Read the following article and think about it critically before you decide to post your response. Here is the image in question.
Do you think this image portrays a racial stereotype(s)? Or do you think the public is overreacting? Whether you agree or disagree with the criticism of this photo, what does this controversy say about race and image in contemporary America?
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4-A response is posted to the article, along with at least one separate post responding to a peer's response. Be sure to address the peer by name to avoid confusion.
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70 comments:
Are you pulling my leg? This is controversy?
Mathematicians estimate that over 1.6 people die every single second. Children dying in the cradle, or barely out of it, from birth defects, illnesses and exposure. Men and woman gunned down in genocides, homes burned in arson by the hand of man and nature, and THIS is controversy?
This is bollocks.
Absolutely, unmitigated, egocentric, obsessive, pathetic bollocks.
Racism is only such if you allow it to be. Perhaps if you didn’t interpret athletes by their skin tone, it wouldn’t matter. The Yahoo News article states “the magazine noted with some fanfare that James was the first black man to grace its cover” and “white athletes are generally portrayed smiling or laughing, while black sports figures are given a “beastly sort of vibe.”. How do you notice this? You only see this if you LOOK for it. It is racism to define these models by the color of their skin, it is racism to believe that their portrayal is a mark for the race. It is racism that this is all that these people see in this magazine, and it is bollocks that more people will read this dribble than things that matter, the death of innocents.
Society has gone to hell.
In my opinion I don’t really think that this image is being racist at all. It all depends on an individual’s perspective and the way they see the picture. I just think it shows how 2 people are on the top at this moment. I got the idea of a black athlete with a white model. I don’t see anything wrong with it. Although I don’t think the picture is racist, I can see where someone will get those types of ideas. It is true that most white cover people always come out smiling but I’ve seen black people smile in pictures too and made it on the cover of a magazine just not Vogue. All black people are not the same. Not all African American’s are dangerous, criminals, or vicious. In my opinion I think that people are over reacting. People should be worried more about other issues in this world other than a cover of a magazine. In America people do worry about stereotypes and race. I believe that there’s always going to be stereotypes and racial issues. I think that if all jobs were even and like Walker said if more black people would have been there as magazine editors then this issue would have never happened, because someone would have cached the stereotype, and the message some people were going to get out of this. But if James is pleased and happy with his cover, and if he says he was just showing some emotion then people shouldn’t worry about it. This is because it’s not them showing that message and the cover to make black males look bad was never the intention. Now James doesn’t care what people think or say because he told the paper “Everything my name is on is going to be criticized in a good way or bad way,” James told the paper. “Who cares what anyone says?” So this is pretty much saying that people are over reacting and are getting the wrong idea. I think that if Vogue would have known it was going to be such a controversy the picture would have never been taken. – Candy Martinez
I agree with what Josh said. I can't see why the cover of a vogue magazine is considered controversy. There are many serious issues out there and this doesn't even compare! It's pretty ridiculous! Anyways, I don't think that this cover doesn't show any racism and Lebron was just having fun on the photo shoot and he was just representing himself out there as an athlete or as and individual because everyone person has their own ways. He himself is pretty pleased with the cover and so are many others and like what Lebron said "who cares what anyone says?".
I really don't understand how this can cause controversy.
The second thing that stands out to me most when I look at the cover of the magazine is SHAPE ISSUE. Obviously, this has something to do with the image, considering it says the featured athlete and model's names. Being a reader of Vogue and many other magazines, the photo does not speak to me as racist at all. It is simply highlighting and showing different shapes of healthy and well respected people. The fact that a magazine even takes the notion to celebrate people of all shapes and sizes is wonderful; and to show an African American man in contrast with a healthy Brazilian model shows that not only people of the white race get to the grace the magazine's cover. I don't think that it is a racist photo at all. LeBron could simply be showing strength and concentration and dedication to his sport with the face that is said is a "beastly sort of vibe." I don't understand why the media and people of America have to judge LeBron by the color of his skin. It could very well be David Beckham or another white athlete on the cover in place of him making that very same face. In the article, LeBron is quoted saying he was "just showing a little emotion," which really should show that it was his choice to make the face and that overall, he was happy with the outcome of the photograph. The intention of his facial expression or the photo in general was not taken to insult the African American race, but to show strength and shape and power. Because LeBron said that he was happy with the photo, I don't think that people should look at it with a racist perspective.
I completely agree with what Joshua said. When I first looked at the image without reading the article I had no idea how it could be interpreted as racism. Once I had read the article, I could kind of see their viewpoint but do any of the readers even stare at the cover long enough to see this? No, and this definitely isn't racist if you need an article to tell you why it is. -Chance Bentley
When I first looked at the picture with out reading the article I saw nothing wrong with it, other than it being a little creepy. Once I read the article I think I kind of saw what people are saying but still I believe that its all just hype people are creating on what are saying is a controversy over something that was unintentional. I agree with what Josh is saying that people are just looking for the racism. Just like I didn’t see anything wrong with the picture until I read the article, I’m sure other people didn’t notice it until it was pointed out. I also agree with Candy on how it’s the way different people portray the picture, they are also going to people who find things wrong but that’s just their view and their view is not the only view.
