The evolution of war iconography

Here’s a brief history lesson:

The photo on the left was taken by Greenspon during the Vietnam and features a soldier in an iconic and archetypical posture. It displays pain agony, possibly a call to god* all things the American public could relate to during the ongoing Vietnam war, the assassination of Martin Luther King jr. and Robert Kennedy.

This same posture was used as an inspiration for another iconic image. Oliver Stone featured Willem Dafoe on the cover and posters for the movie Platoon with the same iconic hands in the air, agony and a call to god can also be found in this posture. Oliver Stone adds a new cultural meaning to the image of Greenspon.

The same posture and reference is yet again used but now in the game call of duty: black ops. During the first quarter of 2011 this was the best selling game of all-time on Xbox and Playstation.

The iconic posture once introduced to our popular culture by Greenspon went from being part of a movement to critical movie icon to be used in a commercial computergame.

sources:
Activision Blizzard investor release details
Wikipedia
Picturing U.S. History.

*it is interesting though that the person depicted in the photo is signaling a evacuation helicopter and guiding him where to land. That's the power of projection.