Slate's Wesley Morris: "Between the outrage over Obama's Jeremiah Wright problems and Bill Clinton's unbelievable mutation from American's first black president into Karl Rove, I don't have the bandwidth to fight Anna Wintour. Seeing that cover as purely racist doesn't give the people looking at it enough credit. It dates Vogue for relying on the allusion but it also dates us for going crazy over it. Racial hysteria is the old black. Maybe it's so old it's avant-garde—very Vogue." [Slate, earlier]
Pirates Come Back for Second Round of Whoop-Ass (21)
· weezy says: “Gays and blacks like Obama, that’s pretty much it. Military LOVES Rush, and... »
· Rhonda says: They don’t always respect command, ever heard of the F U salute, soldiers hated... »
· bam-a-lam says: @Rhonda: The military always respects the President, no matter who he/she is. The... »
Bald A-Hole Joe the “Plumber” Now Stealing from Ignorant Poor People (39)
· weezy says: “Obama said, well I’m going to tax your earnings and give it to losers who... »
· Rhonda says: Bam, No one picked “Joe the Plumber” he asked Obama a guestion, Obama blew... »
· bam-a-lam says: “Joe the Plumber” really is a pretty bad spokesman. He’s not a... »
Obama Puppy Now Fielding Your Questions (67)
· whitney says: I didn’t have enough patience to read all of the pages of comments. PETA is... »
The Bigoted, Illiterate Tea Party Goons Gallery (106)
· weezy says: i hope all of those people protesting make 250K and above and will not take any stimulus... »
Despite Glenn Beck’s Support, Texas Will Never Secede (38)
· weezy says: @bam-a-lam: #18 brilliant post!!! #26 getreal: i agree. i think we should all get... »
GretaWire Wire (14)
· Rhonda says: Obama continues on his America Sucks 09 apology tour. Chavez and Obama looked pretty... »
Oh, so we're overreacting? Or we're drama queens?
I think it's just a coincidence. I can't imagine Annie Lebowitz (sp) being a part of something like that.
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.
I think it's great! Gisele looks good.. LeBron looks LeBron… it's hilarious!
No, this cover is NOT racist. Why? Because the model looks HAPPY! It could be defined as an ANTI-racist cover, because she does not look frightened — only happy to be secure with a
black friend who seems to want to PROTECT her!
Gee what's up next for scrutiny that great picture Leibovitz shot of Whoopi Goldberg laying in a bathtub of milk? Sadly, race relations will never improve as long as every word, image or comment is dissected and taken out of context. When I look at this cover all I see is an athelete and a hot model cavorting for a great photographer. I think Wesley Morris must be very insecure in who he is OR maybe he would have preferred Tyra instead of Gisele? See we can play the same game!
@Joe Blow: That's what I see, too. An awesome athlete and a hot model.
Anne Lebowitz is a historian of photography. Most of her best works are homages to iconic paintings and images. With her visual repertoire it is naive to think she has not seen the King Kong image. Clearly it was an homage I don't believe it was meant to be racist just visually resonant.
i think lebron looks tough and strong, not scary. 2 beautiful people. i can bet you there were tons of shots and configurations, and this one worked.
@weezy: I couldn't agree more. In the photograph, any woman looking for the type of man strong enough to lean on, protect and shield and generally take care of business, Lebron is looking mighty right. Trust me, gentlemen who may take offense, there is nothing racial here - he is quite plainly The Man. That makes the cover verrrrry interesting, especially to women. At least to this woman.