In my perspective the image that was taken of Lebron James & Gisele Bundchen shows no racial stance. If anything, Lebron James was just trying to exemplify a facial expression that any devoted athlete would most likely do while playing. Its amusing how people tend to make a big deal of something that brings not such big of importance compared to other things that can actually affect us. People have different perspectives of things and not everyone agrees or sees the same things as others. You should never judge a book by its cover, because you never know what you may find and the purpose of why it was made that way. As Lebron stated “Everything my name is on is going to be criticized in a good way or bad way.” This is true, not matter what a person does without anyone knowing their real intentions towards it, they will always receive good and bad criticism. So, as Lebron James said,“Who cares what anyone says?”
-fanelie
I think the purpose of displaying LeBron James as a gorilla is to symbolize the aggressiveness and competitiveness of basketball. I doubt anyone would ever see a golf magazine with a picture of Tiger Woods yelling at the camera.
- Matthew McCauley
Do you think this image portrays a racial stereotype(s)? Or do you think the public is overreacting? Whether you agree or disagree with the criticism of this photo, what does this controversy say about race and image in contemporary America?
I am totlally agreeing on this one that they are being streotypes and it is true that a black person always has to show a beastly or mad/sad face, when whites or other races are happy or doing some other expression that's positive. People are racist in this world and it will never stop, but if you put it point blank on a mmagazine add saying that us black people do this, than that's wrong but they should at least do somehting different or at least let the artist/basketball player/model/star decide on what they need to do otherwise they need to change it.
the image wasnt really much of what i thought it'll look like but it does send a message around it.
the controversy puts it straight forwartd that there is racist in this world and sometimes it takes its toll to where we need to stop it.
I agree with Josh. People only notice things if they are actually looking for it.How else would they notice the smallest things.When i first saw the picture i saw no racism integrated in it. People just make things big when they really shouldn't be, if a white athlete had been in Lebron James position would the people who started this controversy still criticize the cover of the Vogue magazine the same?
-fanelie
It's beyond clear how stereotypical this article is. Usually when someone sees nothing wrong with something they think that it's fine the way it is. The people who see nothing wrong with a black person yelling while grabbing a woman probably already have an image instilled in them that all black people act this way.
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Matthew McCauley
I don’t think the image portraits a racial stereotype. I don’t want to say that the public is overeating but it all depends on the person’s point of view. To some it may seem racism but to others it may not. It just depends on the value of the person seeing it.
Well at times the world can portray racial stereotypes but in most time is how u view it and take a feel for it. I think there might be times when they do and don’t intentionally portray images like that.
I agree with Fanelie that people tend to see a picture and if they find something that they don’t like; they tend to make a deal out of it. Also I agree that the reason that Lebron James was in that position is because he was transmitting through that position what basketball is all about. For example you got to be strong, skilled, and willing/devoted/passionate about it. So yeah :D
There's not too much more to say than what everybody is saying already. At first glimpse of this i thought it was just a normal cover that showed a basketball player and a woman. Done. What the article was saying that black people want white woman. Who has the right to say what people want. They don't know who wants what. I'm guessing that you would have to be told that this article might be racist. Everybody was is just blowing this way out of proportion but i can see where these people would get such a crazy idea. It seems annoying how people don't believe James when he said that he was just showing some expression and having fun with it. He was even satisfied with the cover. Although some people don't think that's all true. I'm pretty sure if anybody in the studio who was watching this picture being taken they would say something and say something about the picture.
no matter wat people are gonna start conterversy becasue first of all you don't see a african american on tha cover of vouge everyday and that's one of tha reasons that people have created controversy with this image. also tha facial expressions that lebron james make's, it's stupid how people automatically relate this to king- kong just beacsue of tha facial expressions and how it show's lebron james grasping Gisele Bundchen. i think that tha whole size thing that this articale is based on has nothing to do with tha controversy. because you see skinny model's on magazine covers everday and they don't get this much controversy as much as this photo is getting. so i think that this image shoulden't have this much controversy because there are more important thing's out there to be argguing bout then this photo.
-ANTHONY
i agree wit Candy's comment
-ANTHONY
Josh and Candy have extremely well thought points. America has not changed and how fast they pick up stereotypes. Not all African-Americans are the same. A great percentage of them are well respected people. So why should James be treated in such a way?
Clearly, people like to blow things out of proportion and create controversy over pointless stuff. I don't see any problem with the photograph. When I look at LeBron James I see no resemblance with king kong. The magazine was trying to show how different everyone is in size and shape. They chose two very beautiful healthy people. Two people who are probably looked up to quite often. I think it was cool of Vogue to not only show Caucasian people on the cover. They chose two very different races, African American and Brazilian. I think it's really silly to even think that this cover is controversial. I think LeBron James really captured the 'game face' and Gisele Bundchen looks glamorous.
And it's silly to think that if people are making a big deal out of this photograph, then why aren't they making a big deal out of magazine covers with women who are dressed extremely revealing and posed in provocative manners? Why is that just not an issue?
-Zoe Galbraith-Knapp
I agree with Candy. People are looking for little things to start conflict over. People aren't just recognizing that LeBron James is the first African American on the cover of Vogue, and he's happy with his image with Gisele and doesn't find it 'king kong like'.
