Urban Thought | 10 Observations Racism is rampant in the world we live in today. You cannot get away from it unless you live in a vacuum. Some people try to ignore race but their are those who won’t allow us to.
My friend sent me an e-mail last night with the following:
Subject: Spot the difference: what is this US Vogue cover trying to say?
Attachment: KingKong1.jpg
At first, I was skeptical to pay it any mind because I know she is always sending me stuff that she thinks is racist (she is in the UK and she over analyzes everything). But she may be on to something now that I see how the image is packaged.
When I first saw the cover at Highbridnation I didn’t think of it as being racist. Most people thought it was great to finally get a Black Male on the cover of Vogue, Lebron being the first. After some thought from an ESPN writer, which I also caught wind of at Highbridnation, some people find the depiction to be offensive. I thought she was reaching with most of her statement. After some time of digestion I can see why someone would look at it with the crooked eye.
The whole time, while commenting on other sites about the cover, I hadn’t actually read the article. I still haven’t but what I did was go to the Vogue website and try to figure out what the article was actually about:
Dream Team: What’s the secret behind the worlds best bodies? Robert Sullivan keeps score as superstar athletes go head-to-head with today’s top supermodels.
The following shots are done by Annie Leibovitz.
Lebron James & Gisele Bundchen:
Caroline Trentini & Michael Phelps:
Doutzen Kroes & Apolo Anton:
Raquel Zimmerman & Jared Rome:
Shaun White & Daria Werbowy:
ORIGINAL COVER:
People are concerned about the creative direction of the cover. What are your thoughts? Based on the spread above could they have gone in another direction? Does the cover scream racism? Is it all in fun good fun?
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Tags: king kong, lebron james, racism, vogue magazine
I think you unintentionally hit on the key point…the scream. As you pointed out there is absolutely nothing wrong with the spread, the photos are beautiful. However somewhere along the line in the shoot for the cover, the photographer (who probably doesn’t watch the NBA) said “give us a scream,” assuming that was the manly athlete thing to do.
The Creative Director obviously saw the shot and selected it the winner. It then passed by many eyes before final approval and I’d be willing to bet one pair of those eyes noticed the curious association. Now does it scream “Racism?” Absolutely not…were the people at Vogue oblivious to the inferred King Kong reference…once again the answer is no.
Very thorough work here. Great Job.
I’m still trying to figure out how this can be racist. Yes it’s comparing him to a beast (not really a savage as some say) but why does it have to be “he’s a beast because he’s black” instead of “he’s a beast because he is a beast on the hoop court”?
I don’t think they were consciously racist, I do however think they should have thought twice before changing the cover. There were other pics that were better, but they are playing on both fantasy and fear. It’s not like they aren’t known to be shocking at times.
well its not like the shot just came outta nowhere
it’s in keeping with the general theme she uses of contrasting the athletes to the models
I just think it was not the best pic out of the bunch
especially for the damn cover
well when compared to the OTHER cover…yes it does seem a little um….racist. But….I cant speak ill of the VOGUE magazine as it is one of my favorite rags. *sorry*
I’m disturbed by the fact that all the women in the pics are white as snow white. Their insistence that she of alabaster, snow white skin is the epitome of perfection, the ultimate prize AS USUAL. So, in that way, YES, Vogue is racist. There are a ton of top supermodels of varying ethnicities that they could have employed and made a far more interesting pictorial with, but they chose the white blond image to shove down our collective throats YET AGAIN.
God forbid a female model of color sully this pristine theme.
As for the shot with Lebron, yeh, it’s racist that they chose that one for the cover. Especially when you hold it up to the King Kong pic, that becomes very apparent.
I really didn’t see the cover as racist. But on another site I saw some other shots taken by the two of them during the photo shoot that were clearly better pictures, then i began to wonder of all then shots why was this was choosen if it wasn;t the best shot? You can’t read the mind of the person making the selection, but you must wonder if this clearly wasn’t the best shot then what made them pick it?
I don’t think they’re racist, just thoughtless…
Well seeing along the King Kong picture as Fitness Diva said, something becomes apparent. But I think that may just be a bad coincidence. The photos are all tastefully done with the athletes varying in ethnicity. I mean the Jared Rome pic looks rather King Kong also wouldn’t you say?
ALL: Thank you for weighing in on the topic.