I’m interested in the implicit message of this image, and how it interfaces with the message of the text that accompanies. It’s a jarring surprise for the reader, which may just create an opening for the unorthodox message to get through.
Take a look at this man. He looks like the epitome of the establishment. He looks stable. He seems all business. He appears to be very conservative.
The man in the picture is Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes. Even the name suggests a conservative approach.
Yet, the quotation that goes along with the portrait on this poster is anything but conservative: “Taxes are what we pay for a civilized society.”
Through the juxtaposition between the conservative look of the speaker and the un-conservative message that he speaks, the premises behind the standard anti-tax argument are broken.
This poster creates the impression that paying taxes is as reasonable as paying for dinner. Of course we pay for our meal when we go out to eat at a restaurant, so, of course we should pay for the benefits we receive as members of the civilized society that our government establishes.
There is no stress, no strain, no extremism or sense of threat in this message or in the appearance of the person who delivers it. Rather, the anti-tax zealots who complain about paying their dues, and refuse to pitch in for the government services that they enjoy, are cast as the radicals. The anti-tax agenda seems like an immature act of selfish rebellion.
This example of liberal iconography demonstrates how the juxtaposition between image and text can dramatically reform the established political narrative.
