An Irishman, A Canadian, and An Italian Walk Into A Bar...
Being a civic minded individual, I tried to educate the masses about irony and satire. Remember? Here and here?
Apparently, the world needs a refresher.
This, the most recent cover of The New Yorker magazine, for example, is satire. And, hold on to your hats and glasses, it's also irony.
It's satire because it makes fun, in an exaggerated fashion, of the rumors swirling around about the Obamas...they hate America, they are terrorists, they are radical Islamic militants, and they will do a happy victory dance in the Oval Office if Barack gets there because, as Jon Stewart chided Obama himself, "(they) will commence the complete domination of the white race."
It's ironic because it's absurd. All of it. The bald fact that any of the above could be true is entirely ridiculous and no rational person could seriously believe it. And yet...and here's why irony is...uh...ironic...people do. Believe it, that is. Even though that belief occurs on an amorphous and/or visceral plane, people believe it.
Why is this the cover of The New Yorker? Well. I'll tell you.
It's the cover of The New Yorker because the people at The New Yorker are brave and smart.
They are brave because they knew that they would be hearing about this "shocking" and "disturbing" and "scandalous" and "in poor taste" bit of cover art for more than one measly news cycle.
They are smart because they understand and appreciate satire and irony, and they think it's more important to point out the fact the hideous truth that the preposterous rumor-mongering surrounding the Obamas is nothing other than racism...I wish I could have written thinly veiled, but I don't think it is thinly veiled, perhaps "veiled in a gossamer whiff of some kind of poor-quality veily-like substance."
Because it is.
Anybody who doesn't acknowledge that he/she harbors some kind of biases, prejudices, or subconscious rigid belief in stereotype is a liar. We all do. Listen in on your own thoughts as you walk down a city street in this country and hear what your subconscious is telling you. This doesn't mean you are a bad person or, even, that you are a racist. It just means that, like everybody else, you are a product of your environment and that you are human. It also means that, now that you have introduced yourself to this aspect of your subconscious, you're going to have to work a little harder to retrain your brain.
If, by the way, while you are walking down a city street in this country and it's not your subconscious but your conscious mind saying things that reflect prejudice and rigid belief in stereotypes, you might very well be, in fact, a racist, and that's a bigger problem. For everyone.
So people are freaking out about a magazine cover. Mostly because they are afraid that "people in Kansas" (those poor shlubs in Kansas...everyone who isn't from Kansas talks about them like they can't hear us) won't get it and will use it to validate their racist beliefs.
A) People in Kansas don't read The New Yorker. I'm KIDDING, KANSAS, RELAX! (Or, you know, hike up your big girl britches and try to move your social politics out of the dark ages so we can take you seriously.)*
As Art Spiegelman said today, this cover is like a vaccine. It hurts a little bit, but it might just protect us in the future from something truly bad.
C) It doesn't matter if you are pro-Obama or pro-McCain or even pro-Lyndon LaRouche (although...come on!), this is an important vaccination.
* No offense, Kansas. It's just rhetoric. We'll get to that later in the semester.
Apparently, the world needs a refresher.
This, the most recent cover of The New Yorker magazine, for example, is satire. And, hold on to your hats and glasses, it's also irony.
It's satire because it makes fun, in an exaggerated fashion, of the rumors swirling around about the Obamas...they hate America, they are terrorists, they are radical Islamic militants, and they will do a happy victory dance in the Oval Office if Barack gets there because, as Jon Stewart chided Obama himself, "(they) will commence the complete domination of the white race."
It's ironic because it's absurd. All of it. The bald fact that any of the above could be true is entirely ridiculous and no rational person could seriously believe it. And yet...and here's why irony is...uh...ironic...people do. Believe it, that is. Even though that belief occurs on an amorphous and/or visceral plane, people believe it.
Why is this the cover of The New Yorker? Well. I'll tell you.
It's the cover of The New Yorker because the people at The New Yorker are brave and smart.
