On Demand
The Color of Satire
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
The upcoming issue of the New Yorker that portrays Barack Obama as a terrorist has the media world buzzing. Onion web editor and political blogger Baratunde Thurston talks with New York comedian Jordan Carlos about the racial politics of lampoonery.
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Comments
Of course this is satire.
How can anyone see it as anything else is beyond me.
Now satire is offensive.
This society needs help.
What is not funny is Obama voting for the patriot act, FISA and supporting the death penalty.
I used this joke at a show recently to much hissing. "Obama was asked about his position on Iran (pronounced eye-ran) and responded by telling reporters 'I haven't listened to A Flock of Seagulls since I stopped blowing toot'"
WNYC should suspend its policy of giving NYer subscriptions to doners who qualify. I have canceled by subscription after more than 40 years of being a regular reader.
Jesse Califano- 'The unspoken word. . . -written, . . .and joked about!'
There is actually nothing funny about O-Ba-Ma. . . becoming President!
Nevertheless- I think Mr. O-Ba-Ma should be satirized fory some of his over-the-top emotional speechs- I particularly like the one in which he candidly implies that his administration will stop the oceans from encroaching on America's land masses!
I think a funnier New Yorker Magazine Cover Cartoon- would be seeing Mr. O-Va-Ma taking a tentative step onto the ocean- with his wife at his back saying: "Go 'head honey- you can do it!" (Or just that visual alone!)
Jesse Califano- 'The unspoken word. . . -written, . . .and joked about!'
I'd like to give Mr. O-Ba-Ma some of my Uncle Tony's great philosophical lines, something like: "And my fellow Americans- I say to you that when I become the President of the United States- it will be far better for every one of us- ALL Americans- to be rich and healthy, rather than suffering the plight of being poor and sick!!".
And: "I am sure that ALL Americans- Democrats and Republicans alike- will agree with me when I say that rich or poor- it's always good to have money!".
And how about a SNL skit showing O'Ba-Ma standing in front of a podium, gesticulating like craze- waving his hand and pointing his fingers- obviously delivering a 'speech' by mouthing words- but with NO sound coming out of him- yet the crowd can be heard cheering wildly at certain obvious 'gesticulated junctures' - the ultimate in the political speechmaking art as perfected by Sen. O-Ba-Ma. . . of delivering a speech WITHOUT actually saying anything!! Now that is at once: 'funny' and 'not so funny'!
Christopher stop being a crazy.
Christopher please.
give me a brake
Why was it okay the ad about Jerry Falwell, tv evangelist having sex with his mother in an outhouse in Hustler magazine in the 80s, that was satirical, why isn't this one satirical? What's good for the goose is good for the gander.
It is kind of amusing to see so many Obama supporters get their panties in a twist over the New Yorker cover. As for the media frenzy, that is what we are reduced to, that is how national campaigns are run. This is what gains great interest, this is where the microscopes come out, it is quite pathetic.
Even though the cartoon mocks Obama's ignorant critics, of course the Obama camp is going to slam it. What are they going to say, "We thought that was funny. Those idiots who think false things about me deserve to be mocked."
Isn't it interesting that there was seemingly no end to the jokes and off color remarks on Hillary during the primaries while Barack still is the equivalent of joke Teflon? What does that say about sexism vs. racism in America today?
I understand the editor's reasons but it really was just in bad taste. He just didn't get it that some people--most people--would only SEE the cover and not read the magazine's lean toward Obama. It was just not in good taste, that's it.
Soledad O'Brien, feh! What IS her profession?
Jesse -
huh?
christopher - please; with 40 years under your belt you still react like this?!
With the title- The Politics of Fear- the cartoon is great satire.
No one cares about Hillary!!! Also no one cares about sexism versus racism. Jonathan find something new.
I held off comment until my New Yorker arrived yesterday and I could judge for myself. Actually, I thought it was pretty funny, certainly no more offensive than many of their other covers. All this brouhaha seems to revolve aroud the deification of Obama, and the instant branding of any questions about him as racist.
The problem with the New Yorker piece was that no black editor was involved. The NY Times today lamented the fact that late night shows are all white hosted and white writers.. why is this still so. Are there no black editors in 2008? No black comedy writers? They would have pointed out the bad taste and maybe come up with something truly funny.
This country is too immature to deal with racism on an intellectual level. Do you really think we are ready for racist satire?
