Robert Zaretsky: Whose Image Is This, Anyway?

Robert Zaretsky is a professor of French history at the University of Houston Honors College.

“Politics will eventually be replaced by imagery. The politician will be only too happy to abdicate in favor of his image, because the image will be much more powerful than he could ever be.” Were he viewing the political scene in France, all that Marshall McLuhan, the prophet of the irresistible rise of image, would add to this prescient remark is: “Or she could ever be.”

Marine Le Pen is the latest victim, or beneficiary, in a French firefight over images. During a recent concert in Tel Aviv, as Madonna launched into her song “Nobody Knows Me, ” a series of images flashed across the huge screen behind her, including shots of Hu Jintao and Sarah Palin.

In this dubious pantheon also appeared a shot of Marine Le Pen — the far-right French politician — with a swastika adorning her forehead. The image lingered for just a second, but as images are wont to do, its impact continues to ripple....