Obama Joker poster

(I did a search... did a few searches, in fact. Found nothing. And I didn't just check this forum. I actually searched the whole site. Of course, if this is the wrong forum, feel free to shoot me.)



Tasteless? Oh hell yes.
Stupid? Completely. The Joker wasn't about Socialism. He was about Chaos. Socialism is the exact opposite of Chaos. Also, Obama isn't about Socialism, either.

But racist?
Barack Obama Joker socialism poster denounced as racist



Am I the only one who's starting to think that the Racist Card is being over-used? Is it just me? I can see why this is tasteless, and not funny at all (except to a Conservative, of course). I can even see how this can make a few people enraged (not me, though... I'm just shocked at how stupid it is). But, um, racist?

To be fair, Al Jolson was an early advocate of fair treatment for black performers on Broadway, and in his time, performing in blackface was fairly conventional.

2009 is not 1920, though, and putting a black man - the President, no less - in whiteface to score a cheap political laugh is, in fact, very racist.

Using a character mockingly for the depiction of the President, or anyone else, the character should be somewhat related to the topic being satirized.

I cannot fathom the purpose of putting Obama in whiteface other then it being racist.

You mean besides the fact that the character they're comparing him to, the Joker, wears white make-up?

They're not putting him in "white face." they're comparing him to the Joker. You know... this guy:



Who also wears white make-up.You mean besides the fact that the character they're comparing him to, the Joker, wears white make-up?

They're not putting him in "white face." They're comparing him to the Joker. You know... this guy:



who also wears white make-up.

I mean, let's be honest... if they're gonna compare him to the Joker, they have to make him look like the Joker, right? And the Joker wore... um... WHITE make-up. That's not racist. It's the one thing they did right in that mock-up (amongst many bad mistakes)... keeping the character visually correct.

NateHevens said:
You mean besides the fact that the character they're comparing him to, the Joker, wears white make-up?

They're not putting him in "white face." they're comparing him to the Joker. You know... this guy:


Who also wears white make-up.You mean besides the fact that the character they're comparing him to, the Joker, wears white make-up?

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

They're not putting him in "white face." They're comparing him to the Joker. You know... this guy:



who also wears white make-up.

I mean, let's be honest... if they're gonna compare him to the Joker, they have to make him look like the Joker, right? And the Joker wore... um... WHITE make-up. That's not racist.

It's the one thing they did right in that mock-up (amongst many bad mistakes)... keeping the character visually correct.

The point, you miss it.

The three elements in that picture are Obama, the Joker, and the word "socialism". Of those three,

Obama has nothing to do with the Joker. Socialism has nothing to do with the Joker.

"Socialism" is only tangentially related to Obama, in that is is used as an insult against him by people who have no clue as to what socialism really is.

So, since 2 out of 3 make no sense whatsofuckingever, why pick that character? The movie is long gone from the theaters, Heath Ledger is still dead, and the Joker was about as far from a socialist as can be...

...but it's a convenient excuse to put a black president in whiteface, and that's about all it is, since it just doesn't work on any other level.

The fact is the Joker comparisons makes no sense on any level other than as an poor excuse to Photoshop him in a way that clearly references minstrelsy. Also, in case you haven't noticed--there is a whole stream of other right-wing attacks on Obama that are blatantly racist.

Remember how upset conservatives got about shit like this?

I don't see it as neccesarily racist. I just see this as snubbing Obama as a joker and thus not fit for office, according to whomever. The actual motive is something that cannot be determined by merely looking at the poster. The whole blackface/whiteface thing is hilarious. Watermellon Man or Tropic Thunder anyone?

i think you lot worry to much basically who gives a shit we can complain all day long to the goverment of the though in some thats ill advised as u will be killed. but it wont can shit petrol prices will still be high, so will house theres allways gona be crime and they wont trully care hes still getting the sam amount of cash for the nxt few years

...really? you guys can't possibly see the connection a conservative might draw between a "socialist" president and an insane, evil supervillain? race is seriously the first place you go?

...okay.

Pardon? The period key is your friend; don't be afraid of it next time.

While I'm not entirely unconvinced I don't agree with you, you can't see how race would possibly the first place most liberal minded people would go after the flood of racist jokes & comments that have been floating around the internet, forwarded around by public officials, & the not-so-thinly-veiled racism directed at the President by the Republican leadership? The fact of the matter is that there is a fairly large & vocal minority out that just cannot stomach the idea of a black President, & while this might not be one of them, given the totally incorrect smear of socialism applied, it isn't hard to just assume that might be a contributing factor.

Seriously dude. You'll feel much more strongly about them once your girlfriend skips a period.

HEY-O!

Shouldn't it be "why so socialist?"

I'm telling you guys: wing-nuts are horrible with memes.

This is pretty much where I was leaning.

Race issues are so prevalent in this country....that just about anything can be convincingly painted, with the right brush, as racist.

The problem is...it makes people hypersensitive to race...leading them to overreact in just about every instance...and dulling the effects of ACTUAL cases of racism.

Just because it makes no sense to you (or me) doesn't mean it didn't make sense to the twisted little Conservative mind of the fool who made this pic.

You have to throw out what makes sense to you and try and fathom what made sense to this fool. Sure, it could come out that the asshole is racist, and I can see where it flirts with the line. But until the creator of this thing comes out and says it's racist, I don't believe that was the point.

I think the point was exactly this:

To some twisted mind, Socialism and total Chaos are the same thing (even though to a rational mind they couldn't be more different), and Obama, to this twisted idiot, is all about Socialism, hence, in the backwards mind of this individual, the comparison as it is makes sense, and wasn't racist at all (at least, not the main or most important idea behind it).

i can see it. i just strongly disagree with the mindset that chooses that interpretation over all others.

i mean, seriously--what the hell does reverse blackface have to do with socialism? is being socialist a white thing, now? or, i know--the caption is just a red herring (haw!), designed to mislead us into thinking the poster isn't about race. that must be it.

Really the parallels are striking. Both want to kill Batman. Obama wants universal health care, the Joker blew up a hospital. Obama gave bailout money to banks, the Joker took money from a bank. Obama ran a campaign based on restoring hope, the Joker's goal is to create despair. They are exactly the same! Its just a complete coincidence that the Shopped Obama photo makes him look like a minstrel.

So we have a poster with a nonsensical Joker/Obama/Socialism analogy and leaves us with a photo of Obama looking like a minstrel. How could anyone think there is any racist intent?

Well, gee...maybe we just need to create more black cartoon/movie villains so this kind of confusion doesn't happen again.

did drudge create this story out of nowhere or was anybody else reporting, or even noticing, this "meme" before he posted it.

edit: i mean the poster itself, not the reaction to it

Are you kidding me? You want a racist to come out and flat admit that their racist shit is, in fact, racist before you'll admit that it is?

Wow. How many racist joked have you heard that was preceded by "I'm not a racist, but..."?

Get real. You don't need the contractor who built the house to confirm that the roof is, in fact, leaking when it is raining in your living room.

the Joker/Obama/Socialism analogy is only nonsensical if you're being deliberately obtuse. i disagree with it, but the comparison being made--that Obama's supposed push for socialism is evidence that he's evil and insane--was immediately apparent to me. maybe i'm just more in touch with comics, or maybe i'm not actively looking for racism in every anti-Obama statement.

Enlighten me. Other than the fact that neither the Joker nor Obama have anything to do with Socialism, what's the parallel?