Review of Memories

Episode three "Cannon Fodder" takes us into a dystopian world set in an artillery city. We are urged to think about what would make an artillery city possible. For such a thing to exist it presupposes the existence of a constant external threat. The generalized Other must be reduced to an inexhaustible enemy, the coordinates of an ever-changing hostile position, a target. Lets say this makes up the artillery part. What makes it a "city"? It is the identification of a common purpose, the demarcation of an interior and an exterior, us and them. It is no wonder that the protestors' signs spell 'stop' 'poison'and 'gas' with the two lightning bolt S's of Nazi Germany's Schutzstaffel (SS). How do you make a people kill your enemy? By making them absolutely sure that the enemy is a far more terrifying threat, that any suffering endured is only a fraction of what will come if we let them get to us. Punish disobedience and reward loyalty and you'll have subjects who aspire to commit atrocity and despise their own feelings of empathy. You'll only realize who your real enemy is once you have grown up, so better for them to keep your life short. No epiphany will arrive in time to those who are replaceable. This is what you are: Cannon Fodder.