Does The New Yorker Cover Offend You, Yeah?
The Obama campaign is describing the cover of this week's New Yorker as "tasteless and offensive." It depicts the candidate and his wife sharing a "terrorist fist bump" in the Oval Office. She's in a kind of Black Panther/militant getup. He's in traditional Muslim dress. A portrait of Osama bin Laden hangs on the wall.
The New Yorker released a statement saying "The burning flag, the nationalist-radical and Islamic outfits, the fist-bump, the [Osama bin Laden] portrait on the wall? All of them echo one attack or another. Satire is part of what we do, and it is meant to bring things out into the open, to hold up a mirror to prejudice, the hateful, and the absurd. And that's the spirit of this cover."
We can see both sides here. What do you think? We'd love for you to elaborate on your vote in the comments.
Posted on July 14, 2008 by - Andrew Price
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Free Speech
I consider myself an Independent Liberal; I am a brown woman of mix heritage – that is why I am brown. I am not xtian not Muslim. I find it offensive how the xtian majority whine about its miss fortunes and in the same breath oppresses and suppresses all that is not like them. I am by all accounts someone that should be rooting for Mr. Obama. I am not. I believe he took the nomination from Hillary the same way W took it from Gore or Kerry.
We seem more pictures of Bush and other presidents and Hillary that are testing the limits of even good taste; I do not believe that the NYer is particularly offensive.
Obama is another George Bush, another puppet, one without conscience or real drive, and one that dances to any music that his owners play for him. He will be even worse than George; he will suppress criticism in the name of political correctness.... Obama does not like disagreements, he wants to please everyone, he does not stand for anything, the sole fact that his campaign uses dirty tricks makes me look at McCain with renew faith.
Why is Obama opposing free speech? They shame people under the pretense of the victimhood of being black, he makes us all look bad.
I heard Mrs. Obama in many speeches before she was in the campaign trail, she is scary, she is classist, and she is racist to her core. Not because one is black or brown makes us immune to racism.... Look at Africa... genocide. Look at Latin America ... genocide; look at China, oppression and genocide....
Obama feeds us “hope” and “change” Hitler did the same to my ancestors.
I firmly believe that Obama is posed to become the first American dictator that impose Martial law onto ALL OF US, regardless of our color or believes....
:(
Posted on July 14, 2008 — by C62
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Perilous Humor
Important point to keep in mind: this cover is way more about the American people than it is about the candidate or his wife.
Blitt told The Huffington Post, "It seemed to me that depicting the concept would show it as the fear-mongering ridiculousness that it is.” Right. I think it does. I totally get the joke. And I'd like to assume that most subscribers to the New Yorker get it as well. But we have to know that, with the vast majority of non-New Yorker-subscribing America, it's a crap shoot. And a lot of people will NOT get it.
I'm all for smart satire but I hope it doesn't do more harm than good.
Posted on July 14, 2008 — by alexandra_m
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not affended
No this does not bother me the cover of the new yorker, stop making special treatment for Obama. He is black and
american his race has no effect on why we should single him out every time some white person says something. But i feel this country is not ready for a black president, just listen to all the news and thats on every station if
he were white he never would of made it this far
Posted on July 15, 2008 — by agnes
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More Vague Than Their Usual Cartoons
I'm a bigger fan of The Economist than The New Yorker (of course you guys are my favorite though) and I think The New Yorker should have followed their style on this cover. If they wanted to bombard people from the newsstands with all these rascist images in the name of satire, they should have expained the context of the images with a headline of "How Rove Would Paint the Obamas" or something similar.
I am sure the editorial team of the New Yorker only wished to make an elitist statement as opposed to a racist one, all in the name of stirring up controversy and drumming up much interest in their magazine. (Note to GOOD, please don't ever do this! You can't, you have to stay "good" remember. If you do anything similar make sure you have a headline explaining the context of your controversial cover image to save your ass.)
What I found even more offensive than the actual cover was the attude taken by The New Yorker that followed, this sense that if you're offended you don't get the joke because you're not as smart as us here at The New Yorker. I am smart and well educated and I have high enough self esteem to admit that I don't always "get" the vague humor of the cartoons in The New Yorker, but this one I got and simply felt was in terrible taste, with the punch line fumbled.
I would find it hard to believe they could increase revenue or circulation with this event. Sure it gets people talking, and doing satire of Obama is trickier than satire of a white male candidate since you have to be careful with how stereotypical the cartoons look, but who is saying "Yes, this is my kind of magazine" after this issue?
Posted on July 20, 2008 — by kugelgirl
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Supposed to be satire, but maybe a little truth?
I hope everyone has read Michelle Obama's Princeton University thesis, that the Obama campaign tried to hide. If not, you might want to check it out...I found to be militant,and racist...sometimes when people admit little truths you only have to look harder for the big truth. We as a people are looking with blinders on so we can remain politically, socially and racially correct. I chose not to be led like a sheep to the slaughter.
Posted on July 24, 2008 — by shiloh
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