Delete-Man: A Psychological Thriller

by Johnny Vineaux

  [Insert handwriting comparison here]

  What began as a recessed thought—nothing more than a mental note—grew slowly into a subdued yet pervasive obsession. Above all, the symbol was to me something unresolved; a great yearning or urge that overrode all reasonable thinking and affected my behaviours insidiously. It was akin to some sexual or primal impulse. Like those feelings, it was never fully satisfied.

  Even as I write these paragraphs—with all the comforting benefits of hindsight—I am struggling to define my sensations with clarity and without deleting all I’ve written and once again attempting to repress all I know of the symbol and its brothers. It’s an illogical and counter-productive temptation however. The act has already been committed. [Maybe omit this last paragraph]

  For weeks afterwards, I acted in a manner which makes me cringe and afraid on reflection. The things I said and did were entirely foreign to me, so much so that I recall them as if from some third person perspective, through the eyes of others. Perhaps this is telling in itself.

  Nevertheless, I managed—and still manage, albeit cautiously—to maintain my rationale enough to investigate the phenomena. What began has a personal exploration, has become something of a much more profound and important investigation for humanity as a whole. Perhaps even a message, a warning, a guide, a document. [And a confession]

  Part 1: Overview

  1

  There was a time when the reddest hue humans saw was in the dark crimson of fresh blood. A prehistoric, savage, and brutal time maybe; where all existence was dangerous yet simple. Seeing that rich, flowing colour would induce an instinctual alarm; of violence, of imminent disease, of death or unknown beasts. (Research also shows that the colour red can cause feelings of hunger.) It may have been one of the first, and most important, associations we made as a species. Even after millennia of gestures, speech, pictures, symbols, vocabulary, language, logos, and brands we still recognise in the vibrant red of stop signs, traffic lights, and fire exits signals of danger. Cautions, albeit constructed ones, where our responses now are delineated rather than intuited.

  Modern advertising applies much the same principle to achieve its goal. Its success depends upon linking the image, the briefest of signals, to induce an action via deep emotional responses or unconscious conceptual association. The term advertising itself underplays the broadness of how this principle is applied: Politics, PR, news reportage, the arts, etc. As a term itself, advertising implies a simple and forthright purpose, but the aggressive and unrestrained manner with which modern advertising targets and manipulates is probably better defined as propaganda.

  There have been many books written on the subject, and plenty of research to support the very tangible link between advertising and our emotional and psychological states. Though the largest and most irrefutable evidence of its effectiveness is in the real world: The obvious, irrational fact that whilst we live in an ecologically damaging society, where most goods are produced under ethically dubious circumstances, and consumers are economically far more fragile than decades past, our desire for unnecessary consumer goods rises exponentially. An estimated 70% of consumer goods purchased last year were in large part either unnecessary or made artificially obsolete this year (Jackson, Davids, et al; Consumer Trends, 2009).

  The question beneath all of this is why, with so much evidence and knowledge available to the public, is damaging and irrational propaganda still so penetrative and effective. Claude Packard, one of Europe’s most progressive and successful PR consultants, suggests that it is an inherent proponent of modern advertising to deny, or persuade against, critical thinking.

  “[The irony]…is that everybody sees themselves as smart, strong, intelligent, media-savvy, concerning, and most of all, capable of making the right choices—Of course they do, because everything around them is telling them that. Good advertising isn’t going to make you feel like shit. Not directly, anyway. Good advertising tells you that you will feel wonderful with this great new thing. It makes the choice feel like the right choice, the correct choice. The one that smart, intelligent, great people make. It’s aspirational; not exclusive, and when it is being exclusive, it’s because it’s offering the prospect of easy membership to a brilliant club.

  “[Intelligence]... doesn’t come into it. It’s not about that at all. Saying you’re too smart to buy into advertising is like saying you’re too smart to buy into love, or hate, or fear, or happiness, or sadness. I can look at a beautiful woman and say ‘Yeah, she’s gorgeous, but I’m too smart to want to screw her’; but whether I want to screw her or not isn’t even really up to me. Chances are that I’ll want to, and lying to myself is only going to make it worse.

  “So long as people think of themselves as intelligent, advertising will continue to work. The second they hold back and say ‘Wait a minute, there’s something going on here, and even I might fall for it. I’m capable of being taken for a ride’ then the whole structure of contemporary advertising collapses.”

  Claude Packard, 2009

  One other suggestion for people’s obliviousness to the ‘toxic culture’ (Jean Kilbourne) of advertising is the assumption that we have sufficient regulation to prevent dangerous advertising. Moreover, that there is no incentive, nor possibility for such unhealthy and immoral methods of propaganda to be used. No ‘big evil men’ as it were, and indeed, there are no calculating, evil barons at the top of some secretive and powerful clique propagating these viral concepts. (The hint of conspiracy undermines all rational complaints towards propaganda, and is often used to defend it). Rather, there are legions of creative consultants, brand managers, social media administrators, advertising executives and others all constantly seeking the brand that penetrates and affects as thoroughly as possible. The result is effectiveness by refinement rather than brilliance. The by-product of such design by trial-and-error becomes an freedom of responsibility, where designers don’t themselves fully understand the deep emotional and sociological effects of their work. They irresponsibly damage further, with what they may derisively see as disposable concepts absorbed, used to their own ends, then discarded. The effects are far more complex than this simple methodology, however.

