When I first saw Barry Blitt's illustration of Michelle and Barack Obama I was outraged. My first reaction was to immediately forward this crude depiction to family and friends. The issue hit the stands this week and although I think I have a better grasp of where the magazine was trying to go with the idea, I still believe they may have missed the mark.
In my view the apparent attempt to lampoon the absurd nature of the baseless attacks that have been heaped upon the Obamas, will be lost on many of those who this cartoon had perhaps been intended to reach. My concern is that this will instead only stand to validate the false images that already exist in some people's hearts and minds. A predictable number of voters are simply perennial partisan participants divided neatly along party lines and permanently affixed to either end of the political spectrum. However, there are a fairly sizeable number of Americans who may be "in play" this fall. A notable segment of these voters seem to possess what they perceive in their own minds to be legitmate fears about Senator Obama. Right or wrong that is their reality. Our country was scared shitless in September 2001. Those events rocked our core, and in the processs left a slew of our fellow citizens unable to fully recover. They appear to exist in a perpetual, and perhaps permanent, state of paranoia. They may never even pick up this issue of the New Yorker and examine its contents but, the image of Barack in the turban, Michelle with the assault rifle, the "terrorist fist bump", the flag in the fireplace and Bin Laden presiding over it all has been burned into their brains. There's no telling what effect this sort of material may have on some consituents but, from my vantage point it doesn't seem as though a whole lot of good can come if it.
The other night I somehow ended up engaging in a bit of political discourse with a tow truck driver who'd come to assist me. (Albeit reluctantly, and only after he'd retrieved the keys from my car.) He's an average fella who watches the news before bed, reads the local paper in the morning and clearly considers himself to be a concerned and informed citizen. I'll give him the concerned part... Now, I'm not totally cracking on the guy because he certainly didn't try and come off as a "know it all" who had all the answers, nor did he seem to be particular interested in promoting mistruths about either party. But, halfway through the conversation he defiantly exclaims that "Obama wants to take all of the guns away!" Wait, what???? When the hell did he say that?? Did he really say that??? And so it goes...
By placing this illustration front and center on the cover, the New Yorker succeeded in making quite a splash and generating an incredible amount of publicity for themselves. In its own way, the artwork is actually pretty clever and makes quite a statement. But, in my opinion because of the distasteful nature of this cartoon, the true meaning seems to have all but vanished and has left the magazine in a negative light.
-A
In my view the apparent attempt to lampoon the absurd nature of the baseless attacks that have been heaped upon the Obamas, will be lost on many of those who this cartoon had perhaps been intended to reach. My concern is that this will instead only stand to validate the false images that already exist in some people's hearts and minds. A predictable number of voters are simply perennial partisan participants divided neatly along party lines and permanently affixed to either end of the political spectrum. However, there are a fairly sizeable number of Americans who may be "in play" this fall. A notable segment of these voters seem to possess what they perceive in their own minds to be legitmate fears about Senator Obama. Right or wrong that is their reality. Our country was scared shitless in September 2001. Those events rocked our core, and in the processs left a slew of our fellow citizens unable to fully recover. They appear to exist in a perpetual, and perhaps permanent, state of paranoia. They may never even pick up this issue of the New Yorker and examine its contents but, the image of Barack in the turban, Michelle with the assault rifle, the "terrorist fist bump", the flag in the fireplace and Bin Laden presiding over it all has been burned into their brains. There's no telling what effect this sort of material may have on some consituents but, from my vantage point it doesn't seem as though a whole lot of good can come if it.
The other night I somehow ended up engaging in a bit of political discourse with a tow truck driver who'd come to assist me. (Albeit reluctantly, and only after he'd retrieved the keys from my car.) He's an average fella who watches the news before bed, reads the local paper in the morning and clearly considers himself to be a concerned and informed citizen. I'll give him the concerned part... Now, I'm not totally cracking on the guy because he certainly didn't try and come off as a "know it all" who had all the answers, nor did he seem to be particular interested in promoting mistruths about either party. But, halfway through the conversation he defiantly exclaims that "Obama wants to take all of the guns away!" Wait, what???? When the hell did he say that?? Did he really say that??? And so it goes...
By placing this illustration front and center on the cover, the New Yorker succeeded in making quite a splash and generating an incredible amount of publicity for themselves. In its own way, the artwork is actually pretty clever and makes quite a statement. But, in my opinion because of the distasteful nature of this cartoon, the true meaning seems to have all but vanished and has left the magazine in a negative light.
-A
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