Just look at the posts from Califano.
I think the society needs help, as Michael Winslow said above. Anybody with half a brain could see that this is the kind of cover the New Yorker does--remember the Crown Heights cover? The one with Cheney and the guy he accidentally shot in a Brokeback Mountain montage? Only literal-minded people would be unable to get this--and unfortunately, there are too many literal-minded people in this country.
It's unsuccessful satire. Just depicting the slurs and smears does not make the final leap to satire. The only difference between this cover and a cartoon in a Stormfront newsletter is context, and not everyone has the inclination to take in the two steps of irony required to "get" the satire here.
Just dumb. The cover is really dumb. The equivalent would've been a cover image of Bush as Hitler or Giuliani as a Klansman, also popular fringe takes on both politicians.
It is obvious what the New Yorker was trying to do, but this is up there with Whoopi Goldberg encouraging Ted Dansen to wear black face makeup at the Fryers Club. Intelectually we get the satire, but it was stupid.
Liberal Bloggers Accuse Obama of Trying to Win Election -- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-borowitz/liberal-bloggers-accuse-o_b_110371.html
Maybe after all the sh*t the American people have been through over the past 8 years - 16 if you include the political fighting of the Clinton years - they are tired of laughing about it.
Obama offers some hope that maybe things will change for once. Mocking that change might not be so funny to most people.
a surrealist obama joke:
two cows are standing in the pasture. one turns to the other and says /although pi is usually abbreviated to five numbers, it actually goes on into infinity/.
the second cow turns to the first and says /i don't believe you, you silly cow/.
O, it is not ok that is the point.
Keep on him. Don't let him off the hook, Obama that is. Listen to Democracy Now today with Naomi Klein, she makes excellent points about Obama's shifts since he won the primary. His supporters have to stay on his tail and make him accountable for everything he says and does. She makes the points a lot clearer and in a more articulate way than I ever can do.
Chris Rock had a great joke that Rolling Stone republished, I may have the quote wrong but the gist is, "Barack Obama has two african names... You have to wonder, does he carry a spear?"
We know that Rolling Stone is pro Obama. I'd call if I had access to a phone right now.
New Yorker editor David Remnick is a clueless jerk who is totally out of touch with mainstream America. Too many people are simply too dumb to get Remnick's joke. Remnick's attempt to make the New Yorker appear cool or hip with this cover was totally lame. The cover was atrocious and disgusting.
@1,
The New Yorker cover, at best, is an inelegant attempt at satire. Mr. Remnick defended the cover on NPR yesterday saying it CLEARLY satirized the attempts to brand Senator Obama as a terrorist. That is far from clear in the image. The cover appears to satirize the Obamas showing their true colors once in the White House. I think you should look up the meaning of satire. This neither lampoons Obama’s critics, or speaks truth to anything in a clear way. Only after you hear (or read at the bottom of page two) the cover’s title is “The Politics of Fear” does the cover make sense.
The New Yorker can print whatever it wants, but this, editorially, was a myopic decision.
Jesse Califano- 'The unspoken word. . . -written, . . .and joked about!'
I think it is difficult to poke fun at O-Ba-Ma for the simple reason that the mane is himself- totally humorless... and selfserving in that he takes himself WAY too seriously!!
And hao about his humor-filled wife- the always irascible Michelle!!
i am reluctant to 'edit' the cover. I think it was satire but perhaps the artist should have placed the conceptual image within the thought bubble of someone thinking these things about Obama.
As person of color, I was stunned. I "got it" but the level of ignorance throughout this country does not lend itself for this type of nuanced not so subtle respond. I suspect the Right Wingers who don't like him will post this everywhere they can.
Why is this even in debate? What the devil is wrong with this Country? It was in poor taste! Someone used poor judgement.
The cover is irresponsible and in poor taste. Having said that, if it had appeared inside the magazine,within the context of the article, it might have worked. Too many Americans are more interested in Brad Pitt's twins than the election; they just see the cover and don't understand the satire.
Katie
I was working as a freelancer at an office downtown when a guy closed the door to the room we were in and told me an Obama joke that I thought was in VERY poor taste. The three woman who worked right outside the office were all black and I know he shut the door so they wouldn't hear. I felt sick to my stomach the rest of the day and couldn't look those women in the eye even though I made it clear to this guy how I felt about his joke. Is this some kind of sub-conscious guilt? I don't know but it was the first time I ever had that feeling and it was awful.
