This picture depicts what seems to be an Olympic athlete throwing a missile as if he was throwing a javelin in an Olympic event. The picture was painted on a wall in London by a famous graffiti artist named Banksy, who is known for his artwork regarding the political issues of society today.  By looking at the image, we see symbolism of competitiveness and warfare, which is important because it demonstrates how warfare is like a game between all the major countries across the globe.

Banksy created this image in 2012 during the Olympics in London.  At the time when he painted this London was facing its own problems with the United Kingdom’s military and the amount of power they held which affected and took away from the Olympics and the people of London.  Banksy’s painting impacted a lot of the world even if at the time it was meant for the United Kingdom’s government, it represents not only the United Kingdom’s political issues but also political issues between many nations today, in their past, and probable conflicts and issues of the future.

The man above is wearing a jersey with the Olympic logo across the chest with a number and athletic shorts, matching the attire of an athlete in the Olympic games.  The Olympic games show the world who is the most dominant in a certain sport or event and how hard select athletes work and compete for their country to win a gold medal.  Each country wants to collect the most gold medals to insinuate overall that they are the most elite in the sports world.  In the past of the Olympics, certain countries have even been found guilty of illegally supplying their athletes with steroids, also known as “doping” to help them win and bring their country the most gold medals.  World powers like East Germany during the time period of the Cold War and Russia in this year’s 2016 Olympics have faced penalties and have been banned from the Olympics for doping, which shows how desperately some nations want to be the best. In a way this transfers over to the political stand point of how a government will do anything to be better than another.

 By looking at the facial expression of the athlete, he has focus, his eyes are set on a target.  The athlete seems to be strong and to have prepared for the event, he is reared back ready to throw the missile in his hand, but has not completed the throw yet.  The fact that he is throwing a missile is not what someone expects from an Olympic athlete, it displays a form of attack.  Missiles are used very commonly in warfare, and in nuclear warfare.  Missiles normally are launched from jets or ships or submarines, but in this artwork from Banksy the missile is about to be launched from an Olympic athlete.  

What is the purpose for an Olympian throwing a missile like a javelin?  The purpose is to represent the competition across the world, not just in the Olympics, but the competition in military power.  Everyday countries are preparing for war, or are already at war either being defeated or demonstrating their strength and power over their enemy. Technology like satellite is being used to find out what another nation is doing and how one can hold an advantage over another.  Nuclear weapons are being made right now all over the world, and almost every nation that is producing all of this new technology is doing it in order to show prove their dominance over another government and country or possibly even all of them.  

The first thing that came to mind when I saw this photo was the Olympics, how big of a deal the Olympics are amongst the world and how there are so many countries involved trying to prove themselves to be the best. The missile made me think about war in the same aspect, for example, since the first and second World War, countries have been competing to be the top world power and still are today.  During the Cold War it was all about the United States and the Soviet Union competing seeing who could progress the fastest, putting satellites into space and a man on the moon.  Events like the Cuban Missile Crisis and the tearing down of the Berlin Wall each showed some sort of dominance that countries were trying to gain over one another. There are currently 67 countries in the world at war right now, all of them fighting for power in some way whether it is to keep their independence or to take over control of another country.  This image represents all of these occurring’s of war in the world in some way.

Another factor of this image is the color of it. The whole image is in black and white, with more gray and black in the painting than white. Both gray and black can symbolize sadness, depression, evil, or darkness, which Banksy was trying to portray that the world and society relate to and struggle with today. It represents the tragedy that is all over news channels today.

I believe that Banksy’s painting impacts the world and explains many of the government problems of society today, and in the past, and also problems the world will face in the future. The symbolism that Banksy used in his painting of the Olympic missile thrower is very powerful and I think it will show everyone what Banksy is trying to portray.
