Is this cover of The New Yorker a satirical depiction or is it just plain inappropriate?
From Jonathan Martin:
At a press availability Sunday afternoon in San Diego, Senator Obama was asked, according to the diligent Maria Gavrilovic of CBS News: “The upcoming issue of the New Yorker, the July 21st issue, has a picture of you, depicting you and your wife on the cover. Have you seen it? If not, I can show it to you on my computer. It shows your wife Michelle with an Afro and an AK 47 and the two of you doing the fist bump with you in a sort of turban-type thing on top. I wondered if you’ve seen it or if you want to see it or if you have a response to it?”
Obama (shrugs incredulously): “I have no response to that.”
...The magazine explains at the start of its news release previewing the issue: “On the cover of the July 21, 2008, issue of the The New Yorker, in ‘The Politics of Fear,’ artist Barry Blitt satirizes the use of scare tactics and misinformation in the Presidential election to derail Barack Obama’s campaign.”
Obama's campaign has responded:
Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton says: “The New Yorker may think, as one of their staff explained to us, that their cover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature Senator Obama's right-wing critics have tried to create. But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree."
Last week, we heard Jesse Jackson say that he wanted to cut Obama's nuts off.
This week, The New Yorker chooses to put ridiculously over the top caricatures of Barack and Michelle Obama on its cover.
Poor, poor Obama. Jackson wants to castrate him and now The New Yorker has him wearing a turban, his wife toting an automatic assault rifle, with a portrait of Osama bin Laden hanging above the fireplace holding an American flag engulfed by flames, all in what looks to be the Oval Office.
Of course, it's satire. Although the Obama campaign says it's "tasteless and offensive," I think they are jumping for joy.
Even though the point of the image is to show that Obama's right-wing critics are loons utilizing the politics of fear, I'm sure Obama will be seen as a victim by many. The cover will surely fire up Obama's supporters while simultaneously shaming anyone trying to paint Obama as a terrorist sympathizer and his wife as a militant.
Obama enjoys playing the victim card. This cover is a gift.
It's funny. When Vice President Dick Cheney is depicted as the dark, evil Darth Vader, that's not really considered satirical, let alone tasteless or offensive. It's a fair comparison. The same applies to President Bush being depicted as a chimp or a dunce or Hilter.
Lefties aren't called out for pushing the limits of taste. Images of Cheney as Darth Vader or Bush as an ape aren't used to lampoon the extremism of Left-wing critics. They're supposedly fair and accurate presentations of reality. Nothing offensive about that. (Google "chimp." The FIRST result: Bush or Chimp?)
Bottom line: The New Yorker cover is a win-win for Obama. It shames those on the fringe Right for keeping alive misinformation about Obama the Muslim. It also puts Obama and his wife in a sympathetic light, victims of lies.
I wonder if The New Yorker plans to do a similar satirical lampoon of the caricature Senator John McCain's Left-wing critics have tried to create, pointing out the disgrace of the non-stop attacks demeaning him as unfit to be President simply because of his age. Ageism is rampant in Election 2008. Older Americans should be offended by that.
That brings to mind another aspect of the way Obama is drawn on the magazine's cover. Does Muslim dress equal politics of fear?
The New Yorker's satirical lampoon actually insults Muslims more than anyone else.
No comments:
Post a Comment