Is the Obama-Joker Poster racist?

worldrepublic · 19-08-2009 12:08PM #1

This article identifies the originator of the poster:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/aug/18/obama-joker-image-creator

The poster started to show up all over the USA, in major towns and cities, in the last couple of weeks, and shows no signs of subsiding. Should citizens be allowed to put up the poster... or should they be jailed? A lot of people putting them up are actually video-taping themselves doing it and putting it on youtube. These youtube videos are then being aired on CNN etc.

The posters are now starting to appear in Europe!

What has the world come to? What can be done to stop this in its tracks?

JohnMc1 · 19-08-2009 12:45PM

Considering how Pres. Bush was characterized as a monkey for 8 years I would say Obama is getting off lightly.

worldrepublic · 19-08-2009 01:05PM

JohnMc1 wrote: »

Considering how Pres. Bush was characterized as a monkey for 8 years I would say Obama is getting off lightly.

But the Joker, as we all know, has a "white face" -so the opinion is circulating that the Poster is racist. Plus, they did not put a "black face" on Bush, so what does that mean? It might sound OTT about the racism, but that is how it's being cast.

Ailteoir · 19-08-2009 01:07PM

Racist - Hell no
Stupid- Yes

spank_inferno · 19-08-2009 01:08PM

Anything can be racist if the person perceiving it wants it to be racist.

Same goes for most " -ist's"

I think the poster is cool btw.... would live to see a Joker/Lenihan picture though I dont think it would work as well.

worldrepublic · 19-08-2009 01:14PM

spank_inferno wrote: »

Anything can be racist if the person perceiving it wants it to be racist.

Same goes for most " -ist's"

I think the poster is cool btw.... would live to see a Joker/Lenihan picture though I dont think it would work as well.

Or Brian Cowen as the "joker"? Maybe Mary Harney could be cat woman!

First they said Obama was the Messiah, then he was Superman... one thing is for sure, he's no Batman... and Rahm Emanuel is no Robin!

Hmmm, maybe Lyndon LaRouche is the Penguin?

JohnMc1 · 19-08-2009 02:10PM

spank_inferno wrote: »

Anything can be racist if the person perceiving it wants it to be racist.

Same goes for most " -ist's"

I think the poster is cool btw.... would live to see a Joker/Lenihan picture though I dont think it would work as well.

Cowen and Lenhian were portrayed as Batman and Robin on the cover of an Irish Paper after the budget release. It was Taxman [Lenihan as Batman] and Robben [slang for robbing. Cowen as Robin]

bobbyjoe · 19-08-2009 02:12PM

Not racist just stupid.

MultiUmm · 19-08-2009 02:16PM

worldrepublic wrote: »

Or Brian Cowen as the "joker"? Maybe Mary Harney could be cat woman!

First they said Obama was the Messiah, then he was Superman... one thing is for sure, he's no Batman... and Rahm Emanuel is no Robin!

Hmmm, maybe Lyndon LaRouche is the Penguin?

.. -Shudder- I just pictured Mary H in a tight, latex suit. :eek: :eek: :eek: I gave myself bad thoughts.

And also I don't think the poster is racist. :rolleyes: Has the world gone so PC mad that now it's offensive to alter the image of any African American man?

That being said I think it is just typical US bullshít about fear of "commies" :rolleyes:

Overheal · 19-08-2009 02:34PM

At least theres hope for you OP - at least you stopped for a moment, and doubted wether it was racist. A lesser man would come in here screaming hatecrime and obscenitites.

Its not racist. Joker just happens to have a pasty white face. if you just had the lips, nobody would know wtf you were trying to portray.

bobbyjoe · 19-08-2009 02:38PM

Who has been saying its racist?

MultiUmm · 19-08-2009 02:51PM

bobbyjoe wrote: »

Who has been saying its racist?

The PC brigade. People who find anything like the Obama poster and deem it to be "offensive".

Ironically it was a 20 year old student called Firas Alkhateeb who made it. :rolleyes: Hardly sounds like a redneck with a chip on his shoulder about a black man being president does it?

bobbyjoe · 19-08-2009 02:53PM

MultiUmm wrote: »

The PC brigade. People who find anything like the Obama poster and deem it to be "offensive".

Ironically it was a 20 year old student called Firas Alkhateeb who made it. :rolleyes: Hardly sounds like a redneck with a chip on his shoulder about a black man being president does it?

Any links to people calling it racist?

Sounds like the persecution complex the right wing have.

MultiUmm · 19-08-2009 03:07PM

bobbyjoe wrote: »

Any links to people calling it racist?

