Tuesday 15 July 2008

Getting people hot under the collar on my side of the world:

That New Yorker cartoon: The Times tells Obama to get over it

LA Times editorial board discusses the New Yorker magazine's cover cartoon -- is it satire? What do you think? The ed board weighed in today on the New Yorker's magazine cover — and in one of those rare moments, seems to agree with conservative commentator Michelle Malkin, who told the candidate to "grow a pair." From the editorial:

Let's be frank. People sophisticated enough to read, say, newspaper editorials are smart enough to know that the New Yorker's cover art this week — portraying Barack Obama as a be-turbaned Muslim and wife Michelle as an Afro-sporting terrorist with an AK-47 across her back — is a work of satire. But what about the millions of dumb Americans who will think otherwise?

Obama's campaign is deeply worried about the legions of morons who they apparently believe make up the heart of this great nation.

But, as Swati Pandey pointed out in yesterday's round-up, not everyone agrees that the cartoon actually works as satire. Here's Pandagon's Jesse Taylor:

... it’s like holding a satirized Klan rally by holding a Klan rally...with a laser show that makes a three-story image of a burning cross. A bigger, badder, better version of the thing you’re attempting to mock doesn’t constitute mockery, it just constitutes a gaudier version of the thing you’re addressing.

2 comments:

Paul said...

I don't quite get it as satire. I'd be pissed if I were him.

I mean, I see that there are two possible takes on the piece. It could be showing an exagerated view of what the artist believes to be a very real issue, or it could be trying to depict that such views are ridiculous.

With the first scenario, the artist is making a political opinion based on race and trying to play up to peoples fears thereon. Obviously that is bad.

If the second scenario is the case, the artist has forgotten that the mere fact that there are such racist views that could be satarised means that people with such views will feel that their views are being supported by this cartoon. I mean look at the first comment written on the article in the LATimes!

It's a lose-lose situation for Obama. I don't believe that that means that the cartoon should be dissallowed, but does mean that Barack should be openly pissed and offended, and the credibility and responsibility of the New Yorker should be questioned.

Greg said...

'I've seen and heard worse'

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/07/15/lkl.obama/index.html#cnnSTCText

Sounds like the man himself is taking it in his stride...

Cant help but think that a lot of Americans are getting their wee in a froth over Obama. I'm all for it if it gets him in, but fanaticism of any kind is dangerous.