We're talking about the glory of war, or rather the hollowness of it. Not just war though but the symbols of power and violence associated with any kind of conflict, from something like a sword or pistol, all the way up to fighter jets, tanks and warships. These are all objects that viscerally symbolise power more than anything else, whatever appeal they have is rooted in their ability to enable their wielder to actively make changes in the world and set themselves above others. But why "hollow"? Because war, injury and the exercise of power over others is NOT sexy or at all glorious, rather it's the worst possible thing you can experience. We talk about that contradiction.
War and violence is often sexualised, and I use that term correctly in this instance unlike the people who talk about the "sexualisation of women"- adult people are sexual by definition and cannot be "sexualised", what they actually mean is "eroticised", the distinction is important. How is war and violence sexualised? We gender weapons in obvious ways, relating them to male and female genitalia, we name them and refer to them in gendered ways, we also strongly associate war and weapon imagery with gendered things- think of Sylvester Stallone as Rambo, bare muscled, sweating chest, thick, shaggy hair, an M-60 machine gun cradled in one arm blasting away while a chain of ammunition is draped across the other. Or the actors in Top Gun being all young, handsome, virile men, playing beach volleyball shirtless. Sarah Connor in Terminator 2, rippling with muscle, expertly handling assault rifles. The recruits in Starship Troopers, male and female, hitting the showers together. Wonder Woman pulling a sword from the back of her evening dress… All this imagery ensures we associate the exercise of power with adult sexuality and virility.
The superficial interpretation is to see power, weapons, and war as all "masculine", but that is inadequate and facile because the lust for power, it's use and exercise is not limited by gender in any way, it's only been skewed to the masculine through historical sexism.
As a young person I was seduced by the glorious imagery of war and weaponry through TV shows like Robotech and Starblazers, animes that make a specific point of venerating giant weapons in the form of transforming fighter jets, beweaponed mecha, and massive space battleships bristling with guns. Then of course there were things like the sword wielding Conan, The Three Musketeers, Robin Hood, King Arthur, Asterix and Obelix and their powerful fists, and all the heroes in WW2 movies fighting the good fight. It wasn't till adulthood when I began to question the appeal and allure of these things and realise the darkness they actually represent. But even though I better understand it now, I also realise that the attractiveness of power imagery is baked into my brain so it will always strike a chord with me, which is why I'm always exploring both sides of the equation in my comic Piny TA.
As Tantz says in the Quackcast though: "The way to win is not to play". Wise words for two reasons; the best use of any type of weaponry from swords, to guns, to fighter-jets, to warships, or even nuclear missiles is to only have them for the purpose of intimidation, if you can achieve your objective without ever committing violence and horror you've truly won because you didn't destroy resources, create further issues, damage your weapon, lose lives from either side, risk losing, or create many further complications and the risk of reprisal. The other reason is based on another interpretation: don't play, don't venerate the exercise of power through the use of war and violence focussed imagery and symbolism, then you won't perpetuate it.
Have you ever been at all moved by "heroic" imagery, the power fantasy of holding a weapon, or the imagery of "righteous war"? Braveheart and Lord of the Rings are two that many love because of this topic.
This week Gunwallace has given us a great little theme to - The Starry Ladders - An introspective, high action rock song with a fun little twist. Soaring electric guitars and weird electronica flavoured with a car alarm? At least that's what the musicians think! It features Banes, Tantz, and I was the comic characters.
Topics and shownotes
Featured comic: Bel Dozer - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2026/jan/12/featured-comic-bel-dozer
Featured music: The Starry Ladders - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/The_Starry_Ladders/, by Helterskelter1995, rated T.
Special thanks to: Gunwallace - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Gunwallace/ Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/ Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes/
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