Sounds like the persecution complex the right wing have.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/5973064/Barack-Obama-Joker-socialism-poster-denounced-as-racist.html

"Earl Ofari Hutchinson, president of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable, denounced the image and called on those behind it to reveal themselves. "Depicting the president as demonic and a socialist goes beyond political spoofery."
"It is mean-spirited and dangerous.
"We have issued a public challenge to the person or group that put up the poster to come forth and publicly tell why they have used this offensive depiction to ridicule President Obama."

"The liberal tabloid "LA Weekly", which depicted George W. Bush, the former president, as Dracula on its cover in 2004, denounced the Obama-Joker poster as virulently racist."
"It has a bit of everything to appeal to the drunk tank of California conservatism: Obama is in white face, his mouth (like Ledger's Joker's) has been grotesquely slit wide open and the word 'Socialism' appears below his face," wrote its blogger Steven Mikulan. "The only thing missing is a noose."

Here's the actual blog that LA Weekly fella wrote. http://blogs.laweekly.com/ladaily/politics/new-anti-obama-joker-poster/ :rolleyes: So, it was all well and good to take the píss out of Bush but because it's Obama people aren't allowed because it's "racist"? Don't get me wrong, I'm not some prudish anti Obama conservative person, but it says something about the age we live in when people can't depict him as a character like the joker without PC authoritarians giving out about it.

bobbyjoe · 19-08-2009 03:10PM

MultiUmm wrote: »

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/5973064/Barack-Obama-Joker-socialism-poster-denounced-as-racist.html

"Earl Ofari Hutchinson, president of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable, denounced the image and called on those behind it to reveal themselves. "Depicting the president as demonic and a socialist goes beyond political spoofery."
"It is mean-spirited and dangerous.
"We have issued a public challenge to the person or group that put up the poster to come forth and publicly tell why they have used this offensive depiction to ridicule President Obama."

"The liberal tabloid "LA Weekly", which depicted George W. Bush, the former president, as Dracula on its cover in 2004, denounced the Obama-Joker poster as virulently racist."
"It has a bit of everything to appeal to the drunk tank of California conservatism: Obama is in white face, his mouth (like Ledger's Joker's) has been grotesquely slit wide open and the word 'Socialism' appears below his face," wrote its blogger Steven Mikulan. "The only thing missing is a noose."

Here's the actual blog that LA Weekly fella wrote. http://blogs.laweekly.com/ladaily/politics/new-anti-obama-joker-poster/ :rolleyes: So, it was all well and good to take the píss out of Bush but because it's Obama people aren't allowed because it's "racist"? Don't get me wrong, I'm not some prudish anti Obama conservative person, but it says something about the age we live in when people can't depict him as a character like the joker without PC authoritarians giving out about it.

One bloke with a blog is the PC authoritarians now?

MultiUmm · 19-08-2009 03:25PM

bobbyjoe wrote: »

One bloke with a blog is the PC authoritarians now?

He's hardly the only one. No doubt there are others Americans who feel the same way. It wouldn't have been reported on if it was just one bloke with a blog who found it to be racist.

"We have issued a public challenge to the person or group that put up the poster to come forth and publicly tell why they have used this offensive depiction to ridicule President Obama."

This sounds more like something you'd hear in a dictatorship then in a democracy. Why shouldn't the people be allowed to ridicule Obama in such a way? Are we so petty that we can't look at the image of a black man whose skin has been altered to look like it has white face paint on it? The poster wasn't even intended to highlight the colour of his skin.

bobbyjoe · 19-08-2009 04:03PM

MultiUmm wrote: »

He's hardly the only one. No doubt there are others Americans who feel the same way. It wouldn't have been reported on if it was just one bloke with a blog who found it to be racist.

"We have issued a public challenge to the person or group that put up the poster to come forth and publicly tell why they have used this offensive depiction to ridicule President Obama."

This sounds more like something you'd hear in a dictatorship then in a democracy. Why shouldn't the people be allowed to ridicule Obama in such a way? Are we so petty that we can't look at the image of a black man whose skin has been altered to look like it has white face paint on it? The poster wasn't even intended to highlight the colour of his skin.

I think your making a mountain out of a mole hill in this case.

Overheal · 19-08-2009 04:06PM

bobbyjoe wrote: »

I think your making a mountain out of a mole hill in this case.

re-read. Multi is quoting.

bobbyjoe · 19-08-2009 04:14PM

Overheal wrote: »

re-read. Multi is quoting.

I know

worldrepublic · 19-08-2009 07:34PM

Have a look on youtube -there are a host of clips, CNN, Fox, all dealing with the poster and discussing whether it is racist or not. Is it?

