3 ms·

This documentary is really good. It's impossible not to gawk like a tourist at the pathological outcomes of the command econconmy, the wretched poverty, and the

by elipsey 13y ago

This documentary is really good. It's impossible not to gawk like a tourist at the pathological outcomes of the command econconmy, the wretched poverty, and the Orwellian anti U.S. propaganda, for example posters depicting U.S. soldiers pulling out the teeth of children with pliers, and executing Korean civilians. The film is composed largely of real footage produced by dissenters. No matter how cynical you might be of the demonization of "rouge states" by U.S. media, I promise that you will moved by this very convincing film. I think Frontline is one of the last investigative journalism shows with real integrity that is left; did you see that embarrassing puff piece a few weeks ago where 60 Minutes licked the NSA's asshole for an hour? The big footage of the Korean landscape is stunningly beautiful, and reminds me of Vladivastock. Must watch. Also, if you want to learn more about North Korea (at least from a quasi-American perspective), please go watch "Crossing the Line" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossing_the_Line_%282006_film%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossing_the_Line_%282006_film%...) a film about a U.S. Army soldier who defected to N. Korea, which was still on Netfilx last time I checked. It will enlighten you, and also weird up your day :)

mrcsparker 13y ago
Watching 'Crossing the Line' right now. James Joseph Dresnok creeps me out. You are right about it weirding up my day. Christian Slater narrating feels surreal. It almost feels like a parody. Worth watching. I have never seen anything like it.
belorn 13y ago
Calling the posters propaganda would be true before 2001, but today I would not call it that. They simply represent a simplification of how an NK conflict with the U.S. army would look like. For example, U.S. Soldiers don't use pliers for torture. They chain civilians to prison ceilings instead and beat them to death. Alternative they use simulated executions, rape, or sodomized civilians like in Abu Ghraib. The posters about U.S. soldier executing Korean civilians is also a bit off. Using guns to terrorize a population is slow and ineffective, as a 24/7 aerial presence that can at any point send a explosive missile (like onto a wedding) will have better effected on the population. Not that it takes anything away from the message the documentary gives. Seeing how bad NK has become is important, as most people seem to think that all that horribleness went away after ww2/cold world.
- tptacek 13y ago
  Interesting. What other North Korean state messages do you believe to be, at root, basically true and honest?
  - belorn 13y ago
    Interesting question. Just my belief here, but I would think that a violent paranoid state with multiple grave human rights violations has likely a few enemies in the world. As such, several countries would likely feel much safer without the current government in NK.
  - steveklabnik 13y ago
    The state-run media actually puts out their daily articles in English, they're pretty interesting to actually read. Here's an example, from today: http://rodong.rep.kp/en/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2014-01-15-0006&chAction=T http://rodong.rep.kp/en/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsI... > Above all, one must learn to see through the true nature of the freedom > and democracy of the Western style. In a word, it is a sham democracy > and sham freedom. They are but a fig-leaf to cover up the reactionary > nature of bourgeois dictatorship and anti-popular character of the > capitalist system. > > Much vaunted democracy of American pattern is no more than a slogan > for world supremacy, aggression and intervention. And their so-called > freedom gives a handful of the privileged a free hand to squeeze and > lord it over the majority of the popular masses. I don't find this to be too particularly different from what many in our Left say, except maybe in degree. I remember reading another one recently discussing poverty statistics put out by our government, and they were source accurate. You just won't hear our media saying "16 million children live in food-insecure households," generally speaking. The spin is different, but the numbers are the same. I'm not saying that I find broad agreement with the DPRK, but I do think that I tend to _also_ read what they have to say about news stories that involve, and it's fascinating.
    - tptacek 13y ago
      The Nazis also had some mean things to say about the US, too.

by elipsey 13y ago

mrcsparker 13y ago

Watching 'Crossing the Line' right now. James Joseph Dresnok creeps me out. You are right about it weirding up my day. Christian Slater narrating feels surreal. It almost feels like a parody. Worth watching. I have never seen anything like it.

belorn 13y ago

Calling the posters propaganda would be true before 2001, but today I would not call it that. They simply represent a simplification of how an NK conflict with the U.S. army would look like. For example, U.S. Soldiers don't use pliers for torture. They chain civilians to prison ceilings instead and beat them to death. Alternative they use simulated executions, rape, or sodomized civilians like in Abu Ghraib. The posters about U.S. soldier executing Korean civilians is also a bit off. Using guns to terrorize a population is slow and ineffective, as a 24/7 aerial presence that can at any point send a explosive missile (like onto a wedding) will have better effected on the population. Not that it takes anything away from the message the documentary gives. Seeing how bad NK has become is important, as most people seem to think that all that horribleness went away after ww2/cold world.

tptacek 13y ago
Interesting. What other North Korean state messages do you believe to be, at root, basically true and honest?
- belorn 13y ago
  Interesting question. Just my belief here, but I would think that a violent paranoid state with multiple grave human rights violations has likely a few enemies in the world. As such, several countries would likely feel much safer without the current government in NK.
- steveklabnik 13y ago
  The state-run media actually puts out their daily articles in English, they're pretty interesting to actually read. Here's an example, from today: http://rodong.rep.kp/en/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2014-01-15-0006&chAction=T http://rodong.rep.kp/en/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsI... > Above all, one must learn to see through the true nature of the freedom > and democracy of the Western style. In a word, it is a sham democracy > and sham freedom. They are but a fig-leaf to cover up the reactionary > nature of bourgeois dictatorship and anti-popular character of the > capitalist system. > > Much vaunted democracy of American pattern is no more than a slogan > for world supremacy, aggression and intervention. And their so-called > freedom gives a handful of the privileged a free hand to squeeze and > lord it over the majority of the popular masses. I don't find this to be too particularly different from what many in our Left say, except maybe in degree. I remember reading another one recently discussing poverty statistics put out by our government, and they were source accurate. You just won't hear our media saying "16 million children live in food-insecure households," generally speaking. The spin is different, but the numbers are the same. I'm not saying that I find broad agreement with the DPRK, but I do think that I tend to _also_ read what they have to say about news stories that involve, and it's fascinating.
  - tptacek 13y ago
    The Nazis also had some mean things to say about the US, too.