“Us and Them” is a critique of the social control that the medical model places upon non-European cultures. The theory of ‘Us and Them’ is derived from the psychologist Henri Tajfel, as a process of social identifiers, in which society categorizes people as strictly one way or the other. The most compelling example and that the comic intends to portray is, colonialism. European settlers invaded societies with the pretense that they were aiding the ‘savages’ native to the land. One can argue that the medical model applies this same theory, by ‘saving the mentally ill’ from the burdens of their madness. This piece intends to analyze the effects upon once-colonized cultures and how the neo-liberal framework of the west continues to harm them.
Several artistic choices were made throughout the comic. First, the character Who is a …show more content…
Next, color is used as a strong identifier, light green portrays the ‘Us’, and the past. Therefore, the character Who is green, for they are not a specific person or gender but an idea that we chose to critique. Red portrays ‘Them’, and the current day issues the cultures are facing.
The story begins in Singapore, where the foundations of control began with colonialism. In the 1800’s to the 1950’s, with influence from the West, Singapore built mental asylums, “usually situated far from the cities and towns, out of sight and often out of the minds of healthcare systems” (Mascayano, 2016). This theory of isolation is born out of many psychologists of the 19th century. Specifically, one can draw interest from French Psychologist Henry Moreau in 1843 when he states that "civilization would favour the development of nervous afflictions, ‘because it
Several artistic choices were made throughout the comic. First, the character Who is a …show more content…
Next, color is used as a strong identifier, light green portrays the ‘Us’, and the past. Therefore, the character Who is green, for they are not a specific person or gender but an idea that we chose to critique. Red portrays ‘Them’, and the current day issues the cultures are facing.
The story begins in Singapore, where the foundations of control began with colonialism. In the 1800’s to the 1950’s, with influence from the West, Singapore built mental asylums, “usually situated far from the cities and towns, out of sight and often out of the minds of healthcare systems” (Mascayano, 2016). This theory of isolation is born out of many psychologists of the 19th century. Specifically, one can draw interest from French Psychologist Henry Moreau in 1843 when he states that "civilization would favour the development of nervous afflictions, ‘because it