A good satire is always "offensive," to use the watchword of 1990s political correctness. That's why it works. Now that the New Yorker cover featuring a turban-clad Obama touching fists with his wife looking like a Black Panther in fatigues and Dr. Jay style Afro has been reproduced in the Indian papers, everybody can duly express his outrage.
But one thing that can't be done anymore with impunity is reproducing the thinly veiled innuendos about Obama's alleged foreign / Muslim heritage and emphasis on his race--e.g. when a flap erupted over his supposed dissing of a kid who wanted to give him a fist pump (in fact the kid asked him to sign his arm). That's why the New Yorker cover is brilliant. It steals the thunder from the right wing and exposes their sniping and conniving for what it is: Racism and Xenophobia.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
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1 comment:
it is not satire if you have to explain it on "charlie rose", cnn and/or whichever other tv station agreed to let david remnick elaborate on how trite imagery equals a brilliant satirical message.
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