The anime clip that GOP Rep. Paul Gosar edited to show himself slaying AOC has even darker undertones than you may have thought
- There are dark fascist undertones in the violent anime clip that Rep. Paul Gosar tweeted this week.
- The anime was previously co-opted by alt-right factions due to its allusions to Nazism and the Holocaust.
While the furor over Rep. Paul Gosar tweeting a violent anime clip of himself slaying New York lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and President Joe Biden continues to rage, many people are missing the fascist subtext of the clip Gosar posted.
Written as a cautionary tale about the ills of war, "Attack on Titan" was first released in manga form in 2009. Its premise involves a teenager, Eren Yeager, who joins a division of the military called the Survey Corps. Venturing beyond concentric walls within which they believe themselves to be imprisoned, Yeager and the Survey Corps slay titans - monstrous beings that eat humans.
The anime's dark undertones of Nazism and allusions to the Holocaust become apparent in later arcs when it's revealed that the subhuman "mindless titans" - the monsters on which AOC's and Biden's faces were superimposed - were originally humans, too.
These humans were a race called Eldians that lived in a concentration-camp-style ghetto and were forced to wear armbands that closely resemble those that Jewish people were forced to wear during the Holocaust. The Eldians abided by strict laws imposed by a military government that executed them for petty crimes like venturing outside their encampment.
This is not the first time "Attack on Titan" has been used to demonize minorities. Threads surfaced on 4chan in 2016, co-opting "Attack on Titan" when discussing white supremacist narratives and ethnic cleansing, according to The New Republic.
In 2016, a video depicting a particularly menacing titan charging through a wall with a Mexican hat superimposed onto it also circulated online.
Ironically, the final arcs of "Attack on Titan" have been a commentary on the ills of racial discrimination and the senselessness of war.
The clip, which has since been removed from Twitter, was flagged by the platform as violating its policies concerning "hateful conduct."
It is unclear if Gosar watched "Attack on Titan" in its entirety before posting the clip, or if he was aware of the fascist subtext. Gosar did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.
The manga's author, Hajime Isayama, did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment through his publisher, Kodansha.
For her part, Ocasio-Cortez has hit back at Gosar for sharing the anime edit, calling him a "creepy member I work with who fundraises for Neo-Nazi groups." Lawmaker Cori Bush also called Gosar a "white supremacist clown," while other Democratic Reps. like Adam Schiff have called for Gosar to be stripped of his seat.
Gosar has released a statement saying the video was a symbolic portrayal of the fight in Congress over immigration.