“Bring the Monster DOWN”

Picture the 1960’s , what do you see? Is it colorful faces or the beatles. Could it possibly be the smell of a particular green plant? This however was not the case when looking back on the 1960’s as it was an era of movements. The American people were starting to fight back against the injustice and cruel actions of the government. A particular movement that arose during the 1960’s was a movement called the Anti-war movement. This movement was against the United States decision to continue with the Vietnam war. The anti-war movement’s core idea promotes pacifism, an ideology opposed to war, militarism or violence. In order to promote their message of Pacifism many activists made posters, these posters were a vital element to their movement as they were able to inform people what they were fighting for, or in this case what they did not want to fight for.These posters became artifacts on how the anti-war movement used peaceful methods to put a stop on a war they hated. A poster that perfectly describes the feelings of the anti-war movement is “Bring the monster down: End the air war” by Doug Lawler. This poster depicts an American eagle, a symbol of the United States attacking a village similar to those found in vietnam. The artifact “Bring the monster down: End the air war.” by Doug Lawler, is able to frame the civic by capturing American’s frustrations with the government’s involvement in Vietnam due to devastation, violence and economic toll it had on the American people.

First point to elaborate on my artifact is the devastation caused by the vietnam war. Due to the technological advances of the 1960’s, the Vietnam war was the first war televised for the American people to see, causing Americans to watch the uncensored and intensive coverage of the war in Vietnam. This caused Americans to personally see the devastation the war was having on soldiers and their families. According to the “National Archives” a recorded 58,220 U.S military men passed away due to the vietnam war. Amerians knew the sacrifice soldiers made when they were sent to war but because now they were seeing it live and in their own homes, it made them angry with the U.S government. Not only were there devastations in American lives but in Vietnamese lives as well. The “bbc UK” stated that “ The war killed an estimated 2 million Vietnamese civilians, 1.1 million North Vietnamese troops and 200,000 South Vietnamese troops.” The effect on human lives is shown in Doug Lawler’s posters by depicting the American eagle raining down on the workers trying to live, this depiction is a commonplace on the American governments use violence to solve problems.

Second point to contribute to my artifact is the extreme amounts of violence caused by this war. ““The war is simply an obscenity, a depraved act by weak and miserable men, including all of us who have allowed it to go on and on with endless fury and destruction” said Noam Chomsky, a US intellectual, during 1969. Destruction is a major word used to describe the vietnam war. A chemical substance named Agent Orange, a herbicide mixture used by the U.S. military was used during the Vietnam War. This agent along with numerous other ones were sprayed by the United States Military 20,000,000 U.S. gallons of chemicals causing instant deaths. The image of chemicals being used is shown by Doug Lawler using the snakes fire breath to show chemicals being sprayed at people. Using the snake to spray the chemicals at the people portrays Doug’s and the anti-war movements feelings on the American government, they are nothing by violent snakes.

Lastly to conclude, supporting evidence of my artifacts impact on framing the civic, is the terrible economic state of America during the Vietnam war. The vietnam war cost the american government $168 billion dollars. The American public were facing the consequences of the government using all the money. Due to President Johnson’s unwillingness to raise taxes to pay for the war, he caused a cycle of inflation. This angered the public because not only did they have to pay more for their goods and services but some individuals felt the war lacked clear objectives and saw it to be unwinnable. This poster “Bring the monster down: End the air war.” shows the consequences the american people were facing by demonstrating them working on fields as the bald eagle keeps trying to burn them, this could be viewed as a common place for the american peoples struggles to live while the government keeps knocking them down due to their agendas.

The vietnam war was a time of misery and dread. The American people were beginning to realize the true cost of being in this war whether that be the cost of life or money, the American people were feeling it and they were tired of it. All these feelings of anger and frustrations with the American government caused the anti- war movement to start. They used peaceful protest methods such as posters to push their message across, allowing artists like Doug Lawler’s to express his feelings about the war. His poster “Bring the monster down: End the air war.” which is now an artifact for the anti-war movement is able to frame the civic by capturing american’s frustrations with the government’s involvement in vietnam due to devastation, violence and economic toll it had on the american people. The Americans were tired of seeing the violence and terror overseas, they wanted peace and love to take over the American government and as a famous group in the sixties would say ““All you need is love.” — The Beatles.