From the internet, God help us...
Q. What do Obama and Osama have in common?
A. They both have friends who bombed the Pentagon.
Q. Why doesn’t Barack drink Pepsi?
A. He thinks that things go better with coke.
Q. Why wouldn’t Barack salute the American flag?
A. It was ours.
Q. Why did Obama change his name from Barry to Barack?
A. He thought Barry sounded too American.
Q: What do you get when you cross a crooked politician with a crooked lawyer?
A: Barack Obama.
Susan #16,
Don't you hate Obama, are you one of those life-long Dems who may not vote for him (I may be confusing you with another)? If so and you like the cartoon, maybe it is a problem.
Where's the satire? The only reactions are coming from liberals and the Obama campaign. Where is the insulted outrage of the supposed target, the right wing knuckledraggers who think Obama is a Muslim terrorist? Since there is none, it's obvious the New Yorker missed their target.
If someone doesn't get a joke - or appreciate satire, who's to blame? Clearly, the satirist would like to let everyone in on the joke. In this case, for too many people the joke appears to have fallen flat.
Last night, on The Newshour with Jim Lehrer, Gwen Ifill hosted a segment with a professor (in Philadelphia or Washington) and with the Editor of Rolling Stone magazine.
To my mind, if there is a valid criticism of The New Yorker cover, it was of the fist bump. That actually took place, whereas the other aspects of both Barack and Michelle Obama as characterized were exactly the opposite of who they appear to be and what values they have expressed.
Ifill did ask, however, about another New Yorker cover done about eighteen months ago (or more) when the Oval Office was pictured with key members of the Cabinet (Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice) all in water up to their shoulders. The picture came from the same artist and was approved by the same editor.
Whenever one ascribes heavier moral worthiness to one's candidate or ideology vs. that of your opponents, humor, or the ability to look at yourself and the foibles of your fellow followers (or leaders), is the first thing to go out the window.
Should Senator Obama becomes president does everything anyone says about him become a racial issue
p.s. the ONION makes me cry.
According to one of the commentators on MSNBC yesterday, no one in real America reads the New Yorker anyway.
the truth wrote: "Just look at the posts from Califano."
No, those are the ones I skip over.
The New Yorker janitor asked for his impression would have said anything to please, to keep his job.
The real problem is that all we do are read headlines. Of couse if we took a little time to investigate things we wouldn't always be offended but since we love to react to the superfical we then always have to deal with these same issues. Also America doesn't need a converstion on race because none of us are smart enough to make it worth anything.
Has anyone considered that the USA has too much painful history when it comes to racism? People were brutalized for centuries. There's nothing funny about that.
There are some things that are just to sore to joke about.
p.p.s. and i love THE NEW YORKER
Barry
The reality is that white and black people dont live on the same country!
Black and white people speak dont speak the same language when it comes to race!!!
i don't see how this is satire - for it to be satire i would have thought it would need to directly refer to the people who think that obama is a terrorist. i don't see that cartoon doing that - all i see is a cartoon of obama and michelle dressed as a terrorist. how is this satire? - i still haven't heard this explained.
Just like 9/11 and the lag time of jokes about Usama, there'll be a lag time for Obama. As the extreme right sings, you say Usama, I say Obama. . .Usama, Obama, let's call the whole thing off.
Onion headline: "Black guy asks nation for change."
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/black_guy_asks_nation_for_change
Everyone talks about his last name, middle name.
Which of those did he choose for himself?
What is your middle name? When did you choose it?
Please expand your ignorance.
My god these guys are so not funny, yet they're giggling at their own bad jokes like Beavis and Butthead on meth.
Joke I heard months ago, so forgive me if it's not polished.
-- Why are white Americans voting for Obama?
He's just black enough.
I sometimes refer to our favorite Democratic presidential candidate as Barack "I really need a nickname" Obama. I suppose that's funny...
I agree with you Chris O.
I like the cover. Yes it is not People magazine, or US or Entertainment. Screw you general population of 300 million. If you read the New Yorker, you would not be such an ignorant mass.
The Obama's were parodied as terrorists. They weren't portrayed as stupid, or elitist, or brilliant. They were portrayed as violent. How can that be seen as funny?
