They knew what they were doing…
Sometimes bad press is good press. It’s better than no press.

So what if they had come across this picture before? It hardly equates to a copy of the image, or hyperbolic accusations of a racist image (on Vouge’s part). IMHO, I think this was simply a “Shape Issue” and these two have different shapes.

It’s definitely a take on the picture, from the silohuette, to the open mouth, to the white toed shoes, to the similarly styled dress which also matches the color of the statue of liberty. I don’t know why they chose it, but it’s surely not a coincidence.

Um, are you suggesting Anna WINTOUR is well-versed in WWII propaganda images? This shitstorm is the proverbial tempest in a teapot, if I’ve ever seen one. There is such a thing as coincidence, people.

I guess Ms Liebovitz won’t be voting Obama either.

Imagine the fuss if LeBron or Giselle had been anti-semitic!

I’m not sure why some people try so hard to make us look so bad. Maybe, their just trying to make themselves look good. That picture doesn’t offend me the least. Our men look great. The blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice.

If you put both photos next to each other like I did on my site then yes it does look like King Kong and Jane. No Disrespect Lebron
http://www.blacknews4us.com/

i don’t think the issue is so much that Vogue was trying to replicate an explicitly racist image, or was trying to stir up race controversy. It’s that the image of a big black man and a smallish white woman juxtaposed is part of a larger racist history. I don’t think Vogue or the people in the picture can accused of advocating or stirring up racism. It’s simply that images aren’t simply benign, particularly when taken in their historical context. To put it another way, they should be allowed to run the image, but that doesn’t mean we can’t excavate and discuss its aesthetic form and meaning as an historical phenomenon.

fatso,
Thank you! I haven’t been able to get any sort of terse explanation from any of the numerous blogs that I’ve been to discussing this image, and while you’re right in saying this should be discussed, I suppose what bothers me is that other “larger” issues aren’t conversed.

he really is, with all honesty….

http://basketballnonsense.blogspot.com

Cord, you are my hero.

So do you think you should maybe link back to those who ACTUALLY identified the relationship between the poster and the cover photo?

http://journals.democraticunde...../krkaufman

Chupps

If it was Hulk Hogan and Halle Berry, no one would have said a word, Fact of the matter is America
gets a little more racially mixed every day, and less and less people care about the rants of racist people, they just don’t matter anymore, GO
Obama !

gisele isn’t playing helpless, she looks delighted to be with lebron. she’s smiling, active, powerful (her foot is forward in the pose), and her arm is around him. so even if they were consciously recreating the wwI poster imagery (which I doubt), it’s made clear that, there’s nothing threatening about this black man and white woman together.

I thought this was offensive before I even saw that WWII poster.
“america gets a little more racially mixed every day”?? racist people are everywhere, they’ve just gone into the closet. now they have the myth of racial equality in this 21st century to hide behind.
just look at the shitstorm over Obama’s pastor. How many presidents have we elected with connections to Jerry Falwell and Pat Roberston?? Wake up people.

Did I miss something? Why are people coming to the conclusion that the WWI poster is in any way racist? We fought the Germans in WWI. The ape as a wild beast in this recruiting picture represents the Germans. Sometimes things are what they are without some deep hidden meaning. I see power and beauty in both LeBron and Gisele, not violence and fear.

to who ever wrote the no. 18 “huh?” post

AMEN.

No. 18 huh? wrote:
“Why are people coming to the conclusion that the WWI poster is in any way racist?”

That is missing the point completely. It is the depiction of LeBrun as an ape that is racist. It’s obvious that Leibovitz knew what she was doing when she posed that picture.

What’s worse is censorship. No discussion–just remove my post! wow.
– king kong.

At a studio photoshoot, a photographer may take hundreds of photos in a dozen or more “poses.” The nuances and expressions change in every one. It’s not like your family photo at the beach where the photographer yells, “freeze!”

Vogue and Leibovitz may be different from other pubs/photogs, but chances are the editors and art directors chose several cover shots. The one used would have been the one that got the best reaction from all quarters, which may have even included James and Bundchen.