They are brave because they knew that they would be hearing about this "shocking" and "disturbing" and "scandalous" and "in poor taste" bit of cover art for more than one measly news cycle.
They are smart because they understand and appreciate satire and irony, and they think it's more important to point out the fact the hideous truth that the preposterous rumor-mongering surrounding the Obamas is nothing other than racism...I wish I could have written thinly veiled, but I don't think it is thinly veiled, perhaps "veiled in a gossamer whiff of some kind of poor-quality veily-like substance."
Because it is.
Anybody who doesn't acknowledge that he/she harbors some kind of biases, prejudices, or subconscious rigid belief in stereotype is a liar. We all do. Listen in on your own thoughts as you walk down a city street in this country and hear what your subconscious is telling you. This doesn't mean you are a bad person or, even, that you are a racist. It just means that, like everybody else, you are a product of your environment and that you are human. It also means that, now that you have introduced yourself to this aspect of your subconscious, you're going to have to work a little harder to retrain your brain.
If, by the way, while you are walking down a city street in this country and it's not your subconscious but your conscious mind saying things that reflect prejudice and rigid belief in stereotypes, you might very well be, in fact, a racist, and that's a bigger problem. For everyone.
So people are freaking out about a magazine cover. Mostly because they are afraid that "people in Kansas" (those poor shlubs in Kansas...everyone who isn't from Kansas talks about them like they can't hear us) won't get it and will use it to validate their racist beliefs.
A) People in Kansas don't read The New Yorker. I'm KIDDING, KANSAS, RELAX! (Or, you know, hike up your big girl britches and try to move your social politics out of the dark ages so we can take you seriously.)*
As Art Spiegelman said today, this cover is like a vaccine. It hurts a little bit, but it might just protect us in the future from something truly bad.
C) It doesn't matter if you are pro-Obama or pro-McCain or even pro-Lyndon LaRouche (although...come on!), this is an important vaccination.
* No offense, Kansas. It's just rhetoric. We'll get to that later in the semester.
Well said.
And that's all there is to it.
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well said. i think the hue and cry on this one is over the top.
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You are clearly smarter than a fifth grader, my dear.
M
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People in PA don't get it either. Trust me, have you been to some places in PA? I have. In fact, my family is FROM THERE.
Take a chill pill, America.
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Go ahead and offend Kansas ... what are they gonna do, flog you with a cornstalk?
UH-OH ... I just stereotyped Kansas. Am in big trouble now.
babs
(BTW, very articulate editorial .... you should submit to The New Yorker.)
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Brava, WHR.
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I think I may love you.
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An opinion, opposite of your own = "preposterous rumor mongering and racism"? Good lord girl, give the rest of the world the space to have their own opions without throwing dirty labels on them.
Rational person here (they do let me out on my own) - who also gets satire, and thinks the cover is hysterical - but who believes that the Obama's reputation was not altogether manufactured. They made some public statements that don't play, as they say, in Topeka. Which, last I checked, was still part of the USA and allowed to vote.
People get to have opinions and beliefs - some we like, some we don't - you get to have yours - some I like, some I don't like - and not once have I feel the need or desire to throw a dirty label on you.
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Certainly he has said things that don't play well with LOTS of people, geography aside, but the rumors I am directly addressing are that he hates America and is a Muslim Terrorist. Neither of which are true. That is, in my opinion, preposterous rumor mongering. And I believe that those rumors, particularly the second one, are borne out of the fact that he's a black man. The cover merely names the 800 pound elephant standing in the corner of the room, and I respect that. I certainly try to give others the freedom to have and express their opinions, and I absolutely not labeling anyone who disagrees with the merits of the cover (or that there are any) or doesn't like Obama. I am OK labeling someone who manipulates images and facts for political purposes...no matter who they are in favor of or against. I don't consider conscious and willful racism an actual, valid opinion, though. Even in Kansas. Thanks for writing. It's always good for me to go back and read my own words and see them from someone else's perspective and figure out where I might have done things differently.
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