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Icon: What happens when you stare into the abyss?

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Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.

Friedrich Nietzsche (pardon the poor translation)

What happens when two soft Westerners arrive in a remote west African village looking for a warlord to write a story about?  In Nnedi Okorafor’s story, "Icon", we get an alternative to the story pitched by Western media. Most media and, specifically reporters, would have us believe that they are brave heroes who venture forth into the great unknown on our behalf.
 
Richard and Nancy, the most suburban white people names an author could think of (despite Richard being Black), have travelled to the darkest reaches of the dark continent to get the aforementioned story.They meet Icon, the warlord in question, who isn’t at all what they expect. What do they expect, you ask? They expect their Americanism to protect them from all harm. They are, after all, from the most exceptional country on earth. Their Americanism should be recognized and respected by all the people of the earth, right? Does not their nationality afford them certain conciliations from all others, like guarantees of safety? Icon introduces them to the harsh and cold reality of the world, a world of violence that is a daily occurrence for him and his army, a way of life.
Our journalists find themselves staring into the abyss. -Porn (hyphen porn). They are trying to write a -Porn story. Give the people what they want, right? In this case, it doesn’t turn out quite that way.
They suffer from the illusion of American exceptionalism. Icon offers them a glimpse into the abyss. Unfortunately for them, they must become monsters to survive the encounter. Icon demands that they take the life of an innocent person to avoid death themselves. The journalists want to understand death and violence, but when confronted with the reality of it, they balk. They don't actually want to understand it, they want to be tourists in that world.

Journalists engage in -porn journalism all the time. In this case, it’s war porn (don’t google that, you won’t like the results). Strangely, they often have the idea that their Western culture exceptionalism will protect them from harm. Sure, they know intellectually that it’s dangerous, but they don’t internalize it. They don’t stare into the abyss. Some lose their lives in the pursuit, most don’t..
What are we to make of this? We don’t have a magic shield around us, despite what Americanism would have you believe. There are lives out there in the world that our Western culture hasn’t prepared us for and our Western sensibilities cannot fathom. I guess the answer is that if you’re not ready to become a monster, don’t go around monsters…
 
 

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  1. Hyphen Porn Mary Laffidy I've read two posts about this short story so far and both of them make me think of completely different things. Your focus on American journalism immediately brought to mind the travel shows on CNN with Anderson Cooper and (RIP) Anthony Bourdain. They seem to only be "showing the facts" and the real lives of people from other countries, but I really want to go to Netflix now and rewatch some of these specials from this perspective (thanks to COM theory/Nietzsche I now realize nothing can be done without bias). Do you think that we can ever portray other cultures accurately without some kind of appropriation or even without a biased, American lens?
  2. American Journalism Kiisha Hilliard "Icon" presents a problem with American journalism that is present in society. The journalist are so concerned with writing a good story, especially about 3rd world countries, that they are detached from the experiences of the locals. Okorafor does a good job with "Icon" because it takes the journalists off their high horse, and the story makes these characters interact with the locals. No longer can American Journalist stand on the side lines and exoctize what is happening in third world countries. I like your commentary on the hyphen porn because it comments on how American journalist continually exoctize. Icon is making the reporters get their hands dirty, and it puts them on the same field as the locals.
  3. Fake News Chelsea Larymore You bring up some really interesting points about the integrity of American reporters. It's really relevant to what is going on in the media right now with all the claims of "fake news." Reporters often over-exaggerate or even embellish to provide the best story and get the best rating. I am recollecting on the video of the weather reporter appearing as though he cannot stand up straight due to incoming hurricane winds, but then someone walks past him in the background and is having no trouble. Clearly the fake news does not begin and end with political related news. Since it is such a widespread problem, how does the public identify the trustworthy reporters? And if none of them are trustworthy, how can the public keep up with current events? Do we simply ignore current events and go about our lives in ignorance? I don't anticipate answers to these questions, but I do feel like they are worth consideration.

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