Another ironic example of Westerners not understanding what tank man was actually doing: stopping the tanks from leaving Tianmanmen Square. He was doing the opposite of an act of defiance against government involvement; he wanted them to be involved. Also, he left the scene unscathed when other civilians came and scurried him away: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq8zFLIftGk
Maybe Western media always show us a cropped version of the tank man photo, with Tianmanmen Square removed, because it doesn’t fit in with their narrative.
[Edit to replace deleted YouTube video.]
Jesus fucking christ. I watched this shit happen. I watched the uncut footage air. That man was fucking pissed. He kept blocking the tanks while absolutely losing his shit screaming at the tank. Neither of us was there so neither of us knows why or what he was screaming but it was most definitely a clear act of defiance. You cannot in any way say that he was asking them to “go back” and “stay involved”.
Here is the footage.
That’s just a shorter version of the video I posted. And I don’t think the full footage ever aired on TV, because it’s around ten or twenty minutes long, mostly of him on top of the tank having a conversation with the crew.
We have reached so many levels of irony that I do not know which one the original meme maker was on.
I assume he doesn’t know because almost no Westerners seem to.
The video you linked to says that the footage was spliced together from a 2006 documentary aired by PBS, here’s a summary
The Incident: On June 5, 1989, a day after the Chinese army violently suppressed pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square, an unarmed man, later known as “Tank Man,” stood his ground in front of a line of tanks on the Avenue of Eternal Peace.
Iconic Image: Captured by Western journalists, this image became a powerful symbol of defiance and the struggle for freedom worldwide.
Documentary’s Focus: The FRONTLINE documentary, “The Tank Man,” explores the events surrounding the Tiananmen Square protests, the identity of “Tank Man,” and the significance of his act of defiance. Filmmaker’s Investigation:
Wasnt expecting to see the news dude at the end of . . Wow that was depressing.
the murican cops are all fucking disgusting violent fascist pigs.
While the stroad seem realistic, seeing a pedestrian carrying groceries doesn’t seem like americana iconography.
Blocking the road is not a valid form of protest! runs over pedestrian 🤠
Liberals will kick and scream about the fascism of Tianamen without stopping to ask why the Tank Driver stopped and even tried to drive around Tank Man without success.
The idea that an American civilian could survive getting that close to a military vehicle - that this kind of protest wouldn’t be used to justify his murder - is utterly alien to the Western brain.
So much of this image is pregnant with what Americans understand a US police officer would do to an unarmed protester. You’ll never see pictures of what happened next, because it flies in the face of the narrative.
Where is Tank Man now? I bet he’s a celebrated civil rights icon who freely walks the streets, right? I did see some reporting suggesting he was executed by firing squad but that can’t be right.
I did see some reporting suggesting he was executed by firing squad but that can’t be right.
The unsourced anecdote as a rebuttal to the live video footage is textbook western discourse. Don’t believe your lying eyes. I know a guy who knows a guy who knows the Real Secret Truth.