Considering all the nasty caricatures of President Bush over the last 8 years...
the Bush Bashing industry -- from Shrub to Bushit
etc...
the cartoons of Bush making him look like a chimp etc...
It's rather funny and hypocritical for "progressives" to whine about every case where Obama isn't worshipped as the Messiah...
The NEw Yorker cartoon reminds me of the Danish cartoons of Mohammad ---
Chill out --- and bring on the cartoons of Obama as a chimp - just as was deon to Bush -- and let the hypocrisy fly....
Is this possible? A New Yorker cartoon fails to be funny or relevant?
The New Yorker would not mock the Holocaust!!! would it? yet it believes that the Black Holocuast
is ripe for amusement!
This is not satire-- satire is about depicting follies, abuses, vices, and shortcomings about the subject of the individual. This image doesn't depict such things about its subjects. It's rank and I'm not too surprised that so many of my uber liberal friends suspended their subscriptions.
That and the article mentions NOTHING about the absurd assertions of the radical right about Obama; it only talks about his career thus far.
Empty boxes make the most noise.
The image is not funny but it is satire. That was the point. If you are offended by this you're an idiot. Yes, there are idiots in the world and here's a test.
I disagree with you Chris o.
I think the medium of cartoons stings more than any other joke delivery system. Consider the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons that caused so much agitation around the world. They aren't like jokes you hear, the insult is fresh every time you see it. Also they usually draw you funny.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYjhFjvw5gk&feature=related
Yeah Karen but Bush IS an idiot. Senator Obama and his wife are not a Muslim terrorist!!
i could laugh a lot harder if I weren't certain that this cover is being reproduced on the web and otherwise and will be an effective campaign tool for the other side in certain states.
#1, I think it's a great cover.
#2, satire, from a historical perspective, does not have to be funny and can in fact be quite offensive. Bennett on CNN compared the New Yorker cover unfavorably to Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal," but I think if you were to research the reception of that essay, you would find that many readers have found it offensive and not funny.
#3, I think the backlash is more a function of the dynamics of campaign punditry and 24-hour news cycle pseudo-analysis than it is a function of the quality of the image itself.
Your guests this morning are incredibly irritating. I wish they could stop cracking each other up long enough to have an intelligent conversation. I had to turn off the radio.
The cover was a mistake, like a lot of mistakes. Let's just move on, and wait for the cover of McCain.
"My god these guys are so not funny, yet they're giggling at their own bad jokes like Beavis and Butthead on meth."
AGREED!
These guys are NOT funny. It's painful.
One of the great things about having a lousy president is the humor they inspire. If any president is going to be off limits to comedians, for any reason, it promises to be a very boring next four years.
#60
what are you ranting about the "Black Holocaust"
such nonsense.....
I've read a dozen people grasping for an appropriate anology from the right ("What if this were the cover of the National Review?," etc.). But I think these are misguided. It once again assumes that Obama is the target of the satire, and not the fringe right that laps up these ludicrous rumors. A more apt anology might be if a conservative weekly (say, The Weekly Standard) printed a caraciture of Obama depicted as a saint--which THEY HAVE. They of course don't have to depict Obama followed by thousands of sheep to get their point across of how they view Obama supporters. We get it. And nobody on the right is telling them, "psst... watch it, our readers might ACTUALLY believe that he's the Messiah."
There is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING funny about O-Ba-Ma. . . the man; his candidacy- or the notion that he could actually BECOME the President of the United States!
And in that- therein lies the real joke!
I yelled "dryer" in a crowded theater once and no one laughed.
A poorly timed routine poorly executed weak routine.
I think the New York magazine cover from a few weeks ago (McCain and Obama doing the fist jab on the beach) was a much more successful joke. It references these issues but kept it light-hearted.
i compare the PC crowd to the fundamentalist who protested the Muhammad cartoons.
we need to grow up already.
#14, Yes, once anyone knows the covers title is “The Politics of Fear” it makes sense… Is potentially even funny. Where do you see “The Politics of Fear”? Not on the cover. Not on the inside of the cover. Not on page one. On page two. The COVER is what’s on display. If a title is necessary for the intent of a caricature to be clear, then it’s bad satire.
As far as other covers go… Katrina, cowboys, Cheney shooting somebody in the face, etc. These satirical covers were based in and lampooning truth. Posters saying this cover is great because it takes Senator Obama to task… I ask; takes him to task on what? His wife being a member of the Black Panthers and him being the Janjaweed in America? Give me a break.