  Dr. John Hughton is a psychiatrist and academic who has written much about the subject of psychological disorders, social effects and branding, as well as holding a leading position on the board of PREA (Psychological Research into Ethical Advertising). In his recent publications, Dr. Hughton has spoken about irresponsible use of design in the public domain. One of his central and most compelling arguments involves the fashion industry:

  “[The problem]… is not the use of abnormally thin girls in advertising, but the association of them with desirable aspects. A thin girl is a thin girl, unless she is dressed expensively, in a demure pose, and exuding all the attributes that the public has become predisposed to admire.

  “...So the question remains: Why has a thin body image become, almost exclusively, the most preferred body type in the penetrative media, despite only a small minority of the public capable of relating to it, and the huge amounts of outrage it inspires, as well as the health issues which surround it? Many theories are grounded in legitimacy, e.g.; its unattainability actively serving the aspirational agenda it often comes with, the unconscious sexual degradation resulting in ‘reducing femininity to nothingness’ (Anna Hashcram, 1978), or a ‘culture of infantilisation’ (James Scowcroft, 2002).

  “When seen from a design perspective however, other reasons become apparent. In two-dimensional aesthetics, straight lines, angles, and sharper contrasts are more visually arresting and harmonious than curves, or colours which segue into one another. It is a principle known and applied in architecture, publishing, cinema, and art. In two-dimensional media straight lines conserve space, delineate points of light more clearly, and fit the form they are presented in (the rectangles and squares of screens and paper). It is almost coincidental that this purely aesthetic design principle, combined with an
industry that publicises itself via magazines, posters, television and the internet has resulted in a female archetype which is unrealistic, alienating—and yet visually compelling to many people.”

  Excerpt from ‘Taking Ownership: The Copied Identity’ (Hazar Publishing House, 2004)

  This aesthetic approach to propaganda is extremely illuminating, it hints at the possibility of an image affecting the viewer regardless of its societal context. Based entirely upon the simple and permanent rules of aesthetics, rather than the developed and mutable ones of society, an image is capable of provoking an emotional response. Just as red is the cue for danger, a symbol can contain some inherent associations, and through these associations induce responses.

  The concept of a symbol which is capable of provoking a viewer, regardless of its context or intention, is the holy grail of advertising. Millions are spent daily in charging various logos and insignias with emotional weight and positive connotations. To develop, or discover, a symbol that is already imbued as such, and can thus be used all over the world with minimum effort, is almost the stuff of sci-fi dreams.

  In the following chapters, I would like to explore the possibility that we are on the verge of discovering such symbols, or even, whether such images exist.

  [Shit this is getting long-winded Remember: Write with clarity, write with sanity. Got to start from the top.]

  2.

  [Insert chart of the nine symbols here, titled]

  Over the past five years I have collated various symbols which I felt warranted examination (see image above). My interest in them began with a dramatic personal experience involving one. [Too much information?] The symbols derive from all parts of the world, and their histories are as diverse as their origins. One symbol, which I’ve named ‘Flame-Man’ was found carved into multiple stones and left, seemingly at random, around certain excavated structures in various Eastern African villages. Approximate dating puts them at around sixteen thousand years old. From what can be gathered through textual references in later years and anthropological studies at the area, the belief was [is?] that they were used to inflict some sort of curse on those who lived in the buildings around which they were placed. A theory which is supported by folkloric stories still told in the areas today.

  [Insert Flame-Man stone image here]

  Two things are interesting about these particular symbols, however. Firstly, the manner in which the symbols were implemented. Although the shape and size of stone varies, some have been identified as part of the structures they were placed amongst. Others, it is assumed due to their sedimentary qualities, were placed amongst other edifices such as nearby trees, or larger rocks. The practice is at odds with other ritualistic magic traditions of Africa, in which the magical object is almost always hidden somewhere amongst the target. It is my belief that the stones were placed in full view of the target; or to be more specific, in order that the symbol would be seen by the target, although perhaps not to be easily noticed.

  [Insert excavation locations diagram here]

  The other, more startling, fact about the flame-man symbol is that it has turned up in various other records throughout history, often in association with some sort of arson. In an unfinished play from the fifteenth century by an unknown author there is a crude yet accurate description of the symbol.

  “...to signify the death of flame-burnt mind,

  a curve over, and slashed beneath arms wide,

  tapered arrow pricks sky, to shaft your eye.”

