Derrick's "Libra" explores the complex relationship between capital power and the masses in the media age through the Kennedy assassination, rather than revealing the truth of the event. The novel reorganizes between official and folk judgments, showcasing postmodern subjectivity. The academic exploration of Oswald's political activism has overlooked his close relationship with Kennedy. Examining the relationship between the two from the perspective of media culture politics can more accurately grasp Oswald's subject position and extract Derrick's political intervention and criticism of contemporary media culture. Oswald's frequent interaction with the media, as well as the flourishing of American media culture in the 1960s, made him a key figure in interpreting textual symbols. Culture is seen as a continuous process of producing meaning, and meaning generation is the result of textual symbol interpretation. This article will examine "Libra" from a cultural and political perspective, with the Kennedy Oswald "twin" relationship as the main thread, revealing the limitations of media ideology in achieving power manipulation at the textual symbol level, examining how the masses represented by Oswald in the novel seize power from the control of media ideology, and constructing the possibility of micro politics in popular culture.

The 'Secret' of Television Presidents: The Symbolic Logic of Media Ideology Operation

Explored the evolution of the concept of text, expanding from initial written language to symbols and codes in cultural contexts. Bart defined text as the openness and autonomy of language, while Fiske viewed text as a carrier of cultural symbols, emphasizing that the public also consumes its cultural significance when consuming cultural products. Derrick's "Libra" reveals how television culture became a tool for capitalist ideology to control and manipulate the masses through the historical background of the Kennedy assassination. Kennedy, as the "first television president," used his television image to attract the public and achieve implicit ideological control. Fiske believes that celebrity images, like other cultural products, are ideographic symbols composed of signifiers and signifiers. Delillo's novels demonstrate how Kennedy, through the combination of television imagery and political ideas, formed a specific correspondence and achieved the political intention of capitalist media ideology. The image of a television president has become one of the cultural products on the production, circulation, and consumption lines of capitalist society, achieving all-round ideological infiltration through television. Foucault's theory of "spatial empowerment" is used to explain how television transforms private space into a network of regulatory power, achieving implicit control over the masses. Through the scene of Oswald and his son watching TV, 'Libra' demonstrates how power subjects exercise daily ideological control in subtle ways. The openness and closedness of the text coexist, and Kennedy needs to grasp the scale to maintain the dominance of capitalist media ideology. Once the public's interpretation deviates from the priority meaning, it may pose a challenge to the capital power subject. Derrick chose "Libra" as the title of his novel, intending to allude to the dialectical tension between discipline and rebellion between Kennedy and Oswald, as well as the subtle balance in their relationship. Oswald represents the masses in opposition to the capitalist system of domination. He breaks through the barriers of disciplinary power in his interpretation and meaning production of the image of a television president, deviating from Kennedy's preconceived "directional meaning". Although Kennedy achieved ideological control by establishing a connection between television imagery and political stance, it also exposed the fragility, limitations, and weaknesses inherent in the intended meaning of television imagery, providing the public with a textual field for meaning production and competition.

The Transcendence of Zero: The Symbolic Resistance Strategy of the Masses

Delillo explored the symbolic resistance potential of the masses in "Libra" and revealed their ability to seize symbolic power in ideological struggles. The novel portrays the public's usurpation and resistance to capitalist media ideology through Oswald's subversive interpretation of Kennedy's television image. Although Oswald belongs to the "zero" abandoned by society, he has the potential to resist mainstream power discourse. He creatively collaged Kennedy's media image by rewriting textual symbols, showcasing the creativity and subjectivity of the masses. Oswald's personal heroism and extreme admiration for Kennedy's halo exceeded the expectations of capitalist media ideology and became a resistance and subversion effect. The novel also shows how Oswald collected and utilized media information to become an active individual player. He didn't really want to kill Kennedy, but to achieve political goals. Oswald was accused by the conspiracy group of being a scapegoat for killing the president, but he used this accusation to promote his personal heroism and became a practitioner of using the resources of the ruling system to produce his own culture.

Zero or Dual Body: Mass Symbolic Power and Micro Politics

Explored how the masses represented by Oswald in Derrick's "Libra" challenged mainstream narrative authority through cultural counter blocking tactics such as parody, and constructed a micro political mass culture of the oppressed. Oswald's "assassination crime" repeatedly played his face on television, becoming a "twin" image opposite to Kennedy, reflecting the mockery of the national idol of the capitalist ruling class by the lower classes of society. Oswald's death did not dissolve his subjectivity, but instead became a cultural symbol through television broadcasts, inspiring viewers' ethical responsibility and social justice towards marginalized others. Oswald's on-screen image not only resists official discourse, but also inspires viewers to reflect on the logic of violence, becoming an effective symbol for connecting subcultural groups and forming secret communities. Derrillo revealed the loopholes in the ideological manipulation of capitalist media through the image of Oswald, demonstrating the active resistance consciousness and potential of the masses. At the same time, the chapter also points out the drawbacks of symbolic resistance strategies, which may exceed the limits of resistance and develop into terrorist acts. Derrillo successfully portrayed the rebellious Oswald image in "Libra", completed the usurpation of power, voiced the voice of the lower classes of the masses under the capitalist media ideology system, and promoted mass style change and micro politics based on daily life practices.