Image Detectives: Multi-modal Analysis

Assignment Prompt

First Draft

Eisenhower as he appears in the introduction of the film.

Japanese Relocation Multi-modal Analysis

Japanese Relocation is a 1942 film that addresses the success of Japanese relocation by the U.S. government and explains to the average citizen how the government, with assistance from the army, was able to move hundreds of thousands of people from their homes. Throughout the film, the filmmakers enrapture a fearful American audience recovering from the Japanese-engineered atrocity that was the attack on Pearl Harbor in World War II. They use the Japanese-American population as a scapegoat for direct punishment in an underhanded way: they make the claim that there might be spies among them and the government must relocate them for “safety” reasons. The filmmakers utilize emotionally resonate music while omitting key facts to appeal to and justify the audience’s feelings of fear and revenge. By presenting all of their points in a single-perspective, documentary-like style, they are able to convince the audience of their “facts” when completely lying through their teeth.

The first two and a half minutes of the film introduces viewers to the subject of the film via a text scroll and an opening introduction from Milton Eisenhower, brother of then-commander of the U.S. Army in Europe. A confident, educated-looking man, he seeks to establish a level of trust between himself and the audience in his use of an abundance of facts and statistics thrown at the audience in rapid-fashion. He presents several reasons as to why relocation of the Japanese needs to take place including Pearl Harbor and the potential for Japanese spies to be living on the west coast of America. Without citing his evidence, he presents his “facts” as convincing reasons for relocation to occur.

The film opens on a text scroll as an instrumental is played. This music is orchestral and grand, vaguely oriental. Ominous in tone and morose, the instrumental alludes to some vague threat, something lurking in the shadows beyond the perception of the audience. This threat, based on the context of the text this threat is potential Japanese spies among the American populous. This music’s intention is subtle: its purpose is to strike fear of anything Japanese into viewers, to make them believe anything associated with them should be feared. In addition, this seems to imply the vague future of the Japanese civilians.

The text scroll itself contains carefully-chosen positive language, with words such as “necessary” and “historical record” giving glimpses at the impressive scale of the relocation and implying the operation’s necessity. Other words, such as “transfer,” undersell the devious nature of the relocation, implying a swift, simple change in the lives of Japanese Americans. Now, while Eisenhower himself could have presented this information in spoken word, presenting it as a written document gives it legitimacy and permanence in the audience’s subconscious. For it to be written down, it would need to have some credence as fact, similar to information found in books or repositories; it had to have been revised before shown, and couldn’t be tampered with or corrupted like film or audio. Given that this text scroll is written by Eisenhower himself, whatever credence the audience gives it helps to bolster Eisenhower’s credibility when he does start relaying his information.

After the text scroll, the music stops and all is silent as Eisenhower begins the film proper with a basic relay of facts. He speaks resolutely without emotion, unbiased in his delivery as he presents his so-called facts. Eisenhower claims, “When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, our west coast became a potential combat zone. Living in that zone were more than a hundred-thousand persons of Japanese ancestry… We knew that some among them were potentially dangerous” (0:43-0:59). Here, Eisenhower uses a slippery-slope argument in a clever way, for he avoids saying that there are actual spies among the Japanese while justifying the purpose of essentially imprisoning several thousand people by explaining how there is even doubt among the American government as to the legitimacy of the accusations. His reasoning, while lofty, would be enough to sway a fearful American public into submissive agreement on the issue.

