Controversial New Yorker Obama Cover is Also Progressive
Is this depiction of Barack Obama racist and offensive? And if - as satire - it's intended to skewer rumors and smears already out there, does it need to be so graphic? I'm on the fence about that.
But one issue I feel strongly about is that the cover suggests that the candidate and his wife are both fair game. The inclusion of Michelle in this particular image says to me that we've crossed a line, but not in the negative sense. By showing Michelle as her husband's equal in this bit of political satire, the New Yorker has acknowledged that she holds sway - that she has influence in this campaign. In other words, she's fair game because she's strong enough to take it. She is a player, and she is part of the powerful equation of change.
As the cover depicts, Michelle is right there with her husband the President. She's not ornamental. In fact, she's packing heat. Dressed in army fatigues she is the warrior, the fighter, the fully engaged co-conspirator. She's not reduced to a a passive pretty helpmate.
Contrast this with recent coverage of Michelle in mainstream media. Her carefully planned appearances, including her guest host stint on The View, all seem to be taking her in a lighter, fluffier direction. Many have said the campaign is out to soften her. But why would they do that when 18 million voters in this country have indicated they support the candidacy of a strong woman for President?
Michelle is smart, smart, smart. Better yet, she's disciplined and dedicated. She's sacrificed her own career to support her husband's candidacy without making herself look like a martyr or a resentful bitch. She's pragmatic about her husband' run for the White House. In short, she is real and represents the truth of where many spouses stand today - as a flexible yet powerful partner in the planned merger of marriage.
That a satirical cover in the New Yorker dares to take her on speaks volumes, as more conventional covers fronting Rolling Stone and Newsweek put the shine and the spotlight on him and ignore her or leave her out of the picture.
In the general election, if Obama regains nearly all the votes of women previously supporting Hillary Clinton, it may have less to do with him and more to do with Michelle, his significant other. Emphasis on the significant.
I want to see him in the White House, but I want to see her there even more.
My colleague, Middle East Guide Pierre Tristam (who conveniently happens to be a longtime New Yorker cover collector) considers this issue (pun intended) and not only shows us the controversial cover, but also walk us down memory lane as he points out the magazine's history of political satire covers (it's pretty thin.) I urge you to read his thoughts for a more complete perspective, along with US Politics Guide Kathy Gill's commentary on the meaning of satire.
Related articles:
- Satire or Slander: The New Yorker's Obama Mujahideens
- Satire, Like Most Art, is in the Eye of the Beholder
And more on Michelle Obama:
Comments
This just in… Drudge is reporting from inside the Obama campaign that Michelle is not accompanying him on his trip to Afghanistan and Iraq… and will not have an official role in the administration… “she will stay at home and raise the children.”
So someone is spinning those images… so she is less threatening.
The constant rukus regarding the Post, GIVE IT A BREAK. Hell they beat up the Clintons and others all the time. Just because they are Black, the NAACP has to comment and so many others are upset. Hell this is, as I said before an angry Black woman and it shows. Hell, I wouldn’t mess with her. She can hold her own. What did folks think, that she could get away with saying the things she says and not be held accountable every day.
I dont think Americans have the subtelty to be good satirists
Good satire should always have an element of tongue in cheek humour and personally living in England I found the depiction of B Obama dressed upin a questional garb was not satitere and not even a funny drawing I am not on the fence as regards using family (wivesand children)its bad form and unworthy of what is considered to be an advanced civilisation Thomas J Maxwell Devon England
I just hope this presidency doesn’t turn out like when Clinton was in office and Hillary was the real power.