9GAG Posts: Romanian Protests
Image Source: https://9gag.com/gag/aeb315j?ref=ios.s.others
Image Description
This image is a comparison between the crowds of people that attended Obama's and Trump's presidential inaugurations, versus the crowd that attended the recent anti-government protests in Romania. The size of the crowd seems to suggest that more people attended the Romanian protests than the presidential inaugurations in the United States. The title of the photo also mentions that the number of people who protested in Romania was of 300.000.
Image Analysis
One of the images that underline a positive outlook on Romania and Romanians in general, this one points both to Romanian patriotism and to how Romanians coming from different places and having different beliefs can put aside their differences in order to unite against a government that is threatening the future of the country.
As such, a first trope that we can identify here is the one of the patriotic Romanian who is passionate about his or her country and willing to attend protests for days on end in the cold in order to make sure that something will change. The second trope that comes out of this image is the one of a strong national identity that all Romanians share and which they are not afraid to express.
Something that I think is worth mentioning here is the fact that while in the United States, people gather in large numbers in order to celebrate the leader of their country and stand next to him, in Romania, this impressive number of people gathered not for a celebration, but for an event that marks a dark period in Romania's recent history. Ultimately, this can be seen as a positive characteristic of Romanians, who even if they might not always be united, are capable of putting aside all differences when someone who is in the lead is threatening their national identity.
