Martyrdom: Becoming more powerful in death than living (George Floyd)
Just a bit of a disclaimer here, I don't condone police brutality, and do not side with the police in this incident, this is merely an observation.
One thing I noticed with the George Floyd incident and BLM was that George Floyd is one of the few cases where someone has become more powerful in death than in life.
Pretend that George Floyd had the same incident happen but was sent to the hospital and made a full recovery. How would this case differ from what happened in reality? Let's start by logically laying out some facts:
- Floyd had an extensive criminal record, which includes armed robbery on a pregnant woman in her home
- Floyd was not very cooperative with the police when they showed up
- Floyd was high on drugs. Fentanyl, Cannabinoids, and Methamphetamine were found in his system
Had Floyd made a full recovery, all these would be brought to light because it's taboo to tarnish someone's reputation when they're dead (and unable to defend themselves), and he would probably tarnish his own image since he was quite obviously violent (as evidenced by his drug use and criminal record).
To conclude, I think in cases where someone with no power dies tragically (in full public view), and is at risk of having their own power undermined in the future, can become more powerful dead than alive.
Hey JP,
This is a very deep and insightful observation.
And there might be a lot of truth im what you say.
It's happened more times throughout history as well.
Even Jesus, had he not died from prosecution, the Christian message wouldn't have been nearly as powerful ("he died for our sins").
In a way, dying for a cause might be the ultimate power move one can pull.
A good example in recent fiction was Ragnar Lodbrok from Vikings, who died, almost by choice, a very dramatic martyrdom-style-public-execution-death with a power move as a very palpable or concious motivation (to pressure his sons to seek revenge and be very angry knowing the gruesome details of his father torture and murder,etc) (by the way: Travis fimmel did an interpretion of Ragnar many find highly charismatic.)
a good example can be berlin from money heist too
The scene speaks for itself
That dramatic death maked this possible later, as the details of the execution pressure the warriors to reunite under the myth of Ragnar.