Yesterday was the last day of classes. EVER!!!!! Ahhhhh!!!!! Craziness. Who knows where life will take me now?
I'm so very glad that my last class ever was Fashion and Politics. What a perfect way to go out with a celebration feast and ridiculous semi-fashion related conversation, rather than a final or a dragged out lecture. Mimi got us Rosati's pizza. So much better than Dominos, Pizza Hut, and everything else I usually eat when I'm on campus. And there were cupcakes! And chips. And fruit snacks! Later, I wished I had stolen some food for mine and Kelly's birthday bash next way. This may only be accessible to U of I students, but here's what's going on:
Anywho, the real point of my blog concerns magazine covers. We discussed in class the racialization of fashion magazines and just the modeling industry in general. In the midst of all the "Vanity Fair" Annie Liebovitz hullabaloo (ya know, Hannah Montana blah blah blah), did anyone see the cover that I posted at the top of this blog? It's been getting attention for being a racist depiction. At first, I tried to give the photographer the benefit of the doubt, thinking that maybe she had no intention of LeBron being perceived as an animal. I thought, this is just a terrible picture. Cuz it is. Set up in an awkward and unappealing way. But, it does remind me of the early cinema portraits of Blacks as savages, like the movie "Blonde Venus," (a film I saw in my Intro to Film class freshman year) which shows Black tribal women dancing around and worshipping a gorilla. And then of course, you have to admit, his pose is suggestive of drawings and screenshots from "King Kong." Like I said, I thought maybe Liebovitz was just ignorant, that she didn't attach the same connotations to the picture, perhaps she was trying to say that all athletes have an animalistic strength? Well, then this caught my eye from the gossip blog Jezebel ....
... If you click here, I think you will see the blatant racist pattern in her work. I honestly can't believe people haven't called her out before. Or maybe they have and I was just too young to get it? But, it's embarrassing to note that almost all the people of color she has photographer for "the Hollywood Issue" of Vanity Fair don't make it on to the front flap of the magazine cover (the part that is visible on newsstands). I went through and counted, and there's only one actor (the guy from "Blood Diamond" who showed up on the front flap.) There's also the possibility that Chris Rock got on the cover but, that was set up in a different way. Women (Zoe Saldana, Rosario Dawson, Selma Hayek) who look so much better than those featured (Lieb is clearly in love with pale boobs) got pushed to the back and so did Samuel L. And Will Smith. Those dudes are money makers.
Anyway, I hope this turns into a big to-do and that "Vanity Fair" finds a new photographer for next year.
Also, besides the obvious prejudice of the magazine and its prize photographer, I have to say, all these actors looks so bored, I really don't care to look at them. What's up with this blah and beautifully draped look? Puts me to sleep.
No comments:
Post a Comment