"The New Yorker" asks, "Why so serious?"
Really, the folks at The New Yorker thought this was funny? Cancel my subscription, please.
The latest cover of this supposedly prestigious magazine has been pretty much widely acknowledged as tasteless and offensive, though New Yorker editor David Remnick would have you believe that it’s simply “satire.” His attempts to explain after the jump.
What I think it does is hold up a mirror to the prejudice and dark imaginings about Barack Obama’s — both Obamas’ — past, and their politics. I can’t speak for anyone else’s interpretations, all I can say is that it combines a number of images that have been propagated, not by everyone on the right but by some, about Obama’s supposed “lack of patriotism” or his being “soft on terrorism” or the idiotic notion that somehow Michelle Obama is the second coming of the Weathermen or most violent Black Panthers.
However, Remnick is not at all concerned with what his readership thinks. Upon being told that some subscribers have thrown out their renewal cards and others simply won’t be reading the rag anymore, the editor somewhat shrugs it off, saying, “It’s not the first time.”
I understand that this cover may have been meant as “satire,” as commentary on the prejudices that some have against the Presidential hopeful, but I have to wonder where the editorial staff’s sense of good taste went. Surely, they were aware that publishing this depiction of the Obamas would lead to some uproar, surely they must have known there was potential for this to be seen in a light other than the one that was intended. From where I stand, this illustration seems to only reinforce whatever unfounded fears people may have about the Senator. In the end, the whole thing comes off as a gross error in judgment.
But what else does this say? I mean, would we ever see a New Yorker cover depicting Sen. McCain in a similarly “satirical” manner? Given the magazine’s reputation for being liberal and non-partisan, one would think so. Yet I don’t think that would ever happen. At least McCain, through his spokespeople, has expressed disapproval over the cartoon.
Not surprisingly, there are some idiotic media outlets that are all “Get over it, this is being blown out of proportion!” — namely, Radar, which happens to be co-owned by Yusef Jackson, son of castrating spokesman for all Negros, The Good Reverend Jesse Jackson. Things that make you go, “Hmmmmm.”
Thanks to HuffPo, Gawker, Politico, and The Guardian. Oh, and “Racism for Breakfast” is not mine — I stole that from Elliott Wilson.