Next, he claims the relocation must be done to carry out democracy and protect the people involved. Eisenhower states, “Neither the Army nor the War Relocation Authority relished the idea of taking men, women, and children from their homes, their shops and their farms, so the military and civilian agencies alike determined to do the job as a democracy should…” (1:19-1:34). This is contradictory, for the Japanese involved were relocated as per the government’s orders. If democracy involves public decision, how would a short-notice, forced relocation plan be considered democratic? And if the government is hesitant to carry out these plans, ones which would halt the livelihoods of these Japanese, why carry them out? Why impede on the lives of one’s own nation’s citizens on a whim? Fear, for Eisenhower states the many Japanese in San Francisco and Los Angeles have the opportunity to spy on U.S. air and naval bases. This is his main argument, his main reason to the audience for internment. It would be reasonable to think, as an American, if the Japanese have put the government on high alert, they must be worthy of simply leaving their residencies for short periods; after all, if there are potentially dangerous terrorists in the crowd, a simple relocation should be the least these Americans should do for their country.

Throughout the clip, Eisenhower shows traits that establish him as a trustworthy narrator. He speaks with a calm, confident tone, sits in his academic-style office, and wears a formal suit. Combined with his glasses, stereotypical indicators of knowledge, his appearance alone signifies him as a man to believe. He is qualified, it seems, to speak confidently on the veracity of Japanese relocation; he is characterized as a trustworthy, academic, grandfather-like figure who kindly tells the audience about the best solution to deal with Japanese spies on the continent. However, as he builds his credibility in appearance, he utilizes disingenuous techniques to trap the audience within a single conclusion: the best consequence the Japanese deserve is relocation.

The methods the filmmakers use in these first few minutes of the film are truly deceptive in regard to the audience who are not privy to the truths of Japanese relocation. The emotional music in the opening appealing to the fears of Americans in 1942 overlaying lofty facts gets the audience in the initial mindset of trust. Upon hearing the evidence provided by Milton Eisenhower, a grandfather-esque figure of authority and knowledge, they have no reason to suspect that the filmmakers may be molding the truth to legitimize the government’s egregious actions against its own citizens. In truth, according to a 1982 report issued by the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, “… [the commission] concluded that the removal of the [Japanese Americans] was not a military necessity, but occurred because of racism, wartime hysteria, and poor political leadership” (Tagaki 526). Given this post-humorous information, how could Eisenhower claim that the reason for relocation was fear of Japanese spies? How can a man be contradicted in such a way without him not knowing that he is, in fact, lying?

Much is suspect in these first two and a half minutes. From emotional manipulation of the audience through use of music to taking advantage of their lack of knowledge on the subject by omitting key facts and misconstruing others, it is troubling how many underhanded tactics the filmmakers use to sell their message to the audience. One can only wonder how many of these tactics are used in the documentary proper.

Works Cited

Takagi, Midori. "Japanese American Internment Camps." St. James Encyclopedia of 

Popular Culture, edited by Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast, vol. 2, St. James Press,

2000, pp. 525-526. Gale eBooks, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3409001254/GVRL?u=newpaltz&sid=GVRL&xid=0f

3fcd2d. Accessed 29 Sept. 2019.

 Japanese Relocation. Produced by OWI & BMP, 1942.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gric3lTanQU

Reflection

Using EasyBib for the bibliography in this assignment was easy enough, as was constructing the analysis using quotes from the clip. It was easy enough breaking down the clip’s deceptions into three aspects: the music, the text scroll and the narrator; it was easier to explain the appeals each of these falsely caters to, the ominous music of the clip catering to the anti-Japanese sentiments of America at the time in pathos, for example. Much like the last analysis, a few grammatical and mechanical errors in need of correction, as well as a need for a brief explanation of my points laid out near the beginning.

Final Draft

Eisenhower as he appears in the introduction of the film.

Japanese Relocation Multimodal Analysis

Japanese Relocation is a 1942 film that addresses the success of Japanese relocation by the U.S. government and explains to the average citizen how the government, with assistance from the army, was able to move hundreds of thousands of people from their homes. Throughout the film, the filmmakers enrapture a fearful American audience recovering from the Japanese engineered atrocity that was the attack on Pearl Harbor in World War II. The government use the Japanese American population as a scapegoat for direct punishment in an underhanded way: they make the claim that there might be spies among them and the government must relocate them for “safety” reasons. The filmmakers utilize emotionally resonate music while omitting key facts to appeal to and justify the audience’s feelings of fear and revenge. By presenting all of its points in a single-perspective, documentary-like style, government are able to convince the audience of its “facts” when completely lying through its teeth; this is done by presenting unfounded information in a professional manner, using emotional appeal in the form of music, and emphasizing the reliability of its narrator.