Like Candy said "Not all African American’s are dangerous, criminals, or vicious." LeBron happens to be a successful basketball player who's being recognized for his size and shape.
- Zoe Galbraith-Knapp
As soon as I saw this picture I knew that people could get upset with this. It's plain to me what they would be ticked off by. I guess this just shows the racism indoctrinated into me since the 6th grade. I saw this picture and I thought "black guy, posed like a monkey." It is not me being directly racist, I didn't think about it. I've been taught to think that way. It is not only with black celebrities that they are posed in this way: I've seen countless pictures on myspace. The white kids smile and act like they're having a good time, the black kids act tough.
I don't care if it's controversy. Pop culture means nothing to me. Heightening things like these into a national scale is excessive, I tend to stay out of these types of things. It's a &*#@%$ magazine cover, keep your damn noses out of this.
Our society is asphyxiated with race; we love it; no one can get enough of either of it. "Black people" this, "white people" that, don't say the "N" word you may offend somebody. Race issues are not addressed as they should be in our culture, and it never will be. The human race has progressed through slavery; through oppression, we do now know how to live without them. So we leave them alone, they are always there in the back of our minds. We are too scared to say anything about them, lest we get called a "racist," such a derogatory word with the most negative of connotations. And until we can be open and acknowledge our prejudices nothing will change.
I dont think that this image is meant to portray a racial stereotype. If it was a white man with the same expression on his face and the same pose, then who would criticize it?, so i think that by criticizing it, it is racist, and that you should just take it for what it is. Also, something that adds to this point is that LeBron James said he was "just showing a little emotion", and so apparently it was his idea, and why would he be racist towards himself? Also, as someone in the article said, the model in the article appears happy, and why would they do that, if they meant it to be racist.
I think that what this says about America is that i agree with the person in the article who said "I still don’t. I think there is such a hypersensitivity to race still in this country." Although there is still much racism throught America, i think that this is just an overreaction, and wasnt meant to be seen like that, and the answer to stopping racism has nothing to do with criticizing magazines that have no bad intentions.
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I'm going to be cool like everyone else and respond to Josh's comment:
I can not help the racism that I have been exposed to. Those ideas will always be in my head, no matter how hard I try to get them out of my mind or suppress them they will always exist. I do not see racism because I look for it, I see it because my brain is preset to pick it out.
I do agree that it is out of proportion, and our society as a whole must ignore this and move on to bigger issues.
Name once when society has been "good," I dare you.
I did not think that this photograph was racist at all. I truly dont get how this was even a controversy. You could easily look at it without thinking about any of the stereotypes being brought up as a arguement. I think people are just over reacting to it and it is just depicting 2 people doing great in what they do, and this is the shape issue both of these people LeBron and Gisele are both in great shape and it shouldnt be set apart because of thier skin color. "Vogue spokesman Patrick O’Connell said the magazine “sought to celebrate two superstars at the top of their game” for the magazine’s annual issue devoted to size and shape.
" i think that was just the basic point and i dont see anything wrong with the picture itself.
-Josh P
I feel that this article has been completely blown out of proportion. There should be no argument here it was vogue's decision to print this and obviously LeBron James doesn't have an issue about it. He said himself, "Everything my name is on is going to be criticized in a good way or bad way,” James told the paper. “Who cares what anyone says?"
He's right someone will always see an opportunity to throw race into the picture. you can see it now with the presidential election. color should play no role in what an athlete does or how someone runs a country. I feel that there is too much racism still in america and that until that is gone, which i don't really see ever happening, we are still going to have attention drawn to stories such as this which are completely irrelevant.
ben bigelow
From my point of view I don’t see this image being racist. The first time I saw it I just saw LeBron James and Gisele Bundchen having a good time and that were being recognized as people that are at the top of their game. I saw both of them and I didn’t see anything wrong with the picture. The public is overreacting because it’s the first time that a black athlete has been on the magazine of, Vogue. As described in the article they say that “James strikes what some see as a gorilla-like pose, baring his teeth…” LeBron wasn’t doing anything bad he was just showing some emotion in the photo. I think that the people should be concerned about other issues that are happening in America than of the magazine cover. There is always going to be racist out there criticizing things that they don’t like. And the public looked at the cover in the wrong way because the picture is not bad at all.
-bart
I completely agree with Josh S. If so many people would not focus on the color of skin controversies such as this would not be taking place. You can not blame people for racism, it was how they are brought up, same as religion or anything else but until that changes we will always be focused on articles on race or gender instead of ideals.
ben bigelow
"I think the purpose of displaying LeBron James as a gorilla is to symbolize the aggressiveness and competitiveness of basketball. I doubt anyone would ever see a golf magazine with a picture of Tiger Woods yelling at the camera."
I also agree with this ^ because i think that it is true, the situation makes a difference on how the person appears.
"As soon as I saw this picture I knew that people could get upset with this. It's plain to me what they would be ticked off by. I guess this just shows the racism indoctrinated into me since the 6th grade. I saw this picture and I thought "black guy, posed like a monkey." It is not me being directly racist, I didn't think about it. I've been taught to think that way. It is not only with black celebrities that they are posed in this way: I've seen countless pictures on myspace. The white kids smile and act like they're having a good time, the black kids act tough."
