In 1903, Edison Manufacturing Company employee, Edwin S. Porter, put together a short silent film called The Great Train Robbery. Over the years, the film was widely identified as the first western movie, and it well may have been the start of the most successful American film genre in history.
The short film is constructed entirely out of quick cuts of train-robbery action, except for one close-up shot of the gang leader glowering into the camera and pointing a gun. Each film projectionist was given the choice of showing this somewhat unconnected close-up either at the beginning or at the end of the film. Over time, it has become a well-known image of very early film.
Thinking about our current spate of raids, and searching for images of masked bandits from the past, I was struck by the fact that, unlike so many later films that copied this early theme, these robbers wore no masks. Indeed, the lead, in his close-up, looked proud, open faced and glowering, but not terrifying.
The western genre quickly expanded in the United States, and the theme of robbery became a popular one. Train robbers, bank robbers, stagecoach robbers, highway robbers. In most of these sequel films, the robbers were shown covering their faces with masks made from bandanas turned backwards, and worn point-down, in much the same way as cowboys on cattle drives wore them to keep the copious dust out of their mouths and noses.
For the robbers, the intended effect was one of menace and intimidation. Rather than showing pride in their illicit work, they wanted to seem threatening and faceless. Not only would they be more difficult to identify and arrest, they used their anonymity to bully and frighten. Sound familiar?
The ubiquitous pictures of now-familiar ICE raids show men in battle gear and bullet-proof vests, pouring out of unmarked vans, faces covered and menacing. The idea is to intimidate, terrify, and remain anonymous. They wear balaclavas, which, ironically, are worn by skiers to keep out the….well….ice.
They also give the scary impression that they are a faceless robotic force, a mindless hurting machine, a group that has traded their individual brains for a Borg-like, hive mind that doesn’t think, but only obeys. Indeed, this may be the precise reason that ICE recently lowered their education and age requirements. So much easier to scoop out their brains and substitute a Yessir, Heil Hitler, switch.
No Peace, No Peace I Find
Last week, just outside of the downtown headquarters of Peace Over Violence, ICE agents swarmed, rifles loaded and pointed, out of (what else?) an unmarked van and headed for the Home Depot across the street to round up more innocent workers. This strictly performative show of force has become so common that members of several city councils are moving to refuse permission to build new Home Depot stores in their cities.
For me, the sad irony was the juxtaposition of this action and the decades-long work of the office just off the alley where they parked to stage their action: Peace Over Violence (POV). This organization was founded, in 1971, as the Los Angeles Commission on Assaults Against Women (LACAAW) to provide prevention, intervention and needed services for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. In 2006, they adopted a new name: Peace Over Violence.
POV provides greatly expanded services, sponsors Denim Day each year to remind us of our general ignorance on causes, responsibilities and aftereffects of rape and sexual assault, and is one of the longest-serving and most respected organizations in Los Angeles.
Suddenly intruding into this work aimed at stopping violence, intimidation, and trauma, comes ICE, the embodiment of these exact issues on a grand, showy, scale. Thanks to the people of POV, and its long-serving ED, the amazing Patti Giggans, we not only received quick images of the raid, but were also allowed to think more broadly about the uses of fear, intimidation and violence on a societal scale….the deliberate work of the current regime. Because of the ICE thugs’ random actions, an entire community is now too frightened to move openly. This also means that survivors of domestic violence are afraid to leave their batterers to seek help, victims of sexual assault are afraid to take a bus to get medical attention. This is also the point of intimidation: to frighten people into failing to seek help.
Yet I remain convinced that the sheer numbers of us who are pushing for a stop to this will be successful. Peace will triumph over violence. I believe that our constant pushback will bring down the regime, as these sorts of actions have done with every despot, around the world. I believe that, under the steady drip of our common humanity, courage, connection, justice, and mercy, the dictatorship rock upon which we rain will wear away. (For a great song on this, listen to Holly Near sing The Rock Will Wear Away, co-written by Holly and Meg Christian. It’s just as relevant now as it was in the 70s).
Keep believing!
Author
About The Author