The film opens on a text scroll as an instrumental is played. This music is orchestral and grand, vaguely oriental. Ominous in tone and morose, the instrumental alludes to some vague threat, something lurking in the shadows beyond the perception of the audience. This threat is stated to be Japanese spies, implied to be hiding among the Japanese American populous. This music’s intention is subtle: its purpose is to strike fear of anything Japanese into viewers, to make them believe anything associated with them should be feared. In addition, this seems to imply the vague future of the Japanese civilians.

After the text scroll, the music stops and all is silent as Eisenhower begins the film proper with a basic relay of facts. He speaks resolutely without emotion, unbiased in his delivery as he presents his so-called facts. Eisenhower claims, “When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, our west coast became a potential combat zone. Living in that zone were more than a hundred thousand persons of Japanese ancestry… We knew that some among them were potentially dangerous” (0:43-0:59). Here, Eisenhower uses a slippery-slope argument in a clever way, for he avoids saying that there are actual spies among the Japanese while justifying the purpose of essentially imprisoning several thousand people by explaining how there is even doubt among the American government as to the legitimacy of the accusations. His reasoning, while lofty, would be enough to sway a fearful American public into submissive agreement on the issue.

Next, the documentary states the relocation must be done to carry out democracy and protect the people involved. Eisenhower states, “Neither the Army nor the War Relocation Authority relished the idea of taking men, women, and children from their homes, their shops and their farms, so the military and civilian agencies alike determined to do the job as a democracy should…” (1:19-1:34). This is contradictory, for the Japanese involved were relocated as per the government’s orders. If democracy involves public decision, how would a short-notice, forced relocation plan be considered democratic? And if the government is hesitant to carry out these plans, ones which would halt the livelihoods of these Japanese, why carry them out? Why impede on the lives of one’s own nation’s citizens on a whim? Fear, for Eisenhower states the many Japanese in San Francisco and Los Angeles have the opportunity to spy on U.S. air and naval bases. This is his main argument, his main reason to the audience for internment. It would be reasonable to think, as an American, if the Japanese have put the government on high alert, they must be worthy of simply leaving their residencies for short periods; after all, if there are potentially dangerous terrorists in the crowd, a simple relocation should be the least these Americans should do for their country.

The methods the filmmakers use in these first few minutes of the film are truly deceptive in regard to the audience who are not privy to the truths of Japanese relocation. The emotional music in the opening appealing to the fears of Americans in 1942 overlaying lofty facts gets the audience in the initial mindset of trust. Upon hearing the evidence provided by Milton Eisenhower, a grandfather-esque figure of authority and knowledge, they have no reason to suspect that the filmmakers may be molding the truth to legitimize the government’s egregious actions against its own citizens. In truth, according to a 1982 report issued by the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, “… [the commission] concluded that the removal of the [Japanese Americans] was not a military necessity, but occurred because of racism, wartime hysteria, and poor political leadership” (Tagaki 526). Given this newfound information, how could Eisenhower claim that the reason for relocation was fear of Japanese spies? How can a man be contradicted in such a way without him not knowing that he is, in fact, lying?

Works Cited

Takagi, Midori. “Japanese American Internment Camps.” St. James Encyclopedia of

Popular Culture, edited by Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast, vol. 2, St. James Press,

2000, pp. 525-526. Gale eBooks, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3409001254/GVRL?u=newpaltz&sid=GVRL&xid=0f

3fcd2d. Accessed 29 Sept. 2019.

Japanese Relocation. Produced by OWI & BMP, 1942.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gric3lTanQU