I do not agree with this ^ because although racism and predjudice is all around us, we dont have to believe it.
but i do agrree with this part of Kyle Woolsey's post Our society is asphyxiated with race; we love it; no one can get enough of either of it. "Black people" this, "white people" that, don't say the "N" word you may offend somebody. Race issues are not addressed as they should be in our culture, and it never will be. The human race has progressed through slavery; through oppression, we do now know how to live without them. So we leave them alone, they are always there in the back of our minds. We are too scared to say anything about them, lest we get called a "racist," such a derogatory word with the most negative of connotations. And until we can be open and acknowledge our prejudices nothing will change."
although i think that instead of ackknowledging our stereotypes, which are already known we need to simply forgive and forget about them, and instead of distinguishing ourselves by race just be all one people.
I find that I felt the same as Chance and Bianca when I first looked at the picture. Frankly, I expected some sort of scandal regarding some sort of 'favoritism', but racism? I was simply amazed once I actually started reading the article. I can understand why the writer thought it, somewhat. However, I just can't help but wonder, why is there a person being paid this CERTAINLY above minimum wage job, just staring at the cover to a magazine and trying to find a way to make it into a controversy?
Response to Kyle Steslicki:
To clarify, I was not saying that I am directly racist. Yes racism is all around us, and yes we can choose what we do with it.
Maybe this comment section is full of unprejudiced saints, but the rest of the world is not that way. And being exposed to it at such a young age there is no choice but to take what you hear with you. I choose not to act on racist feelings I have because I am not part of them, that is just who this society has brought me up to be talking in my mind. As much as I don't believe them the stereotypes are still there.
The public is overreacting to this image. When I saw the picture nothing racial struck me about it at all and I was surprised to learn that there was actually a controversy surrounding it. America seems to love controversy and scandal. It is now found in every part of society: movies, fashion, and even politics. The fact that this image has become controversial only proves that point. It also shows that some people have become so hypocritical by saying that racism is such a bad thing but when they choose to make a big deal about the photo and accuse Vogue of being racist they are only being racist themselves. Did they ever stop to think that maybe James is in that position because he's so tall that if he stood up straight next to Bundchen his head would be cut out of the picture? No, they just looked at it and said that he was in a "king kong" pose. He doesn't even look dangerous because as the article mentioned she doesn't seem to be scared at all and if you look closely he's not gripping her waist tightly, his hand is just lightly holding her.
I agree with Rachel; the second thing I saw after looking at the picture was "Shape Issue" and under that "Secrets of the Best Bodies." After seeing that I immediately understood that the point of the picture was to showcase their physique as a model and an athlete.
It's quite sad that people are spending their time creating controversy when they could be drawing attention to important issues.
I don't have a problem with how LeBron James is portrayed when simply looking at this one picture. Yes, it does portray James looking rather beastly, but that could easily symbolize his attitude on the court as a basketball player. The cover on it's own is harmless; and you really have to look for controversy in order to find it. You don't have to look far, mind you, but it's not that obvious.
The problem I have with this magazine cover has to do with something that was uncovered later on while people were looking further into this controversy. And that is this image:
http://www.jossip.com/wp/docs/2008/03/vogue
lebronmadbrute.jpg
The photographer of this particular photo is Anne Leibovitz. She has been around for many, many years and is a very respected photographer in her field. The similarity between this photo and the World War II propaganda poster are way too close to be a coincidence. Someone as meticulous, efficient, and respected as Leibovitz would not take a picture that just HAPPENED to be so similar to this poster.
Either Ms Leibovitz is a racist and she actively decided to relate these two images, or she just inherently calls upon the stereotypes of minorities (as most people in American society do)
I think that this article about the magazine article is the most dumbest thing that i have ever heard. They are complaining about a simple picture. This photo wasn't taken to represent anything it just turned out that way.
-Brittany Davis
by: Nancy vazquez
To begin, the image in no way portrayed a racial stereotype, they are clearly overreacting. Before even reading the article I decided it was better to begin by examining the image and I tried to see what it was trying to send across and not until I read the article did I actually start to think of it portraying racial stereotype. Truly before and after I read the article I went back and saw the image once again and I still didn’t find anything trying to portray any type of racial stereotype. I truly think that you will only find some sort of racial stereotype if you look for it, if you’re not a racist person or a person that always tries to find something racist and stereotypical then you will always find something. Simply someone that doesn’t think in a racist way will not find wrong in such things as the cover of the Vogue magazine having LeBron James holding Gisele Bundchen by the waist. Racism is the reason why people see racial stereotypes everywhere one goes, people always find some sort of racial stereotype in commercials, coming to sports, movies, TV shows and etc. we should not generate and think that just because LeBron James was the first African American to be on the front page of Vogue magazine did it show some racial stereotype. I just find it really wrong for people to start saying such things as “while black sports figures are given a “beastly sort of vibe,” “Images of black male athletes as aggressive and threatening “reinforce the criminalization of black men,” Its truly wrong for people to say this sort of things and even more after LeBron himself said, “Everything my name is on is going to be criticized in a good way or bad way, Who cares what anyone says?” I mean both him and Gisele were happy with the image and how they came out, I truly think that people should start changing themselves and if they have something to say that will insult they should just keep it to themselves. Obviously racism pertain persistent in this country and the truth is that its something that will never end, there is always those people that will see wrong in whatever they want to see wrong, You will find racial stereotypes if your looking for them, just as if you have a clean mind no matter what others say you wont find wrong in what they say even if they do. It’s all up to one self to believe in what oneself wants to believe and see what we individually want to see.