It would be difficult to prove that much of a racist conspiracy, so the critics let blogs manage their slurs for them.

“racist people are everywhere, they’ve just gone into the closet. ” Speak for yourself, Lauren, or at least try to broaden your horizons a bit.

If this is a coincidence, big coincidence! It’s possible, regardless, as a photographer with years of experience, she must at some point of been aware of the ramifications of this picture. He is depicted as a savage, plain and simple. There are many more creative ways she could have played on the contrast between his size and physical power and her gentle frame rather than falling back on very crude stereotypes to create that contrast. It’s actually creatively lazy and not clever. Dissapointing to see something like this in 2008 on the cover of Vogue no less.

I am truly tired of the black man portrayed as hostile and aggressive. My black husband and son are beautiful, kind and full of passion. Our young black boys do not need any more reinforcement of this negative image. I will not buy the magazine but also do not want to see it on the shelf. Our world hurts enough without the emotional display of anger on LeBron’s face.

I think you see what you wanna see. I saw the picture and i don’t think gisele’s position has anything alike with the one in the poster. The cover has lebron james and gisele bundchen on the cover, people were going to buy it, bad press or not. Lebron James’ face does not transmit anger for me. I think it says fearce, courageous, strong athlete. I don’t buy Vogue, or any fashion/celebrity magazine for that matter, but i think that you are blowing this out of proportion.
And if you are wondering, i am not black nor white, I am a mix of both

I feel the need to say that I’m black and I didn’t feel this picture was racist in anyway. Has anyone actually seen Lebron James on the court? He is a savage!!! Do you think he got his recognition because he could sort of play basketball or because he was and is very competent on the court? Obviously the latter, secondly how many people that are so quick to call this racist actually drew the conclusion about king kong before having someone else force feed you that idle gossip? I dare say a good deal of the people commenting never even saw the dayum poster to begin with. If it was a racist stint then mark it and don’t buy Vogue…you do have that option, but if it wasn’t ya’ll are by far slandering one of the biggest names in the fashion editorial business simply because you are like sheep being led. I choose to think that in the year 2008 it is nothing more than a beautiful contrast of size and shape, color and craft, and if you have that much hate inside of you, then that is something you need to personally deal with instead of projecting the insecurities and hatred you feel on the editors of Vogue. Vogue is art, the cover is art…ya’ll are doin’ TOO MUCH!!!

This is very racist

Please- Lebron is young! He has no clue of the impact that image has not only created but maintains. The violent black man. Perhaps if James had stayed in school he may have taken a black history course to enlighten himself!

They may have selected James because he has dark skin which resembles the darkness of the ape’s hair. That’s not racism.

The coincidences between the two pics are far too similar to ignore. Even if Leibowitz didn’t mean to “sample” the WWII poster’s racist overtone, she certainly meant to re-create its imagery. In her line of work, I can almost guarantee she’s seen that poster before. Furthermore, she’s an artist and is known for taking controversial photos. Did anyone else see the Miley Cyrus pictures taken by Leibowitz? There is nothing new under the sun. Why are certain images re-created over and over again? Because they illicit a certain familiarity or emotional response and that’s the purpose of any artist. They want to shake you up, get your attention. It certainly got my attention and apparently got people talking. What I find interesting is that the magazine article had little to do with that picture.

a previous poster said it best when they asked if you thought it was racist before someone told you to feel that way.

there is nothing racist about the original poster. there is nothing racist about the cover. the only thing racist in this equation is the people shouting racism.

just like the miley cyrus photo. it was a little girl’s shoulder. the only reason it was seen as racy is because it turned some pervert on, then they started saying it was terrible. if that picture was so terrible to you, stay in your house because girls even younger than cyrus will expose their shoulders. if i threw a pool party for my young niece, it wouldn’t be a pedofile orgy.

the vogue cover is a boring cover showing a man that’s built like a beast and delicate woman. if the cover is guilty of anything, it’s just being lame and uninteresting. not racist. start thinking for yourselves.