We often forget that real people, just like any citizen of the US, live and love in North Korea as well. When western countries carry out propaganda against communist countries such as North Korea, they take, understandably, a dehumanizing approach, for if a war were ever to surface, we cannot sympathize with the people of these countries if we are not really conditioned to believe they exist. TPG follows the life of a former Spanish citizen who moved to North Korea, trained with the military and now works in the foreign affairs department, close to Kim Jong-un. Along the way, interviews of regular people of the country, both children and adults, are conducted. We noticed the obvious sense of unity the people of North Korea deeply tried to portray. The unconditional love for their leader and the utter and complete trust they seemed to have for Kim Jong-un was surprising from a western perspective. When Longoria interviewed multiple college-aged men and women about what they wanted to major in, all answers related to them wanting to do something for their leader. The documentary also covered the moments when Kim Jong-il died, showing millions of people, no matter the age or gender, sobbing. These moments honestly made us think, how would we react if someone we believed was God or God-like died? North Koreans are so conditioned to believe that their leaders are God, or ever so close to a God. Through songs, pledges, pins, controlled media and religions, Kim Jong-un is portrayed as the all supreme, therefore we do believe that the emotion shown and felt in these clips as well as real life when Kim Jong-il died was genuine to an extent.
The emotions shown by North Koreans in general is puzzling. In some instances, they are shown to have extreme national pride in their homeland, but in others to be severely disillusioned with an oppressive regime. Many who fled North Korea spoke out against their way of life, claiming that they were starving to death, stripped of privacy and free speech, and forced to worship their government. However, in this documentary and many other accounts, there are North Korean citizens who speak highly of their nation and seem content. They claim that North Korea is a fair, safe, and prosperous nation, which is a stark contrast to others who left the country. This begs the question- What is real emotion and what is propaganda? We may never be able to tell conclusively, which is the point of the propaganda war.
In order to further investigate the ideas placed into his mind by Western culture generated propaganda, Longoria requested that his North Korean guides take him to a Catholic church so he could observe Sunday mass. He did so because there is propaganda stating that their is no freedom of religion in North Korea, and that Christians are ostracized and even persecuted. After many phone calls and lots of bargaining, Longoria was finally taken to a church. Although there is no way to know conclusively, the church did not seem to be completely functional or authentic. The priest did not give communion, the church goers all sang at a professional level, and there were no North Korean pins, which are a staple of their culture, to be found.
The documentary further explored the communist approach in their economy and society; everyone has free health care, free education, veterans are very very looked after and respected, the government owned everything- from large department stores to street vendors. The only question- although a pressing question- one also presented in the documentary by Longaria was; where is the money coming from? The large, new buildings, the amusement parks, the schools the public parks, libraries, and everything else, continuously kept us wondering where was the money coming from?
The end of the documentary posed a good question; why hasn't the west taken down North Korea? We definitely have the military power, we have the allies and the economic resources too, if we are so dead set on expanding democracy to every corner of the world, as we were extensively during The Cold War, why haven't we acted on the totalitarian regime of North Korea?
The Propaganda Game ends by pointing out that no one actually wants to see North Korea's current regime fall. Not South Korea, for they would have to pick up the economic damages and pay for the merging of both countries. Not China, because North Korea gives them a strong communist ally that they can use as control and power in negotiations with other countries. Lastly, the United States does not really want to see North Korea fall because if it did, we would no longer have a reason to keep military forces and bases in that region of the world, in turn largely endangering our imperialistic policies and our policing and concern of Russian, Chinese, or other Asian countries actions.
The only people that want to see North Korea fall, are, as the documentary pointed out, the North Koreans themselves, the ones truly hurt by the totalitarian regime. But when we are barely taught that they exist, how are we supposed to advocate or fight for them? We are taught to see the regime instead of the people in times of war, or else we would all go insane, but when these teachings are inevitable applied elsewhere, we fail to see the repercussions of them unless we open our eyes from a different perspective.
