over human destiny.

The media, in his view, are too easily manipulated for the service of special

interests 64. Using the term propaganda to address political and commercial

communication, Ellul wrote:, “it is the emergence of mass media which makes possible the use of propaganda techniques on a societal scale. The orchestration of press, radio and television to create a continuous, lasting and total environment renders the influence of propaganda virtually unnoticed precisely because it creates a constant environment. Mass media provides the essential link between the individual and the demands of the technological society. [...] Modern technology has become a total phenomenon for civilization, the defining force of a new social order in which efficiency is no longer an option but a necessity im-posed on all human activity 65 .

We are surrounded by technology, and our primary means of communication

is mediated by technology, and technology is not neutral. Modern man “needs

to meet someone whom he can trust completely, for whom he can feel pure

friendship and to whom he can mean something in return. That is hard to find


Deception and Lies in Other SpeciesThe capacity to lie has also been claimed to be possessed by non-humans in language studies with Great Apes. One famous case was that of Koko the gorilla: confronted by her handlers after a tantrum in which she had torn a steel sink out of its moorings, she signed in American Sign Language, “cat did it”, pointing at her tiny kitten. It is unclear if this was a joke or a genuine attempt at blaming her tiny pet.

66 Olsen, Curt, Bernays vs. Ellul: Two views of Propaganda, Tactics, PRSA, 2005

in his daily life, but apparently confidence in a leader, a hero, a movie star

or TV personality is much more satsfying” writes Ellul 66 . That is a very pes-

simistic view of modern life. Today, the fact that entertainment is taking over

politics and vying for the rest of our daily lives it may be partially true. All the

more reason to look to a critical artform that can stimulate the intellect with ar-

chetypes of human nature, demystify celebrity and skewer corrupt politicians.

Caricature at its finest can tap into the psychology of its subjects and reveal

the innermost emotion, expression, vulnerabilities and motivations behind the

mask of deception.


Bibliography

Anderson, G., Heller, S., The Savage Mirror: The Art of Contemporary Caricature, Watson-Guptil, New York, 1992

Applebaum, S., Simpicissimus: 180 Satirical Drawings from the Famous German Weekly, Dover Publications Inc., New York, 1975

Curtis, Adam, The Century of the Self, BBC, 2002

Darwin, C., The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. London: Murray, 1872 quoted in Ekman, P., Friesen, W., Facial Action Coding System: The Manual, A Human Face, Salt Lake City, 2002

Dichter, Ernest, Berger, Arthur, The Strategy of Desire, Transaction Publishers, 2002

Dreher, Christopher, The Father of Spin Makes a Comeack, Globe and Mail, Sept. 11th, 2006

Ekman, P., Friesen, W., Facial Action Coding System: The Manual, A Human Face, Salt Lake City, 2002

Ekman, Paul Ph D., & O’Sullivan, Maureen , Ph.D. (2006). From Awed Self-Assessment toBlatant Whoppers: The Utility of Voluntary and Involuntary Behavior in DetectingDeception, Behavioral Sciences & the Law, Vol. 24

Ekman, P., Hager, J., The Inner and Outer Meanings of Facial Expressions, Social Psychophysiology: A Sourcebook, New York: The Guilford Press, 1983

Ellul, J., The Technological Society, Vintage, New York, 1964Greenwald, Robert, Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism, Political Action Committee <MoveOn.org> 2007

introduction by Tom Brokaw to The Gang of Eight, political editorial illustration publication, Farrar Straus & Giroux, Feb. 1985

Gombrich, E., Kris, E., Caricature, King Pengiun Books 1940

Lock, Carrie, Deception Detection, Science News, Vol. 166, No. 5 (Jul. 31, 2004)

Lucie-Smith, Edward, The Art of Caricature, Cornel University Press, 1981Marar, Ziyad, Deception, Acumen Publishing, 2008

Laqueur, Walter, Weimar: A Cultural History, Perigree, 1974

Olsen, Curt, Bernays vs. Ellul: Two views of Propaganda, Tactics, PRSA,2005

Orlow, Dietrich, A History of Modern Germany, 1871 to present, Prentice Hall, 1997

Obrec, Linda, Marketing, motives and Dr. Freud, Detroiter Magazine, Detroit, Michigan, Dec. 1999


Bibliography

Pilger, John, Freedom Next Time: Filmmaker & Journalist John Pilger on Propaganda, the Press, Censorship and Resisting the American Empire, Socialism 2007 conference in Chicago, Democracy Now website

Postman, Neil, Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the age of Show Business, Penguin Group, 1985

Stauber, J., Rampton, S., Toxic Sludge is Good for You: Lies, Damn Lies and the Public Relations Industry Unspun. 2007

Taylor, Philip, Munitions of the Mind: A History of Propaganda from the Ancient World to the Present Day, Manchester University Press, 2003

Tye, Larry, The Father of Spin: Edward Bernays & the Birth of Public Relations, The Economist , Oct. 17, 1998

Rewald, Sabine, Buruma, Ian , Eberle, Matthias, Glitter and Doom: German Portraits from the 1920s, Metropolitan Museum of Art Publications, 2007

The Nature of Physiognomy, Data Face, Psychology, Appearance and Behavior of the Human Face, <http://www.face-and-emotion.com/dataface/physiognomy/physiognomy.jsp>

Zunshine, L., Theory of Mind and Fictions of Embodied Transparency, Narrative, OhioState University, 16.1 (2008) 65-92 2008

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