Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Where is it?

I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of my New Yorker. I think it should come either today or tomorrow. I always get excited when I see it laying on the floor of my apartment stairwell, but rarely do I actually get anxious waiting for it to come.
I just really want to see what all the hype is about with this cover they're talking about. The issue I'm waiting on should be the much talked-about cover with Barack Obama dressed like a Muslim and Michelle Obama dressed like some kind of extremist with an afro and a machine gun.
Many have come out saying the cartoon is offensive and completely inappropriate. The New Yorker says they were simply trying to "hold a mirror up" to the lies and falsehoods that have been spread about Senator Obama.
In The Washington Post, Philip Kennicott writes that "If it's a problem at all, is that its humor is intended for a relatively insular, like-minded readership: subscribers to the New Yorker, a presumably urbane audience with strong Obama tendencies. No matter what the New Yorker says about holding up a mirror to prejudice, the cartoon certainly didn't do that. It was more like a spyglass."
In defending the cartoon, New Yorker editor David Remnick said "Satire is offensive sometimes, otherwise it's not very effective." He added that the cartoon does, indeed, have a title: "The Politics of Fear." He also said the cartoon has a context. That context is what I'm very interested to look into. I'm curious if there's any corresponding article to explain the point of view of the cartoon, or if the context is simply "this is The New Yorker."

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