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“Propagan-dumb” is a collection of three satirical 1 – 2 minute animated shorts, each with
their own art style and period-appropriate aesthetic. The first short acts as a parody of American
war cartoons produced during the Second World War. In it, the narrator guides a soldier to
murder a defenseless fish from outer space for crimes he more than likely did not commit, all in
the name of protecting American suburbia from “foreign invaders.” The second short takes on
the aesthetic of a “He-Man” commercial, in which Hero, our protagonist, is magically disfigured
by the evil Monstro in a wanton act of violence. As it turns out, the only way to help Hero is to
“buy the entire set […], available at a Toy Palacetm near you!” The third, and final, short takes a
first person perspective of someone watching a computer screen (specifically Youtube). After
clicking onto a relatively harmless, educational video on climate change, more outlandish and
reactionary videos begin to be recommended to the viewer on the right hand of the screen, and as
the viewer’s mouse cursor attempts to click the back arrow, a glitch occurs. This glitch continues
to feed the viewer more and more reactionary content, disabling pausing and flickering their
screen, eventually revealing these demonic, melted commentators who simply repeat the phrase
“division is what unites us.” The short ends on a Dennis-Prager-esque figure reaching out from
the void towards the viewer as a collection of motion graphics circles his neck.

The ensemble of all three shorts showcases an evolution of technology within the
medium of animation across nearly a century in contrast to an ideologically stagnant throughline
of consumerist and white supremacist dogma.