In Joe Rosenthal’s “Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima,” I changed the American flag to a Russian one. I also changed the front soldier’s head to Trump’s, put a MAGA hat on him so he’d be distinguishable from the back and also changed the other soldiers’ hats to red to symbolize Trump’s team and followers.
Firstly, changing the American flag to the Russian flag already alters the meaning of the image. The original Iwo Jima picture stands for patriotism and is one of the most recognizable photos from World War 2, a victory for the United States. However, in today’s political climate–with Trump’s election (and possible re-election) being heavily associated with possible Russian collusion–patriotism looks different. I thought a photo showing Trump and soldiers raising a Russian flag instead of an American one would capture the fact that Trump, our President, could possibly have loyalties in Russia and therefore, be helping Russia–not America–conquer.
Next, I had to put in Trump as the front flag raiser, since he is the most well-known person in the White House publicly being accused of colluding with Russia and being involved with Putin’s agenda. Lastly, I wanted to make sure viewers recognized Trump from the back of his head, so I put a red baseball cap on Trump’s head as well as changed the colors of the soldiers’ hats to show that it’s not just Trump, but his team, followers, voters, etc. all (possibly) contributing to Russia’s wrongful involvement with US elections and affairs.
Together, all these changes reflect Trump’s disloyalty to the United States and instead, (possible) involvement with Russia and Putin. Rather than “[making] America great again,” he’s just helping Russia succeed. Therefore, this image is no longer a representation of American victory or a tribute to loyal soldiers who won the war. It’s now an image reflecting the divided country and our President’s questionable loyalties.
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