Hollywood

“Uphold science, eradicate superstition” (1999)

This image, representing the Chinese space program, is fairly recent. At first glance, it is reminiscent of 1970s/1980s design and “Star Wars” movie posters. Compared to the imagery of the 1960s and 70s, this image is softer, with an element of fantasy in its abstractness.

The purpose of the image is clearly to inspire hope in the viewer. The woman in the picture, our only real figure and our secondary focal point, looks calmly hopeful towards the starburst, our primary focal point. As to what the starburst represents, my supposition would be the bright, unknown future. It takes precedence over the Earth, the woman, the rest of the galaxy, and both space shuttles.The clustering of the planets around the starburst would lead one to naturally assume that the starburst is the sun, but we would assume that their destination would not be the sun.

Why is the image of a woman rather than a man? In a literal sense, I would say that, since only men are astronauts, propaganda like this is a way to make women feel included. Women are traditionally the “hopers” and, as conveyed by this image, the ones who stay behind while others go out and explore the future. Helping flesh out my argument on this point is the phallic nature of the rocket. It is interesting that the starburst is repeated (in an incredibly subtle nature) on the woman’s ear, like jewelry, connecting her to the larger starburst.