What's an antonym of demonize (other than deify)?
Propagandists often demonize people they don't like, from Native Americans to Communists. At the same time, truly evil people are often portrayed as patriots, philanthropists or all around good guys.
Can anyone suggest a good antonym of demonize or demonization, other than deify? I'm not crazy about it, because it sounds a little overboard. I don't think many people are truly portrayed as God-like. I'm looking for a similar word that simply describes a bad person who's portrayed as a Good Samaritan.
Here's an example of how I want to use the word (if it exists):
The government demonized Native Americans for several decades.
The corporate media ______ George W. Bush and Bill Gates, portraying them as a patriot and a philanthropist, respectively.
Update
Awesome discussion! Lionize and idolize are among my favorites, though glorify got the most votes by far.
In one of my comments, I mentioned whitewash, which is very clearly a political term (though not limited to politics exclusively). The problem is that whitewash has a connotation of repairing damage; when a person does something bad, we whitewash their record. Therefore, it was hard to imagine how propagandists could "whitewash" a person with a neutral record.
But I took another look at whitewash after AshleyZ suggested it as an answer. In fact, the first definition offered by Merriam-Webster is "to make (something) whiter by painting it with whitewash."
It's clearly referring to an object (not a person) that's being literally painted. The second definition suggests a coverup of a person. But if we extrapolate, I think we could argue that whitewashing can loosely cover the broad spectrum of propaganda designed to make people look good, which can be divided into three areas:
1) Traditional whitewashing, where one is praised as a "philanthropist" or a "patriot" AFTER one does something bad.
2) Pre-emptive whitewashing, where one is similarly praised even before doing anything bad (or before anyone learns that you've done something bad).
3) General whitewashing - where the goal is to simply make a person, organization or group look good. An example might be Christians who think they're "the chosen people."
Of course, this is all personal opinion. Strictly speaking, it would appear that only the first example above is definitively covered by the term whitewashing.
Solution 1:
To whitewash is to ignore someone's bad actions, or focus on their accomplishments in the absence of context that would otherwise make them look bad. You might also want to consider framing: when their side kills first responders, it's terrorism; when our side does it, it's a signature strike.
Solution 2:
Glorified may fit your case rather perfectly
adj. (of something or someone ordinary or unexceptional) represented as or appearing more elevated or special than is the case.
[Google Definitions]
Thus, in your case,
The corporate media glorified George W. Bush and Bill Gates, portraying them as a patriot and a philanthropist, respectively.
Solution 3:
One word that came to mind that isn't already listed is lionize.
Oxford Dictionaries defines it as:
Give a lot of public attention and approval to (someone); treat as a celebrity:
The Free Dictionary defines it as:
to treat (a person) as a celebrity.
Vocabulary.com defines it as:
To lionize someone is to see them as important as a lion. Republicans continue to lionize Ronald Reagan as their ultimate hero.
For example,
The corporate media lionized George W. Bush and Bill Gates, portraying them as a patriot and a philanthropist, respectively.
Solution 4:
You could consider using to idolize which means:
To adore excessively; to revere immoderately.
Idol is broadly used to mean:
A person or thing that is greatly admired, loved, or revered.
Wikipedia defines idol as:
An idol is an image or other material object representing a deity to which religious worship is addressed or any person or thing regarded with admiration, adoration, or devotion.
We use the noun idolization when we refer to the excessive worshiping of the North Korean leaders, Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il, and Kim Jong Eun by North Korean people.
It is just an example of the usage and the word fits in the context where someone is excessively admired or revered.
[Wiktionary, Oxford Online Dictionary]
Solution 5:
To contrast with 'demonize', in the same moral domain, I suggest
sanctify tr.v.
....
4. To give social or moral sanction to: "The only books I wanted to read as a teenager were those sanctified by my elders and betters" (David Eggers).
[sanctify. (n.d.) American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. (2011). Retrieved January 25 2016 from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/sanctify ]
An example from 2006:
On Iran, the U.S. policy has been irrational ever since the 1979 revolution. But Bush has divorced it from reality altogether. That Ahmadinejad calls the Holocaust a myth and wants to wipe Israel off the map does not sanctify Bush's vacuity.
(From "India not a nuclear weapon state, says US" at Pakistan Defence site.)
Another good choice, in the same domain and along the same lines, would be
canonize tr.v.
....
5. To treat as sacred; glorify.
[canonize. (n.d.) American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. (2011). Retrieved January 25 2016 from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/canonize ]
An example containing both 'canonize' and 'sanctify' from 2003:
That is where "DC 9/11" is destined to make you tear up or tear out your own hair, depending on your political persuasion. Producer-writer Lionel Chetwynd, whose lengthy credits include "The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz," is clearly out to canonize Bush as noble leader steering a troubled nation through trauma. Hollywood loves to do this with wartime presidents: Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson and FDR enjoyed such bio-pic eulogizing. They were dead, though, and long out of office. Chetwynd is eager to sanctify a president who hasn't yet won re-election, probably some sort of new record in premature Hollywood historical treacle. Let talk radio rail against those show business lefties all they want: Bush has a friend in Chetwynd.
(From "'9/11' delivers emotional kick: Pro-Bush portrayal ends up too preachy", Chicago Tribune, September 05, 2003.)