Chamisa's political own-goal

FRENCH realist, painter and sculptor Edgar Degas once retorted: "What a horrible thing yellow is."

He made this statement after discovering that despite the colour being associated with cheerfulness and warmth, on many occasions it was distorting his pastel drawings and oil paintings.

This statement by Degas came flashing in my mind when I saw little Nelson Chamisa nervously announcing his new party, Citizens Coalition for Change, with yellow as the party's new dominant colour.

He looked so uneasy, so unsettled and so doomed during his address to the media. He tried to put up a show, but the hollowness of his address must have worried even his most gullible supporters. I took a closer look at those who had accompanied him to the press conference and their subdued demeanour clearly showed they were unsure and unconvinced by what their leader was doing.

In due course, we will know why what was supposed to be a happy moment was such an unsettling moment for him. He tried to look and sound authoritative, but there was something that betrayed his bravado and got me thinking: Was it the yellow colour that was just messing him up?

As I was wondering what had hit little Nelson, one of Zimbabwe's highly respected communication experts sent me the following WhatsApp message: "Is it surprising that the colour yellow, while it is bright, can also lead to visual fatigue, just like the fatigue brought about by the so-called new birth by Chamisa?

"I really had to evoke my unusual desires to understand the psychology or emotions of colours that public relations and communication gurus often talk about when I saw the aggressiveness that Chamisa tried to exhibit as he was announcing his new party name.

"I expected excitement associated with the launch of new things, but alas, all I saw was frustration associated with the colour yellow. It brought memories of their violence to other opposition members like the late Trudy Stevenson and Thokozani Khupe, and to innocent civilians each time they get frustrated after losing elections.

The aggressiveness associated with yellow is often shown by Chamisa when one sees how confrontational, angry and irritated he gets at people who do not tow his line.

"And now what more can I say about triple C - Chamisa Chimbwasungata Chete! The gloves are off." Indeed, the communication expert was spot-on. In an article titled "The two-faced nature of yellow", an American professor who specialises in visual and mental associations of colours wrote: "There are some general positive associations with yellow that just can't be ignored. From young ages, it is engrained into our minds that yellow is the colour of the sun, and what does the sun represent? Warmth, light and happiness . . .

"On the other hand, yellow can draw some negative associations. When intense, it is associated with flames. Some shades of yellow are associated with cowardice. Studies show that babies cry more in bright yellow rooms.

"And tempers are more likely to flare around yellow. Every colour has its pros and cons, but yellow's gap might be the greatest. In large amounts, it makes people irritable and argumentative."

By abandoning Morgan Tsvangirai's red colour and choosing yellow, little Nelson is now really showing us his true colours. Let's get ready for an overdose of cowardice, petty arguments, silly bravado and irritating politics. And oh yes, let's get ready because buried in that yellow colour, the baby will cry even louder.

Besides exhibiting the negative psychological effects associated with the colour yellow, did anyone notice little Nelson's somewhat strange body language?

When one is announcing the birth of his or her party, isn't it that the atmosphere should be electric, exhilarating and highly charged?

What was that damp squib all about?

Little Nelson's eyes dotted from corner to corner with his mouth wide open as if he was seeing some invisible ghost.

I saw lots of fear and paralysis in his eyes.

Where was the supposedly charismatic Chamisa?

What exactly had grounded him like this on such a day?

And did you hear the way he spoke?

He sounded like a husband who goes into a maternity hospital to welcome his baby and instead of celebrating the new arrival, he starts shouting: "We now have a baby! This is my baby! This is my baby," as if the paternity is being contested.

We know that symbols are central features of organised human life as they help to define perception, shape the way we view the world and help us understand what goes on within that world. We also know that despite this key role in shaping our understanding, there is never a single interpretation of a symbol that everyone within the affected community will accept.

Symbols can actually mobilise antagonistic political views, leading to different factions.

Something at that press conference showed that there is tension in little Nelson's new formation.  It's clear that the science of signs and symbols wasn't handled well.

Something was hurried, something was forced and something was not agreed upon among little Nelson's close buddies.

There was no consensus on the political symbolism that little Nelson chose for his new baby.

The name of the baby and the yellow colour are set to haunt little Nelson.

The lack of self-confidence that little Nelson exhibited at that press conference is a precursor to the disaster that awaits this opposition party.

Of course, on social media they will give the impression that the party is gaining traction, but for the first time, little Nelson will discover that selling empty promises to real people on the ground is a tall order.

Some people are already calling it a political own-goal while others are describing it as political suicide.

We all know little Nelson overestimates himself and we all know his hangers-on are prepared to lick him dry, but we never thought they would make life so easy for Zanu-PF.