More New Yorker

[lollardfish]

Ok, so I'm over the New Yorker thing. It's a well-executed cover that successfully encapsulates all of the preposterous lies about the Obamas. It's not a well-executed satire, to do that, they would have needed the image coming out of an elephant's mouth, or something.

Anyway, it didn't work as satire. But now, I hope, every time some idiot tries to spread lies, one can use the cover as counter-ammo.

Comments

[lollardfish.livejournal.com]

I've been thinking about this. I feel that in this case the image does not successfully direct the reader toward the alleged object of the satire (the people making up negative myths about the Obamas), but instead seems to mock the Obamas in the worst way possible.

It's within the rights, of course, of the New Yorker and the artist to just mock the Obamas, but they have said that this is not their intention. So either they are lying (unlikely), or the image does not effectively reach its intended goal (likely), or the people at the New Yorker and the artist are so clever that what they are actually satirizing is "us" in the broadest possible sense having predicted "our" reaction to the image.

Regardless, if they are telling the truth about their goals, the image does not, I think, meet those goals. I also think they wouldn't do a similar image of McCain the angry, womanizing, war-mongering, flip-flopping, super rich, corrupt, kow-towing to the party's positions, yet pretending to hold a sense of moral superiority. This is just as lampoonable in image, is much more true than Obama the unpatriotic Muslim, yet I think they would never do it.

[pied-piper70.livejournal.com]

I've been thinking about this. I feel that in this case the image does not successfully direct the reader toward the alleged object of the satire (the people making up negative myths about the Obamas), but instead seems to mock the Obamas in the worst way possible.

I agree...There's no contextual signifier within the picture to denote that they are poking fun at the negative representation rather than at the Obamas themselves...

As the kids like to say: FAIL