Swastikas in popular culture
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Swastikas or swastika-like shapes sometimes appear in modern popular culture, although considerably less so in the Western world (where the symbol is still usually considered associated with Nazi Germany) than in the East (where the symbol is used under a variety of cultural conditions and not considered offensive).
Contents |
[edit] Modern popular culture
[edit] Comics
- In the manga Naruto, the character Neji Hyuga has a manji-shaped seal with hooked ends on his forehead, imprinted there when he was young. In the TV anime this is replaced with an 'X'-shaped symbol. It is possible the series staff already had overseas export in mind, mandating the change.
- In the manga One Piece, the character Whitebeard had is that of a standard Jolly Roger with a large mustache and a cross behind it. This is also tattooed onto the backs of high-ranking officials in the crew, like Ace. Originally in the manga, a manji was behind it instead of a cross, while the current version is originally only used in the anime in order to avoid confusion with a swastika. However, in Shonen Jump #50, Oda had stated that even though it is only in manga, there are still some general unhappiness/opposition to the manji symbol, due to generally associated with the Nazi party's swastika. Thus, starting from 434, both the manga and the anime will use cross version instead.
- The manga and anime Bleach, the main character Ichigo Kurosaki wields a sword with a manji-shaped crossguard.
- In the Tenjho Tenge manga and anime, Shin Natsume is a power-hungry swordsman that employs a cursed sword and sometimes wears an eye patch decorated with an omote manji. This specific orientation of the symbol is associated with love and mercy, which are attributes this character struggles with in rather dramatic ways.
- In the manga series Blade of the Immortal, the protagonist Manji wears his namesake on the back of his robe. In the beginning of each volume of the Dark Horse published American version, there is an explanation of the meaning of both directions of the Swastika.
- In the manga series Hellsing, swastikas are used throughout the story, largely in connection to the Nazi organization Millennium, although sometimes in extravagant ways. The character Rip Van Winkle wears a pendant in the shape of a swastika and orders soldiers to paint a large swastika shape on the deck of a captured British aircraft carrier. Additionally, during Millennium's attack on London, groups of buildings are burned in the shape of a gigantic swastika across the city, as seen from above.
[edit] Games
- The third dungeon of the video game The Legend of Zelda is in the shape of a Japanese manji.
- In the original release of the video game Doom, a floor area in one level took on the shape of a swastika. It was removed in a later version.
- A Pokémon playing card sold in Japan had a manji graphic.[1] Because of its resemblance to the Nazi swastika, the card was altered for Western editions, and eventually withdrawn in Japan following complaints from Paul and Ilana Springer and the Anti-Defamation League.[2]
- Wolfenstein 3D in addition to the player fighting nazis, one level (6-3) is made up of swastikas (see up-right)
- The Cactuar character from the Final Fantasy series is constantly posing in the shape of a manji.
[edit] Literature
- In the story The Shadow over Innsmouth by H. P. Lovecraft, the character Zadok Allens describes the symbol of the Great Old Ones as similar to a Swastika. Anyone possessing an image of one will not be attacked by mythos beasts, including the Deep Ones. It is possible that the symbol is actually a Manji, since it originally came from the Pacific Islands, and was probably mistaken for a swastika by Allens because he was an American who could not tell the difference.
- In the Vampire Earth series by E. E. Knight, which is inspired by the works of Lovecraft, a reversed swastika (or possibly an Asian Manji instead, as all the characters were Americans who could probably not tell the difference) is used as the ensignia for the Twisted Cross (a faction of human-vampire hybrids).
[edit] Movies
- In both film versions of The Producers (as well as the Broadway adaptation), during the musical number "Springtime for Hitler," the dancers form a Busby Berkeley-style swastika at one point.
- In The Sum of All Fears, Alan Bates' character has a swastika engraved on the back of his watch.
- In American History X, lead character Derek Vinyard (Edward Norton), a white supremacist, has a swastika tattooed on his chest.
[edit] Music
- Punk rockers like Siouxsie Sioux, Sid Vicious and John Lydon used, and were photographed using, the Nazi version of the swastika for its shock value, notwithstanding that Malcolm McLaren, the Sex Pistols' manager, was Jewish. But the punk rock enthusiasm for swastikas ended abruptly in 1981 with the release of the Dead Kennedys song Nazi Punks Fuck Off! After the song was released, not only did swastikas become "verboten" in punk rock culture, many punks had their swastika tattoos either removed or turned into less offensive images (e.g., a window).
- The previously successful career of the British band Kula Shaker virtually collapsed in the 1990s after the band's frontman, Crispian Mills, son of actress Hayley Mills, expressed his desire to use Swastikas as part of the imagery of their live show; because of this, and additional remarks he made, he was widely accused of holding Nazi sympathies. However, the band was musically influenced by Indian styles, and Mills asserted that his attraction to the swastika was part of an attempt to reclaim the Indian usage of the symbol in the West.
- During their 2004 live show Skinny Puppy showed imagery that involved the presidential seal and the swastika as well as a staged assassination and beheading. This resulted in a boycott by a group called PABAAH and during a show in Atlanta an individual from the Dekalb County Police Gang Taskforce left them a card[3]. One review of their latest DVD claims they are on a federal watch list[4].
[edit] People
- In January 2005 there was much criticism when Prince Harry of Wales, third in line of succession to the British throne, was photographed wearing what appeared to be intended as a German Afrika Korps uniform, plus a Nazi swastika armband, to a costume party.
[edit] Places
- Denver International Airport has a runway pattern in the form of a swastika, though for technical reasons.[6]
- The interior roof of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota is designed in a way that comes together resembling a swastika.
[edit] Technology
- In 2004, Microsoft released a "critical update" to remove two swastikas and a Star of David from the font Bookshelf Symbol 7. The font had been bundled with Microsoft Office 2003.