And here's one of the "usual suspects":

This all reminds me of that painting of Brian Cowen sitting on the loo that RTE ended up apologising over.

Overheal · 19-08-2009 07:37PM

It really should have said "Why So Socialist?" Now that I think about it

\
edit: Vandalism my left testicle.

Im printing these out tonight, and putting one up anywhere I see a Lost Puppy poster.

LostinKildare · 19-08-2009 08:06PM

MultiUmm wrote: »

This sounds more like something you'd hear in a dictatorship then in a democracy. Why shouldn't the people be allowed to ridicule Obama in such a way?

Um, they are allowed to. They did, didn't they? Were they arrested, thrown into jail or something?

If you mean that you think they should not be subject to criticism -- even denuniciation -- for it, from "PC authoritarians" or whoever, then you are advocating the suppression of other views. Which is antidemocratic.

worldrepublic · 19-08-2009 08:17PM

LostinKildare wrote: »

Um, they are allowed to. They did, didn't they? Were they arrested, thrown into jail or something?

If you mean that you think they should not be subject to criticism -- even denuniciation -- for it, from "PC authoritarians" or whoever, then you are advocating the suppression of other views. Which is antidemocratic.

Actually the police have brought people in for questioning, and are framing the posters in criminal terms, vandalism, racism, etc. I note that when Obama supporters put up "hope" posters, or when someone puts up a "lost puppy" poster it's not vandalism. The problem is (and the police/media/whitehose now realise it) that they can't prosecute or even denounce millions and millions of people! Is it any wonder the Whitehouse is now backing down on the healthcare issue, and the media are starting to (finally!) see Obama for what he really is: a puppet reading a tele-prompter.

Overheal · 19-08-2009 08:33PM

Thats the thing - they should certainly feel free to criticise. However thats not the way some of these news outlets are reporting it (republic's video #1) - They're using a vandalism outcry. Saying OMG THEY ARE USING STAPLES ON THIS LAMP POST

Uhm hello. We do it ALL THE TIME. Lost and Found? Anyone?

major bill · 19-08-2009 08:42PM

poster imo is class and clever. obama's the antichrist that was predicted by the bible. you heard it here first;)

ChocolateSauce · 19-08-2009 09:01PM

Considering the number of ways one could interpret that poster, I'd say ____

LostinKildare · 19-08-2009 09:22PM

Overheal wrote: »

Thats the thing - they should certainly feel free to criticise. However thats not the way some of these news outlets are reporting it (republic's video #1) - They're using a vandalism outcry. Saying OMG THEY ARE USING STAPLES ON THIS LAMP POST

Uhm hello. We do it ALL THE TIME. Lost and Found? Anyone?

So? You are allowed to ridicule the president. You aren't allowed to vandalize property. Enforcement of vandalism laws vary from area to area and time to time. When I lived in NYC, under Guiliani you'd get arrested for posting any kind of bills (including little lost kitten ones).

If you wanna make a political protest, keep your method legal.

worldrepublic · 19-08-2009 09:49PM

LostinKildare wrote: »

So? You are allowed to ridicule the president. You aren't allowed to vandalize property. Enforcement of vandalism laws vary from area to area and time to time. When I lived in NYC, under Guiliani you'd get arrested for posting any kind of bills (including little lost kitten ones).

If you wanna make a political protest, keep your method legal.

The point is the police all over America IGNORED the "vandalism" entailed in putting up Obama "hope" posters. Then the media screamed RACISM! It is a case of blatant, biased and ruthless suppression. Talk about pure hypocrisy!

Anyway, it's just a diversion. Sooner (oh yeah) or later Obama is going to have to create jobs, or he's out on his ass. It doesn't have to be fair, but it's reality, and all the diversions, tactics and blame-games in the world will not change the very disappointing facts of trillions lost, pensions lost, homes lost and double-digit unemployment. Tick, tock... Mr. Obama, get the job done that needs doing, or be replaced.

Overheal · 19-08-2009 09:58PM

worldrepublic wrote: »

The point is the police all over America IGNORED the "vandalism" entailed in putting up Obama "hope" posters. Then the media screamed RACISM! It is a case of blatant, biased and ruthless suppression. Talk about pure hypocrisy!

Anyway, it's just a diversion. Sooner (oh yeah) or later Obama is going to have to create jobs, or he's out on his ass. It doesn't have to be fair, but it's reality, and all the diversions, tactics and blame-games in the world will not change the very disappointing facts of trillions lost, pensions lost, homes lost and double-digit unemployment. Tick, tock... Mr. Obama, get the job done that needs doing, or be replaced.

