In school, young children are always taught to accept others
for their differences, as respect is a key lesson in schools around the nation.
You would think that mature professionals would demonstrate this idea of
respect, but they do the complete opposite. On a recent cover of TIME Magazine,
the media publicly mocked Chris Christie for his weight. Chris Christie is
the reelected Governor of New Jersey who has been receiving a lot of attention
as a potential candidate in the 2016 Presidential Election.
The magazine cover
has Christie’s silhouette with the title “The Elephant in the Room.” TIME makes
a pun about Christie’s Republican emblem, the elephant, as well as his weight.
Many criticized TIME by calling the cover, a “cheap shot”. In response, TIME
says: “the cover is a reference to the size of his influence, not his
waistband.” To read more about Chris Christie and the TIME magazine cover,
click here.
I disagree with TIME's response. If the cover was purely to emphasize the greatness of
Christie’s influence, the magazine could have used a different title that
showed their clear intentions. Why are younger generations taught respect and equality when adults and the media demonstrate the opposite?
Do you think the cover is offensive or harmless? What do you see as the message from the cover? Why are the values being taught in America not coherent with the actions of Americans?
I agree, Audrey. :) But I would suppose that adults can be kind of hypocrites in this way without meaning to be. They want to, I hope, instill solid values in us. Maybe so as we do not turn out like them. To that, I'm not sure.
ReplyDeleteAs for the cover, yeah it is a "cheap shot" but I wouldn't say it's exactly offensive. I believe that they could have meant it to be offensive, but if I were Christie, I would be thinking "Ha-ha. Very funny. They think they're clever." Or something to that effect.
The last question you ask.... is fairly large and complex. I don't have all the answers, except the basic idea that... hypocrisy is human. And human is easy. To say one thing and do another is very easy. And I suspect, is all about image... but that's saying like a million things. Sorry, Audrey, not a great answer, but I don't want this comment to be overwhelmingly long!!
I disagree with TIME's response as well. It was offensive. Another phrase could have been used in replace of "elephant in the room" especially since Christie has been mocked for his weight. This pseudo-Hitchcock cover on its own may have been OK, but with the title it is clear what the magazine was trying to imply. As younger generations we are taught equality early on as we have grown with change. The Paula Deen scandal was quite interesting to me because people based it on her age and her background, being from the South. Yet most educated young adults now would never do such a thing as we know the backlash of it and how wrong it is. Perhaps those born in different generations and with different backgrounds and educations were not taught these morals early on. They know it is wrong now in today's world, but perhaps they are just silencing themselves and their real personas come out sometimes. The media constantly ridicules celebrities and those in power (whether real power or questionable) for weight and appearance, and unfortunately I don't think this will change for a while.
ReplyDelete