Gone In Hong Kong

These posters are all over the MTR (metro stations) of HK and they supposedly explain something about how to use the MTR. And by "supposedly" I mean that you would have to be complete idiot to not see the message here, but what is more important are the veiled but rich subtexts in the image. At first glance, it is clear that Smiley man in All*Star Low Tops is asking Hipster Hitler to give him the ginger child in exchange for some type of service provided by Smiley man's extremely awkwardly angled hand. Everyone is in agreement with the exchange and thus all parties involved are smiling. The poster is displayed around the MTR stations in order to express to the public that this is a safe place for such transactions to occur.

This being said, let's take a closer look at the anatomy of this poster in order to decipher the more intellectual subtexts. First, and most poignant is the the proximity of the characters in the poster to the tracks of the train. This seems to be a benign observation, however what is indicated by this proximity is actually what the picture lacks. A train at the station. Here there are happy pedestrians without any way to travel away from there current position and or towards any future. In October of 1922 in Italy, after the fascist "March on Rome", which resulted in King Vittorio Emanuele's appointment of Benito Mussolini as prime minister, Mussolini needed to convince the people of Italy that fascism was indeed a system that worked to the benefit of all. In a flurry of mass propaganda, the idea of fascist efficiency was borne to life, and at its center head was the powerfully proletariat symbol of the train. Mussolini spread word that the Italian railway system was the most dependable and punctual in all of Europe. Thus the phrase was born "In Mussolini's Italy, all the trains ran on time." Now, looking again at the picture, the significance of the young girl's red hair becomes apparent. The red color of her hair symbolizes communism. Here we see the youthful and educated (the books being held by the ginger) individual as a hopeful and vibrant representation of communist ideals that have growth and prosperity ahead of them. However, in reality the ginger child is being sheltered by Hipster Hitler (which is a thinly veiled representation of the pratfalls of both fascism and the coolness that comes from looking like you don't care) from the teasing that would normally be administered to a ginger child that loves reading. The transaction displayed in the poster is indicative of the transition of the communist ideology from that of a fascist mindset to a more morally indifferent, but happily individualistic (the nondescript smiley-face man) stance of capitalism. Here there is no need for the train of fascism to run on time, because the need for self affirming propaganda has been replaced by the cycle of consumerism, in which the consumption of status products that serve more as an indication of individualism than as a functionary appliance (the All*Star Low Tops) takes precedent. However, capitalism will ultimately have to pay a price for its envelopment of the communist state. A price that will be dear indeed (the awkward angling of the hand).

Also, there is some guy in the background who looks like he is crying. I have no idea what is up with that.