Funny or not, it’s just a failed attempt at satire.
You people are nuts. The cover was hardly a piece of comic brilliance, but it's nothing to be up in arms about. Relax, jesus.
#59
Why do you think this fails to be funny or relevant? You don't see it as making fun of the conservatives and their attempts to muddy Obama's name?
It's a psychological play to be funny and to get a reaction out of people and to rattle their cages.
Think beyond the surface.
The problem with this cartoon is the complete absence of the subject of the satire in the picture. Many have suggested that the same picture in someone else's thought bubble would have made it funny. Maybe a "This fear paid for by..." tagline?
re /the surrealist obama joke/
see, the joke is that the second cow is right.
pi is usually abbreviated to /two/ decimal places - 3.14...
The fact that the content of the lengthy articles (New Yorker...) will be totally eclipsed by the cover art is an indication of our visual society, where, for better or for worse, it is entirely appropriate to "Judge a book by its cover."
this is why the fund drive falls to reach its audience....
I wonder if Mel Brooks' 'Blazing Saddles' was required viewing for the nation, would we be having this discussion in such detail now??
maybe print media has been forced to resort to shock value to sell, but a half-hour radio discussion on this? really?
This is perfect satire and one of the best NYer covers in a long time. It's hilarious, and, yes, I am an Obama supporter.
Those that worry that it will be taken the wrong way need to take themselves less seriously, have more faith in the intelligence of others, and regain their sense of humor.
Those that don't get it need to brush up on their satire. Perhaps, start with some Jonathan Swift. Or is he too "offensive," as well?
Lighten-up folks.
Next topic already, please!
I think that there is such an uproar because this unlikely event touches america's worst nightmare.
The problem with this country is that most of you, most Americans, and most people discussing this on the radio, are missing the actual point of this satire.
The point:
How ridiculous it is that some could attempt to cast this candidate as an America-hating "secret" Muslim, who is far outside the mainstream.
It was important for us to have the discussion about how many on the right are getting away with that through subtext or sometimes very directly (through the email chains and a few Fox News moments).
We need this issue (of the degradation of our "political debate") in front of everyone's face, not glossed over and tacitly accepted as it is, and the New Yorker lampooned the sources while putting the issue right where we need it.
It is not a failed attempt at satire. One must willfully ignore the subject of the satire, the ignorant voter, not the Obamas. MOreover, it is now in its second day of news coverage. Quite a success, indeed.
This raises another prickly issue of bias - not racial or political, but having to do with intelligence. I know no thinking person who has seen this who didn't understand it as satire and who didn't understand that its effect has to do precisely with its ferocity. Are we now going to hear calls for censorship of jokes and cartoons that are too subtle or sophisticated or beyond the abilities of some people to fully grasp?
I think it's intersting that your guests have repeatedly mentioned the upper-crust, snobbish attitude of The New Yorker on NPR, a media outlet that during it's fundraisers categorizes The New Yorker as print version of NPR/WNYC.
Irony abounds.
The left has sown what it now reaps...
after all, we must look at the underlying reasons for why they hate us, er, why they portray Obama in satire as a Muslim
All the nasty, offensive cartoons of Bush, all the hateful propoganda from the moveon.org crowd demonizing Christians, Republicans etc... have opened the floodgate for Obama bashing cartoons
pretty ironic for "progressives" who are always ranting about "blowback"
Chris O--I am a lifelong liberal/progressive independent, registered as a democrat so I can vote in primaries, who has twice voted for Nader and often for the Greens and may well do so again. This is not because I have a problem (your non-credentials as a psychotherapist are showing), it's because I am anti death penalty, pro gun control, pro public campaign finanace, pro separation of church and state, anti FISA, pro civil liberties, and anti Iraq war. Perhaps you disagree with these positions, which is certainly your right, and I will not therefore stoop to labeling you as "having a problem."
Two people kissing in public, yikes, next they will show their ankles and maybe their knees with a short skirt, God forbid, I can't stand it, I am so insulted!!!:)
brian, will you address the new yorker cover from several months ago that had barack and hillary in bed together, and barack was reaching over hillary to answer a red phone? how was that okay, but this cover is being attacked?
These guests are really annoying and sound stupid. I miss George Carlin.
This thread is closed.
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