Go Fu•k Yourself, Vlad - a photo on Flickriver

Georges Méliès’ 1902 film, Le Voyage dans la Lune (A Trip to the Moon), is one of the first science-fiction films ever made. The story is about the president of an astronomy club, Professor Barbenfouillis, who, along with five other astronomers, builds a bullet-like capsule to go to the moon. There they discover a civilization called the Selenites, who the astronomers find, are easily killed by throwing them to the ground, where they explode. The Selenites eventually capture the Earthlings and take them to their king. Barbenfouillis kills the king, and the group escapes back to their capsule, which ultimately makes it back to Earth.

As an artist, I wondered how I could capture the experience of the Ukrainian people to Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked attack on their country. As I thought about it, Méliès’ iconic image of a bullet-shaped spaceship hitting the man on the moon in his eye came to mind one night as I brushed my teeth.

I’ve been making posters about the sorry state of American political discourse for over a decade in the guise of the Chamomile Tea Party. Directly after Putin’s invasion, Donald Trump displayed his love for the Russian autocrat, saying, “The problem isn’t that Putin is smart. Of course, he’s smart. But the real problem is our leaders are dumb.” Fox News’ Tucker Carlson has been so pro-Putin during the war, the Russian Department of Information and Telecommunications Support issued a memo to Russian media commentators to feature Carlson’s comments in their reporting. Trump’s and Carlson’s comments are meant for domestic political gain at best and treason at worst. Early in the conflict, I designed a poster that focused on Trump’s infatuation. But as the war has gone into its third week, and as more innocent people are being targeted and killed by the Russian army, I wanted to comment on the war itself. And Méliès’ iconic image became my entry point.

Some scholars see a pointed anti-imperialist sentiment to Méliès’ film: one people invade another, killing them without regard to their culture and with no interest in living in peace with them or learning their ways. Film scholar Matthew Solomon says of the film:

The last two scenes . . . really make this clear. The medal ceremony with all of the posturing by the explorers, who have been so inept and violent; the captured Selenite on a leash that is beaten with a stick until it dances for the cheering crowd; and the statue of the conqueror Barbenfouillis with his foot firmly planted on the head of an unhappy vanquished moon: all that points to a highly ironic take on exploration and, with it, imperialism.

The New York Times opinion columnist, Ross Douthat, has made a provocative connection between Putin’s land grab and the geopolitical world of the late 19th century. Some have called the Russian President’s actions anachronistic, typical of the imperialist consolidation between the end of the 1800s and the middle of the 1900s. Douthat goes one step further, suggesting Putin represents “our transition to a kind of retro-future, in which crucial elements of the Victorian age are superimposed on our era’s very different social, cultural, and technological landscape.” The difference is that globalization is much greater now, and any disruption has a more significant impact. In addition, it was much easier for 19th-century empire builders to claim “public legitimacy for imperialism, conquest, and autocratic rule.” Today, these leaders confront challenges to their conduct by couching their intentions as democratically elected leaders who simply deny they’re invading their neighbors. Putin has prohibited the media from using “war” or “invasion” to describe Russia’s military actions. Those who do so are subject to arrest.

There is a direct line between Méliès’ film, Putin’s intentions, and Douthat’s critique. I kept that in mind as I constructed my illustration. I took his iconic moon image and placed Putin’s face in it. Here on Earth—in Ukraine—the foreground is the reality they/we face now. The artillery on the left stands in for Ukrainians’ reply to Putin’s aggression, and the wounded Putin is the result. The war is not going as Russia’s military planned.

What has become the de facto Ukrainian reaction to his attack, Go fuck yourself, became the perfect text for this image. Despite the tattered Ukrainian flag, Ukrainians’ determination to save their country and Volodymyr Zelensky’s social media ridicule of Putin’s army have served as rallying cries for his people and many of us who watch with unprecedented media access to the atrocities.

But Douthat is warning us we are in unchartered territory. The American right’s embrace of Putin, a disquieting shift from the Cold War, is further proof we are standing on a very different and shaky foundation. The threat of a nuclear war might limit this crisis. But in the hands of a cornered, irrational, and retro-thinking expansionist, nothing is guaranteed. Like Professor Barbenfouillis and his colleagues, we are finding ourselves in a new world where traditional rules of engagement may not apply even when we think they do.

Feel free to pass this poster on. It's free to download here (click on the down arrow just to the lower right of the image).

See the rest of the posters from the Chamomile Tea Party! Digital high res downloads are free here (click the down arrow on the lower right side of the image). Other options are available. And join our Facebook group.

Follow the history of our country's political intransigence from 2010-2020 through a seven-part exhibit of these posters on Google Arts & Culture.

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Taken on: March 15, 2022

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