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Osama & Angela... um, I mean Obama and Michelle Satire
Yes, I get the joke. Yes, I was raised on Pryor and Carlin, I know how to laugh. But there is something about the "unintended consequences" that go along with this absolutely, unequivocally protected free speech that still bugs me. I'm certainly glad we are not so fragile that we cannot have this in the public square, but that doesn't mean it is not damaging. A quick perusal through the comments section on Politico and other sites will show that this image will serve as a campaign poster for McCain, for the intractable racists in this country, for the subconsciously biased liberal among us, among others. Images are powerful, and they quickly lose context or shed the explanations of their creators. Think about that wall of magazines in every newsstand, airport, corner store... very little time to read the fine print. Not to mention the lack of exploration about what White Americans actually know versus what they think they know about the Civil Rights Movement, the Black Power Movement or even Bin Laden's "jihad against America." Perhaps my real gripe is that the quality of the dialogue that will follow this latest "controversy" will again, likely, disappoint. The punditry will say whatever their demographic target is supposed to hear, bloggers will throw words like racism around carelessly and debate what is and what isn't, and in the end, the potential for discussion will end up mere talk-- the news cycle will move on and nobody will process the deeper subtexts. gkp
Comments (3)
Rec'd!
"unintended consequences" ... so true
July 14, 2008 11:08 AM | Reply | Permalink
It's really not healthy for creative people to censor themselves because of what the McCaininites or the "intractable racists" will do with whatever we write, draw, or shout. That gives the intractable racists way too much power.
July 14, 2008 11:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
nobody says censor yourself... maybe just choose not to put your creative genius on the cover of a national magazine. let's skip the naivete/idealism... this is not about healthy self-expression... dude and his editors know exactly what they are doing... selling mags. and if you are talking about health, i assume you means we need to express ourselves in the face of opposition. agreed. nonetheless, the people who are dead because some european newspapers, in solidarity with the danish press, decided to call extremist idiots on their extremist idiocy might not feel too healthy right now. my point is that in our real clever intellectual ways of standing on principle, we sometimes prop ourselves up as grand freedom fighters, when all we are doing is a) patting ourselves on the back and b) ignoring the sometimes very real implications of our actions.
gkp
July 14, 2008 11:26 AM | Reply | Permalink
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