Peer responce:
I must say i truly agree with Josh because its true racism is in the defining of modles skin colors, and i truly agree with what he said" It is racism that this is all that these people see in this magazine, and it is bollocks that more people will read this dribble than things that matter, the death of innocents." I also agree with Candy, truly they are overreacting, and you cant generalize and say that " all African American’s are dangerous, criminals, or vicious" i truly agree that people are getting the wrong idea.
"I completely agree with Josh S. If so many people would not focus on the color of skin controversies such as this would not be taking place. You can not blame people for racism, it was how they are brought up, same as religion or anything else but until that changes we will always be focused on articles on race or gender instead of ideals.
ben bigelow"
I must disagree with you, Ben.
Of course racism is inherent in every single person, especially Americans. But it's the responsibility and obligation of every person to do all they can to overcome those natural predispositions. You can't just ignore it and act like it's not there or act like it never happened. As much as I'd love to have a society that does not judge a person by gender, race, religion, etc. It is an idealistic thought and will most likely never happen. For now, we have to worry about teaching ourselves to get rid of those natural tendencies that just bring us down.
by: Nancy vazquez
To begin, the image in no way portrayed a racial stereotype, they are clearly overreacting. Before even reading the article I decided it was better to begin by examining the image and I tried to see what it was trying to send across and not until I read the article did I actually start to think of it portraying racial stereotype. Truly before and after I read the article I went back and saw the image once again and I still didn’t find anything trying to portray any type of racial stereotype. I truly think that you will only find some sort of racial stereotype if you look for it, if you’re not a racist person or a person that always tries to find something racist and stereotypical then you will always find something. Simply someone that doesn’t think in a racist way will not find wrong in such things as the cover of the Vogue magazine having LeBron James holding Gisele Bundchen by the waist. Racism is the reason why people see racial stereotypes everywhere one goes, people always find some sort of racial stereotype in commercials, coming to sports, movies, TV shows and etc. we should not generate and think that just because LeBron James was the first African American to be on the front page of Vogue magazine did it show some racial stereotype. I just find it really wrong for people to start saying such things as “while black sports figures are given a “beastly sort of vibe,” “Images of black male athletes as aggressive and threatening “reinforce the criminalization of black men,” Its truly wrong for people to say this sort of things and even more after LeBron himself said, “Everything my name is on is going to be criticized in a good way or bad way, Who cares what anyone says?” I mean both him and Gisele were happy with the image and how they came out, I truly think that people should start changing themselves and if they have something to say that will insult they should just keep it to themselves. Obviously racism pertain persistent in this country and the truth is that its something that will never end, there is always those people that will see wrong in whatever they want to see wrong, You will find racial stereotypes if your looking for them, just as if you have a clean mind no matter what others say you wont find wrong in what they say even if they do. It’s all up to one self to believe in what oneself wants to believe and see what we individually want to see.
Peer responce:
I must say i truly agree with Josh because its true racism is in the defining of modles skin colors, and i truly agree with what he said" It is racism that this is all that these people see in this magazine, and it is bollocks that more people will read this dribble than things that matter, the death of innocents." I also agree with Candy, truly they are overreacting, and you cant generalize and say that " all African American’s are dangerous, criminals, or vicious" i truly agree that people are getting the wrong idea.
From my perspective, I don’t see anything wrong with this picture. Covers to magazines show who’s at the top of their game right now and that’s exactly what they did. They showed LeBron James with his game face and Gisele doing what she does, modeling. Although I don’t see anything wrong with this picture I read the article and saw where people might have gone wrong. These people are overreacting. It’s almost as if they were looking for something to criticize. These people are acting as if they have never seen an African-American athlete on a cover before. I’m pretty sure the cover designers for Vogue weren’t even thinking of this. People just have different ways of seeing a photograph. I really don’t see anything wrong.
I think the responses of this being racist shows that we have not progressed. It shows that we cannot look at a picture without looking for flaws first. I guess this is just how we are. We will always look at what we did wrong rather than what we were able to do right. So I say we just tell them “Who cares what anyone says?”- LeBron James
After reading all of the comments so far it seems like everyone has a similar point of view, so im agreeing with everyone but one that i can truly stand behind is chance's. At first i looked at the picture and the very first time i looked at it was in pauls room on his computer. i even asked why is this controversal. i seriously had no idea why anyone would think that because it was said as if it was a big issue which i dont think it should be.. its a magazine. I dont think its racism and definetly after reading this article dont think it is if you need that article to tell you it is.
-Josh P
I completly agree with Candy. I don't think that this image is bing blown way out of porportion. The whole racial problem all depends on the persons perspective. Other then the whole racial comments don't really apply to most people.
