In last Tuesday’s class we spoke on many different things including the Lebron and Gisele on Vogue picture. It was said that this picture depicts racism because of the famous picture of King Kong holding up the white, blonde, female who appears to be in peril. This specifically got me quite annoyed that this picture caused any type of controversy over racism in today’s society. The issue of the magazine clearly elaborates that’s this specific magazine focuses on “Secrets of the Best Bodies”. Lebron is in very good shape, he is basically not human in that sense and in our society today, the way the term “beast” or “not human” is used not to demean anyone. The type of people that look at this and instantly see racism are the type of people that search for racism in every situation. If you look hard enough for something like racism and distort the actuality or intent of what you are seeing, then of course you could form a racist opinion. But that is just it; just because one person raises the idea that this picture is racist, just means simply that is there belief and they are entitled to it, but they are the same people searching for racism in a situation just to raise a debate and get the sympathy for the individuals that suffered many years ago, when the sympathy of those individuals is fully understood, there is no reason to bring the horrors of the past and relate it to those of today just to cause a stir. I am certain if such a public figure like Lebron James felt he was being put in a racist situation, he would not have done this photo shoot. When asked the question “Does racism still exist to the extent that it is depicted”, I simply say no racism does not really exist anymore, but ignorance still does.
Gene,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, this vogue cover was completely taken over the top by people that are looking for it to be racist. When it comes to something like this, people see what they want to see and if they truly believe it's racist then they will see it as being racist. True there were similarities with past King Kong pictures, but people can see similarities in anything if they're looking for it. It's people like Jesse Jackson that take things way out of proportion just to cause a stir or make more money/publicity. Like you said Gene, if Lebron had any feeling that this photo shoot was going to be racist in any kind of way he wouldn't have done it. Good post.
Nate Dudzik
Gene,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with both of your views on this topic. Too often in todays world, do people look to deeply into situations like this and it becomes a constant struggle. I truly believe if people like Jesse Jackson for example would quit bringing up these kind of situations, that the racism in the United States would almost be irrelevant. It is just their comments and constant racism references happen so frequently, it is always on our minds.
Good Thoughts Fellas!
Nate Riley
Good Evening Gene,
ReplyDeleteLast week when were talking about the Lebron and Gisele photo I couldn't believe what I heard. People in this world make things bigger than what they should be. I'm convince all the controversial situations going on are to make money. Like you said if Lebron thought it was a racist act it would not have done it. In class I stated that people who automatically think something is racist is stuck in the mind set of racism. This is terrible and my question is why do people think like this and jump to so many conclusions without find out the truth.
-Sparkle Robinson
I agree with your opinion, I also thought that the people who saw this as racist are just looking for something wrong with the picture. Like you said, why would Lebron want to be in a picture if it has a racist background? Why would Lebron want to take act as King Kong in a picture on the cover of a magazine? That wouldn't make any sense which is why I believe this picture isn't racist at all. I think people need to relax and not be so jumpy to state something is racist.
ReplyDelete-Joey D'Agostino
I guess my questions for everyone are these:
ReplyDelete1. Does racism still exist in U.S. society?
2. If it does, how does it operate?
Dr. Spencer
Gene,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that many people today are always searching with something racist in every situation there is. Racism to me still exists because of those people always searching for something that is racist, even if it is not. My personally believe is that if you do not acknowledge race it will become less of a problem. The same thing goes for the LeBron cover, to me there was nothing racist about it. Some people though just look for something racist no matter what the situation is.
Josiah Blevins
I believe that racism still does exist in our society today, but I don't know how it operates so to say. Obviously the degree/amount of racism today is not nearly that of the past, but it definitely stil does exist. As for the Vogue magazine cover, I also believe that the individuals that view that as racist are just trying to create controversy (or truly think it's racist and doesn't understand the younger generation's lingo/symbolism). If there was a survey on individuals 30 and younger about whether or not that picture is racist, I would guess that somewhere around 90% would say it is not. That's just how our minds work and how society has changed overtime.
ReplyDelete-Michael Discipio
I believe racism still does exist in our society today. The way it operates is different than it did in the 60s and so on but we still see people not choosing someone because of their race not because of how qualified they are for the job. As for the cover of Vogue, I believe that the cover was not a portray of racism. I believe the cover show Lebron's strong muscular side that we see him as and for the model her beauty. Anyone who put a comparison to King Kong has racist thoughts in their head and that is the only way they can see a comparison of the two.
ReplyDelete--Jenny Kelley
Hi Gene!
ReplyDeleteI agree with this blog post! When I first saw that picture in class, nothing negative about the photo came to my mind. It is amazing to me, that some people instantly compare that to King Kong holding a woman. I think to see that, you have to really have that mindset, or prior knowledge and have done extensive research in the past to realize that. However, the people working on the cover for Vogue obviously made the photo somewhat similar to a past King Kong picture. There was too many signs making it obvious that they were trying to emulate a past image of King Kong. I do believe racism exists today, this is very unfortunate. I was raised to treat and respect everyone equally. Although the world today has gotten better, there are still situations where I see it exist today.
-Brett Creamer