Page 76 - Courting the Media Contemporary Perspectives on Media and Law

The Fate of the Iconic Sign: Taser Video 67

given the authority of its source and its bare bones narrative? Or will it evoke a
different set of cultural associations?
In Taser video we have created a tool that is, truly, a weaponized picture
maker, capable of ―speaking‖ in the real world. It is especially powerful to us
because it is so semiotically rich and compelling from the combination of its
photographic medium and point of view, and, let‘s be honest, there is the
additional pleasure of the satisfaction of our voyeuristic impulses to literally
but safely ―be there.‖ When officers deploy tasing appropriately, it can save
them and others from real harms arising from dangerously uncontrolled
persons. But the stun gun is a tool that can very easily be misused.
Manufacturers‘ claims that such devices cause no permanent harm encourage
use, not just the threat of use. The fact that Electronic Control Devices leave
no obvious marks makes misuse seem to have no consequences. And they are
so easy to deploy. From anecdotal viewing of posted videos showing Tasers in
use by police authority, it seems that these devices are often brought out to
compel obedience for its own sake instead of using words either to elicit more
information or to persuade. With so little communicative information in play,
the human meaning is diminished. There are two recent stories, from different
states, on the Web concerning the deployment of Tasers against middle-aged
folks sitting in the wrong seats at ball games. Both seem like a totally
unnecessary use of force [Ball_game_taser-videos].
The managerial threat of tasing described above, reminiscent of either
bureaucrat or parent, is another form of normalization. ―If you do not, or if you
do … I will tase you….‖ The gun offers immediate enforcement, and
immediate gratification through the assertion of power. In our society that
claims to observe the rule of law, do we really want police officers not only
enforcing laws but also delivering punishment without a full fact-finding
procedure?

IT’S NOT JUST A PICTURE

We have come a long way from Elie Weisel‘s fantasy of using pictures to
punish by simply making victims visible. Wiesel shields himself from his own
sadistic impulses by proposing punishment by representation – effectively
saying to himself, ―It‘s just a picture‖. With the invention of a picturing device
that actually punishes, that inflicts not just emotional pain but extreme
physical pain, one that collapses the distance between a perception of the
problem and administering punishment for it, we risk the very evidence itself