-Brittany Davis
I agree with Josh's response. Its similar to my response because he also says that people only notice these things if they look for them. His response is well written and i can feel what he thought of this.
Woah whos Anthony?
- Marquis
Hey guys!
- LeBron James
I agree with what Josh says because people were probably raised to think like this or something like that. If people didn’t look at the person’s skin color, than there wouldn’t comments like this on magazine covers or any other thing. People just look at the skin color maybe if it was a white person instead of LeBron James than maybe people wouldn’t say anything which I think that people are overreacting about this magazine cover.
-bart
The main thing that I noticed about this cover is it's headline 'Shape Issue' and the description beneath it 'Secrets of the Best Bodies; Gisele & LeBron + The World's Top Models and Star Athletes.' This magazine is obviously going to be about fitness and health. The image itself is just trying to support it's headline providing a visual of both Gisele, a gorgeous model, and LeBron, a fit male athlete. They are obviously two very respected people who are being noted of having some of the best fitted bodies out there. The magazine is also trying to create a diversity of having two different races on their cover, Brazilian and African American and also trying to show its audience that everyone is different in shape and size. I don't think this image portrays a racial stereotype. I think LeBron is just trying to show his dedication and strength to his sport by having a facial expression representing that, and as quoted by LeBron, he was 'just showing a little emotion.' I think this is the reason to his so called 'beastly sort of vibe.' But I do see how people may take this as stereotypical, and I do think they are blowing it all out of proportion by overreacting. Honestly, I agree with LeBron, 'Who cares what anyone says.' It's a magazine cover, and he's happy with it. The fact that he's comfortable with the outcome of the photo, I don't think there should be any negative point of views.
I agree with Cindy that it depends on the person's point of view. Not everyone will react the same way as others because everyone sees things differently. I think it just depends on how a person sees something and how they take it in. They may or may not intentionally portray images in a bad way, but that is just how they see the picture.
i personally did not see any type of racial stereo-types when i saw the magazine add. I feel that society today is so hypersensitive to race, so that anything could be consitered a racists statement.
Whoever was critisizing this image was just bored, or looking to cause a scene. There is absolutly nothing wrong with the image. Sure, one can percieve it as "racist" but its all personal opinion, and like i said before, society tends to be oversensitive to the issue of race.
First of all.
A nice Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, and Carmelo Anthony. (All "King Kongs"
http://i.timeinc.net/subs2/images/si/sistore/products/2006/1023L_mid.JPG
This image does not portray a racial stereotype, Lebron James is the superstar of basketball currently, and Gisele Bundchen is a famous model. Vogue used these two famous people to put on their cover to sell more copies probably. Vogue just had Lebron's hand around Gisele's waist to show that they are connected, not that he wants her. The public is overreacting to this image, it's one person who's fierce on the basketball court and one person who models and smiles. They're just doing what they normally do in their career. The fact that they are trying to insult Lebron as a primate; a possible MVP candidate in the NBA, makes me mad. I respect how well Lebron James plays ball, and so should others, whether you like him or not. There is no controversy to this picture, everyone is just letting his or her imagination run wild and assuming that the image had a message of some sort of racism.
In response to Josh, I agree with you. Anyone should know that having people who are successful in their field can attract alot of people. The reaction of the people who think negative about this image jumped to conclusion and didn't even ask Vogue if they were trying to get that message across. But the message was just that they were celebrating stars in their field of profession.
-Daniel Kim
Before reading the article, I first looked at the front cover trying to find something controversial about the photograph, maybe something positive or something negative. I found neither. But as I started reading the article, I thought “ok I see it now.” I found it rather funny that someone was able to point out such a strong point that caused so much controversy. It’s pretty obvious that it’s not what the photographer was trying to convey. But who knows? Maybe she is racist, or maybe she isn’t. It’s all about body shape and it say’s it all over the front page. I definitely agree with Josh Stivers. You would only define this particular photograph racist if you’re looking for it. And to add to what Candy said, it IS racist of the person who wrote this to say King Kong is what the photograph is portraying just because the male model is big and black.
Nicklaus Dial
When I first saw the photograph I did not see any racist issue at all. Once I read the headline that said "Shape Issue" I got the purpose of why their was a athlete and model in the cover but I did not have a clue that their was such controversy over the photograph. In my opinion if anyone were to see the cover I think that most people would not notice anything wrong with it. So I believe that the public is overreacting. It seems as if they just want attention and that's why they started all this racial stereotype controversy. No one should be judged by their looks or expressions they make because it doesn't always characterizes a person. Just like Faniele said "Don't judge a book by its cover." This controversy proves to me that rasism is just something that seems doesn't have an ending to. I think it's nonsense and people should be worrying about other important issues. For a fact whatever the public says it's not gonna affect LeBron James because he quoted "Who cares what anyone says?"
-yeyaaa<333
I think that it’s just a stereotype, the public is overreacting. It’s a stereotype because what you see on TV and in person it seems as if a black man is dangerous because it’s what you see, and you judge the book by its cover without reading through out its pages. The public is overreacting because of the model who stands besides him whose not even scared and whether we like it or not its going to be criticized in good ways and bad ways because of the we all label things without knowing the purpose.
I'm very proud the way you all are working through this issue. Be ready to discuss this in class tomorrow.