So what youre saying is, if I post BOTH of them, I will create a conundrum?

So, I'll find kitten posters and next to these kittens I will post 1 copy of the HOPE poster and 1 copy of the Why So Socialist poster.

To complete the socialist (edit: this was a typo - Jon) experiment, I will record the number of PRO posters taken down, and the number of ANTI posters taken down.

worldrepublic · 19-08-2009 10:07PM

Overheal wrote: »

So what youre saying is, if I post BOTH of them, I will create a conundrum?

So, I'll find kitten posters and next to these kittens I will post 1 copy of the HOPE poster and 1 copy of the Why So Socialist poster.

To complete the socialist (edit: this was a typo - Jon) experiment, I will record the number of PRO posters taken down, and the number of ANTI posters taken down.

Rubbish! There are plenty of posters, plenty of Joker ones (growing by the day), and plenty of existing "Hope" posters. Now, just analyse the mainstream news and you'll see that all of the criticism in relation to vandalism is directed at the Joker posters! It doesn't take a rocket scientist approach to understand the hypocrisy. Unless, of course, you are will to argue that the Joker poster is racist... are you?

bobbyjoe · 19-08-2009 11:12PM

None of the video's say its racist except the Fox one which says some people are calling it racist but not who. Faux outrage on the part of the anti-Obama crowd who love to pretend they are being repressed.

Sand · 19-08-2009 11:34PM

This person, product and/or service in someway criticised Obama and/or his policies. Hence it is clearly racist.

jank · 19-08-2009 11:43PM

He's hardly the only one. No doubt there are others Americans who feel the same way.

No! You want to look at it that way so that it re-enforces your position without any facts to back it up. Classic fox news style.

"Some say...."

WHO SAYS??

bobbyjoe · 19-08-2009 11:46PM

Sand wrote: »

This person, product and/or service in someway criticised Obama and/or his policies. Hence it is clearly racist.

Who's calling is racist?
The vids posted don't.
One blog so far.

Sand · 20-08-2009 12:14AM

I cant be arsed digging up the reaction to the tea parties. You do it. If you do, youll get the joke. If you dont, you wouldnt even if I went to the bother of doing so.

I mean Christ, the remember the cartoonist who made the comic about the cop shooting a monkey or something ( a reference to a rabid monkey being shot by cops) and people complaining it was racist against Obama. LOL.

bobbyjoe · 20-08-2009 12:15AM

Sand wrote: »

I cant be arsed digging up the reaction to the tea parties. You do it. If you do, youll get the joke. If you dont, you wouldnt even if I went to the bother of doing so.

I mean Christ, the remember the cartoonist who made the comic about the cop shooting a monkey or something ( a reference to a rabid monkey being shot by cops) and people complaining it was racist against Obama. LOL.

So nobody of any importance is calling it racist then.
Thanks.

Sand · 20-08-2009 12:40AM

See, I could have wasted my time there.....

bobbyjoe · 20-08-2009 12:44AM

Sand wrote: »

See, I could have wasted my time there.....

Your joke must have gone over my head.
I'm sure its hilarious though.

MultiUmm · 20-08-2009 01:18AM

worldrepublic wrote: »

Actually the police have brought people in for questioning, and are framing the posters in criminal terms, vandalism, racism, etc. I note that when Obama supporters put up "hope" posters, or when someone puts up a "lost puppy" poster it's not vandalism. The problem is (and the police/media/whitehose now realise it) that they can't prosecute or even denounce millions and millions of people! Is it any wonder the Whitehouse is now backing down on the healthcare issue, and the media are starting to (finally!) see Obama for what he really is: a puppet reading a tele-prompter.

You sort of had me until there.
:rolleyes:

MultiUmm · 20-08-2009 01:26AM

jank wrote: »

No! You want to look at it that way so that it re-enforces your position without any facts to back it up. Classic fox news style.

"Some say...."

WHO SAYS??

Do you want me to go find and list every American who finds this offensive/ racist? Surely it wouldn't have stirred up so much attention if people didn't deem it to be in bad taste?

I would make a more persuasive argument but this thread seems a bit pointless/ stale by now. :rolleyes:

The Raven. · 20-08-2009 02:30AM

worldrepublic wrote: »

Is it any wonder the Whitehouse is now backing down on the healthcare issue, and the media are starting to (finally!) see Obama for what he really is: a puppet reading a tele-prompter.

Yes, indeed. That teleprompter says it all

!!

bobbyjoe · 20-08-2009 08:09AM

MultiUmm wrote: »

Do you want me to go find and list every American who finds this offensive/ racist? Surely it wouldn't have stirred up so much attention if people didn't deem it to be in bad taste?