  The character of this line is a witch advising a young pauper who seeks similar retribution against a merchant who burnt down his home.

  In the March 1948 issue of a popular French antiques journal there is a photograph of an engraved ring which bears the symbol. The object is said to originate from 18th century America, and shows visible signs of severe burning, the silver having slightly deformed from high temperatures. In the accompanying anecdotal article the curator tells of a previous owner having worn it whilst being burnt to death in a restaurant.

  [Insert flame-man ring image here]

  Other symbols have eerily similar histories. The ‘Anger-Man’ has origins in early 4th century BC paganism, employed by certain nomadic peoples who travelled through what is now the Balkans from what are now Northern areas of Greece. Artefacts indicate that the symbol was engraved primarily into objects pertaining to warfare, and mostly during periods of unrest, where the young men of the tribes might have had to endure almost daily battles to avoid subjugation by the Roman and Greek Empires. All cultural evidence of the tiny tribe disappears dramatically after some time in the 3rd century BC, but once again the symbol appears, again and rather surprisingly [or not], related to incidents involving violence or murder.

  [Insert Anger-Man artefact images here]

  Perhaps one of the most striking and articulate accounts of the Anger-Man involves a German named Tomas Bendtschneider. Born in 1856 to a wealthy printing press owner, Bendtschneider inherited his father’s business in 1880 where he continued to maintain it profitably. Seven years later, after a trip to Morocco, he returned with an elaborate woven carpet and a new fascination: Boxing. Through journalistic records and various anecdotal accounts it appears Bendtschneider boxed with consistent regularity for four entire years, becoming notorious for his viciousness, cheating, and having never won a single bout. In 1889 he sold his business to a friend, and relocated to London in order to dedicate himself fully to the then dubiously legal sport of boxing.

  In 1891 however, still without a win, Bendtschneider was sentenced to death for the murder of three fellow boxers over the course of two nights. During his brief imprisonment he scrawled various approximations of the Anger-Man symbol across the cell walls. Amongst the few personal affects that he had brought to London, police found his Moroccan rug which was, of course, detailed with the symbol of the Anger-Man.

  [Insert newspaper article of murders here]

  Such correlations are chilling and ominous [too personal?] to discover, and yet they continue to emerge. Any evidence of previous usage for the various symbols which I’ve managed to uncover so far reveals similar connections. [Do I need more evidence? Maybe write story of Sex-Man if I can do it briefly. Might undermine point.]

  If we presume that there is a link between these symbols and the events which often surround them, and there is much reason to, then three questions must be asked.

  Where do these symbols come from?

  How can these symbols affect humans?

  Are these symbols in circulation now?

  The first question is impossible to answer accurately. The tribe bearing the Flame-Man and the stones found in the villages are the earliest recordings discovered so far. Other confirmations can be found as far back as the 7th century. But most records of these symbols can be found over the course of the past few centuries.

  As to the creation of these symbols, it is tempting to think they were designed or manufactured by someone, or a group, conscious of their proposed imbued properties. It is far more plausible, however, that the symbols came about through a process of refinement, and that their qualities ensured they remained in the public domain throughout their long lifespans.

  Following on from the theory of how these symbols were developed, the method by which they affect humans can also be scrutinised with one very plausible theory in mind. In many instances of these symbols appearing over the past centuries, most have a connection with occult practices and those interested in them. In fact, my naming of them derives from the name attributed to the most prominent one by a sect of the Wica (early Wiccans) in the early 20th century; the Delete-Man.

  Whether these relatively recent adopters of various symbols were aware of their histories is unclear. Those who did employ one or more symbols in their craft appeared to perceive a potential for effect in them, and attributed it to magic. [Not magic. Might as well be. Just like this computer when it works. Too many demons living on the motherboard.] Of course, the hypothesis of m
agic is understandable yet unlikely.

  It is probable, rather, that the effect of these symbols is somewhat closer to that of propaganda; a singular image capable of inducing emotion at various levels of consciousness. An idea which ought not be taken lightly. As mentioned before, the difference to propaganda capable of powerful emotional leverage, without previously invested context and viewer experience, is radical.

  The third question, that of whether these symbols exist and are in some sort of active capacity now is the one of which I have most personal experience and investment. [Omit that? Too far gone now I suppose.] My decision to publish these symbols amongst these pages [Should I even be doing that?] was produced by personal confirmation these emblems are in circulation at this very moment. Just how, and to what level is of huge importance. In the following chapter I will elaborate on the present and growing danger of these images.

  3.

  The first years of the 21st century were a time of great experimentation and evolution in the world of propaganda. With the advent of the internet, rapid globalisation, and growing accessibility to cheap Eastern manufacturing; advertising and its relation to consumerism was arguably stronger than the ‘golden age’ of the fifties, where television, post-war economic stimulation, and the popularisation of psychological advertising techniques became the template for Western living.