Reuters In The Bag for Obama: Puts Photoshopped Halo Around Obama Image
Bookworm at Bookworm Room on Jun 01 2008 at 4:26 pm | Filed under: Election 2008, Media Watch
Reuters Picture with Obama Logo Out of Focus in Background Looking Very Halo Like
Talk about subliminal advertising:
It’s not only the photo of Obama’s uplifted face, surrounded by a halo, it’s the juxtaposition with the text:
U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama waits to speak in Aberdeen, South Dakota May 31, 2008. Obama said on Saturday he quit his Chicago church in the aftermath of inflammatory sermons that could become a lightning rod in the November election.
I don’t know about you, but I think the subcontext here is martyrdom. To me, this photo smacks of the religious iconography that was, in the medieval era, associated with someone making sacrifices for the faith.
Here’s a fairly decent example of that iconography, with St. Sebastian as the subject:
In the medieval painting, St. Sebastian suffers for his faith, with an angel from on high giving him comfort and, through its supernatural glow, a halo. In the Reuters photo and accompanying text, Obama, battered by the Right Wing machine, is being forced to sacrifice his church affiliation for the greater good (winning the presidency), while the Democratic machinery (in this case, a lit up sign), creates his halo.
Has this media worship gone from irritating into the realms of obsessive and crazy? Or am I just a medieval art lover with a bee in her bonnet?
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Tags: Barack Obama, Cheerleaders, Reuters
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