Buenas Noches,
Paul
I don't this this is creating racial steriotypes in the slightest. It is simply portraying two famous people in a way intended to highlight what is discussed in the article. I think the photogropher intended to make each of them apear attractive and like their respective careers, basketball and modeling, nothing more.
The media makes it hard to get away from racism, we cannot disregard race when instances like this, with such a looking-for-trouble attitude and immense oversensitivity brings the idea of race into our minds far more often than neccesary.
I agree with Candy and Zoe because people do find things that stand out with two different races which were African American and Brazilian. But this racist/sterotype thing needs to stop though but dont start things with an ad that a person is well aware of that agreed to take this picture with their 'game face' whilie people are saying that it resembles "King Kong".
I looked at the image before i opened the article seeing if i noticed anything before anyone pointed anything out. And i didnt. So i read the artical and it kind of opened my mind a little bit. I can see were they got this king kong idea but i honestly think that people are be hypersesitive to this. i really dont see an issue to this. Do they expect the white woman to have the same face as lebron. Lets put a african american woman into this. And shes going to be smiling just like the white women. i think people are just being to sesitve to this. its almost like they just sit around all day looking at stuff to point out. i dont see an issue at all.
I agree with Beth, and I totally agreed with Josh upon seeing the article and then seeing the magazine cover, I said, "are you kidding me?"
To me, it seems widely blown out of proportion. Paul, I know you said "think about what you read and saw before you answer" but my only thought is 'how stupid.'
Seriously, this is just showing a model being a model (in a really unflattering outfit, by the way) and a professional basketball player dribbling a basketball.
Sure I guess he could look like a "gorilla" the way hes placed but I wouldn't have even had that thought if the article hadn't said anything. Oh my gosh, this is so blown out of proportion.
oh yeah, and I agree with Rachel too.
Like, when she discussed how the magazine topics inside are about "shape" and keeping your body toned and nice, you see a star athlete and a top model, so that's understood too.
i agree with mike and josh. What josh is bringing up is that the media has such of a hold over people. That they are not looking how to better the world or looking at world issues but there sitting around pointing out "rasicim" i dont think this should be even a concern because we have a huge war going on in the world and the earths enviorment is completley changing. Like mike said i dont agree with ben because its our job to cut down on using stereotypes or being cruel to any race period its our job to make difference!
I do not believe at all, that this picture was meant as a racist act. I don't think that when the photgarper and editor put it on the the cover they meant to offended anyone in anyway. Truthfully, I dont think they thought people would look at the article for so long and think about it in a racist act. When I first looked at the picture I didn't even think about king kong, I read right away what it said about why they were on the cover. I do think that this article is taking it way out of hand.
I also agree with josh, when he said that you only see the negativty racism when you are looking for it. Racism probally never crossed half of the people tat pick up this magazine and looked at it.
When I first saw the magazine cover it was from across the room on the computer, Paul mentioned that we were writing about the controversial issue this image made. I was looking at the image wondering what was controversial about it, the lower title mentioning perfect bodies; maybe it was something about women’s body image in the media? All I really noticed was that the man in the photograph was huge. After school I saw the magazine and bought it, I thumbed through it trying to figure out what was controversial, I only realized once I read the article. I don't think this photo is racist at all what so ever. I think that some people may look at it and think its racist because of the way people are today and how touchy of subject racism is. The man is being aggressive, showing emotion, that has nothing to do with being dangerous or criminal like it suggests in the article "It conjures up this idea of a dangerous black man...” I don’t know much about basketball, but I do know that it is typically an aggressive sport, people are pushing and blocking and so on and the photograph is supposed to be portraying the individuals, Lebron James is a basketball player; he is emotional and energized, Gisele Bundchen is a model she is beautiful, sleek and radiant. The picture portrays the individuals through their passions, not in a racial way at all. If Lebron James had a problem with the photograph then there might be some more credit being the opinions, if he felt that the way the photographer was directing him was because of their previous knowledge/experience around African American people and that all people of African American descent were criminals, then there is something to be said about this photograph being racist. But nothing like this happened, this photograph is innocent, it’s a beautiful picture of two famous, athletic stars and nothing more. Either way people are entitled to their own opinions and they have every right to think this photograph is obscenely racist or not. I think that the reaction to this photograph shows how sensitive of a topic racism is, I understand what an awful thing racism really is, but I think it has been blown out of proportion, not purposefully just over the years because so many things are changing, becoming politically incorrect and some people jump to conclusions that almost everything is racist, this probably has something to do with the way they were brought up, or how they were treated or something of the sort.
I agree with Brittney when she said “He doesn't even look dangerous because as the article mentioned she doesn't seem to be scared at all and if you look closely he's not gripping her waist tightly, his hand is just lightly holding her.” He is! His hand is lightly touching her waist and she is leaning into him, he is supporting her. Giselle is smiling happily, if this were to be racist in a way that Lebron James is being controlling over the woman he would be gripping her tightly in possessive way and she wouldn’t look as radiant and happy as she does.
One commenter in the article noted how America as a whole is extremely sensitive to race, and I would agree, considering the obsession with political correctness in our society. Seeing how something as simple as a magazine cover can be interpreted as a symbolic promotion of racial stereotypes makes me question whether reporters and bloggers are looking too deeply into things simply to spread gossip and controversy.