I would make a more persuasive argument but this thread seems a bit pointless/ stale by now. :rolleyes:

It is stale considering you can't find anyone who finds it racist and the thread is about people finding it racist.

LostinKildare · 20-08-2009 01:22PM

worldrepublic wrote: »

The point is the police all over America IGNORED the "vandalism" entailed in putting up Obama "hope" posters. Then the media screamed RACISM! It is a case of blatant, biased and ruthless suppression. Talk about pure hypocrisy!

Wrong. You easily could have checked this with a simple Google search before going off half-cocked with a paranoid conspiracy theory. This is from FOX NEWS, fer crissakes:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,531547,00.html

CREATOR OF FAMED OBAMA POSTER SENTENCED FOR VANDALISM CHARGES
BOSTON -- The artist who created the "Hope" poster of President Barack Obama was sentenced to two years of probation Friday after pleading guilty to three vandalism charges. Prosecutors dropped 11 other charges.
Shepard Fairey pleaded guilty in Boston Municipal Court to one charge of defacing property and two charges of wanton destruction of property under $250, all misdemeanors.
The 39-year-old Los Angeles street artist, who became famous for plastering his posters and stickers throughout cities, must pay $2,000 to a graffiti removal organization and cannot possess tagging materials -- such as stickers or paste -- in Boston except for authorized art installations. He also must tell officials when he plans to visit Suffolk County, where Boston is located.
<snip>
Fairey was arrested in February when he was in Boston for an event kicking off a solo exhibit at the Institute of Contemporary Art. The arrest came three days after he failed to appear in court on a charge of placing a poster on a Boston electrical box in September 2000.
In the plea deal, Fairey admitted to the 2000 incident and two others this past January: placing a sticker on the back of a traffic sign and affixing a poster to a private condominium building.
He faces no further vandalism charges in Suffolk County. Prosecutors dropped 14 charges last month, saying they could not prove Fairey had placed stickers on properties in Boston's Roxbury neighborhood.
<snip>
Assistant District Attorney Josh Wall said prosecutors aren't responsible for judging the artistic merits of street artists when they break the law to display their work.

worldrepublic · 20-08-2009 07:04PM

It's too late. The poster has gone "viral", so it's no longer about the creator, or a few involved. Of course had the same people been putting up all those thousands and thousands of Obama "Hope" posters, would they have been done for vandalism? Nope.

Stories are also making it to the mainstream about police tazing pregnant women and grannies, or pulling over ambulances and beating up the emergency driver. Not to mention the controversy in the UK over the G20 protests. We might be seeing a little in the way of protesting in Ireland before long.... will YOU be on the street protesting? Or maybe YOU will just happen to be on the street.... or maybe your granny will just happen to be on the street?

If the police start behaving like animals we might as well be living in China.

norbert64 · 21-08-2009 03:04PM

worldrepublic wrote: »

It's too late. The poster has gone "viral", so it's no longer about the creator, or a few involved. Of course had the same people been putting up all those thousands and thousands of Obama "Hope" posters, would they have been done for vandalism? Nope.

Did you miss LiKs post above or are you just being willfully obtuse now, lol.

worldrepublic wrote: »

Stories are also making it to the mainstream about police tazing pregnant women and grannies, or pulling over ambulances and beating up the emergency driver. Not to mention the controversy in the UK over the G20 protests. We might be seeing a little in the way of protesting in Ireland before long.... will YOU be on the street protesting? Or maybe YOU will just happen to be on the street.... or maybe your granny will just happen to be on the street?

If the police start behaving like animals we might as well be living in China

I'm not sure what you're getting at here exactly. The left has been railing against this kind of thing for ages, probably coz they're usually the victims, lol. In fact, the right tend to be rather quick to doubt the veracity of any of these police brutality/bad behaviour cases.

LostinKildare · 21-08-2009 07:36PM

You're preaching to the choir re police abuse of power, WR. It's nothing new

(Didja hear about that whack Cambridge cop who arrested an old black guy with a cane who hadn't committed any crime -- not even vandalism! -- just because he didn't like his attitude, then filed a false police report about it?? And he got away with it! Cops gone wild! You must have been outraged!)

Sand · 21-08-2009 07:55PM

You're preaching to the choir re police abuse of power, WR. It's nothing new

(Didja hear about that whack Cambridge cop who arrested an old black guy with a cane who hadn't committed any crime -- not even vandalism! -- just because he didn't like his attitude, then filed a false police report about it?? And he got away with it! Cops gone wild! You must have been outraged!)

Its how you tell them that counts...

Is the Obama-Joker Poster racist?

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