Week 5 reading post

The major dilemma discussed in the two chapters from Dublin’s article focuses on the content of the presentation of the Enola Gay exhibit by the National Air and Space museum in the Smithsonian. The opposing sides include an association of veterans, the government including congress as well as the Air Force against the curators at the museum. The author’s main point lays in the argument over whether public domain, such as an airplane from a major war, can be displayed in a confrontational mode outside what the opposing sides stated was against the wants and desires of the public of the United States. Another key issue in this article introduces the problem of outside sources involvement in the creating phase of an exhibit in a somewhat publically funded institution. The author sarcastically addresses the issue of the involvement of Air Force representatives going through the exhibit and checking what could or could not be included in the display. The article hits on how the government wants to present the American armed forces in a positive manner rather than focus on the issues on how the war was fought as well as presenting the Japanese point of view, in this case. Presentations of war and other confrontations involving in the military appear to have to choose between two different style of design, which includes a patriotic view point that does not question the decisions of wartime and confrontation or a democratic view point that brings in outside issues that break past the conservative version of war. I found a major problem in the National Air and Space museum separates this museum from most progressive stances on presentation that allows for an open forum for discussion, and in this case there is no room for discussion, but only a patriotic version of the Enola Gay exhibit.