The “black man wants white woman” stereotype brought up in the text is a complete stretch. James is African-American, but the model pictured with him, Gisele Bundchen, is a native Brazilian, without a trace of European decent in her family.
Personally, I didn’t draw the parallels between the Vogue cover in question and King Kong until I read the article which compared the two. At second glance, I will admit Bundchen’s dress in which she posed is similar to the classic ensemble which Fay Wray wore in King Kong, and James’ expression could be deemed similar to the giant ape. However, considering Vogue is a respected fashion magazine which is regarded with the utmost poise and class, I would doubt they were trying to play up racial stereotypes. I view the picture as a comparison of passionate emotions; James shows an energetic and fierce face with Bundchen portrays bliss while steering clear of self-consciousness. The photographers of the cover may have played off of King Kong with the styling, but I view it only as an opportunity to show contrast between the two.
I would doubt Vogue purposely attempted to corner James into an angry, beastly stereotype. I don’t feel it is the editors of Vogue’s responsibility to approach a cover shoot from every angle of interpretation. Where in their job description were they assigned to view every image, every article as subliminal messaging? Honestly, it seems reporters are looking for some sort of shocking edge to a story which otherwise was fairly blasé.
As Brittney Nguyen said, America loves controversy. I would agree, and as she pointed out how comfortable Bundchen looked next to James, I was swayed further. Reporters want something exciting to talk about, so too often they'll try to find controversy in the most innocent of images.
SAMSON NGUYEN posted this in the morning.
Personally, I only believe that the cover of this magazine only potrarys racial stereotype to certain people who allow it to. The person who took the photo blatantly intended for the pose of the two people to be like that. This is most probably just crude humor intended by the cover editor dudes or something thought up by very immature people.
As for my own opinion on this, I don't think this image is horrid, but I do believe it's silly (the stupid sort of silly) and immature. Look at humanity today. [sarcasm] Gee, you won't find that anywhere! [/sarcasm]
It's silly because of the fact that people are still setting stereotypes based off of other peoples' skin colors, but it's always going to happen. I mean, LeBron is a great athlete and he was fine with the cover, but the people who were responsible for the cover - as I had said - blatantly portrayed that image.
In conclusion...
This image maybe portrays a racial stereotype, but it's not offensive beyond belief. I thought Americans have advanced past that stage of immatury...
Yes, the controvers that was stirred up is not neccessary. The public is definately overreacting, and this is blown way out of proportion.
In response to what most people are saying about not knowing its resemblance to King Kong, I'd like to throw in my two cents on this (a penny for a thought, homes).
I didn't know until Mike Corbin told me in the morning, but here goes...
Back when King Kong was hot, there were several portraits of King Kong being portrayed the same way over and over again. Open mouth, roaring, holding a woman in one hand, holding some sort of weapon in the other hand.
Starting to see the connection now?
If you can't draw the connections from picture to picture, maybe try googling King Kong.
I really can't believe that people are making such a fuss about a MAGAZINE cover I mean geeeez. I don't like the way they portrayed the black athlete though it does give him a brutish sort of vibe, But I wouldn't go so far as to call it intentional. so yes over all I would say this cover is causing a problem, not a big one.. but a problem. My solution would be to pull the issue off the stands just so people will stop complaining.
A lot of people can just easly say there is no problem here but I wanted to look and see if there really was one, and there is.This is the cover of Vogue magazine one of the most read magazines in th U.S. and the first time a person of color is put up on the cover he looks like an animal grabbing onto a women going total caveman status... I would find that insulting. The fact of the matter is, It would just be easier to not even continue the production of this issue then to keep this problem in the "news" if it even deserves that.-Shane Adams
I am in the same boat as kyle W. here This is a problem but it could have been intentional just to stir up the people and make people look at vogue more and we could actually make this and all other racist under tones go away if we all just stopped using are race as an excuse for something or saying thats what is slowing are selves down. This problem wouldn't even be prevalent If race wasn't such a huge alibi in are country/society. Its people who cling to there race and think there a victim" that make this cover a problem. American is about us all coming together and being one and we can't achieve that if people keep throwing sucker punches at one another in such a touchy area.-Shane Adams
We live in a country that finds this a controversy the citizens are just looking for something to pick at in hopes to sue and make money people die every where yet we worry about things like this. There looking for things like this and no mater what we due they going to find a problem with it eventually no one would notice unless its brought up the people of America need to realize that the world is not out to get them and they need to suck it up
malachi
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Esly Galindo thinks.....
I agree with Candy. I think that the image was not racist at all, the people over reacted because it does not seem that they tried to dialect racism to the public. They are just showing their profession. I do see that there’s a black man and a white woman in the cover of the magazine but that has nothing to do with the topic of racism. Just because the black athlete does not come out smiling and comes out with a mad expression it’s just showing how he is when playing basketball. I think that there’s a different types of expressions and that everyone had different types of visions and thoughts. Also it was wrong that the magazine had the first African American make it to the cover. I think that the magazine should have never done that because that caused this entire problem and plus African Americans are not that different from white people, people should be treated the same.
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