New Yorker Magazine Obama Cover and Controversial Magazine Covers

July 14, 2008 - The New Yorker Magazine is giving the public at large more credit than they deserve, with their New Yorker Obama cover. The cartoon of U.S. Presidential candidate, Barack Obama, is intended to be a satire, poking fun at how Barack Obama has been misconstrued by the right. However, in an age of knee-jerk reactions and short attention spans, the New Yorker Magazine Obama cover which satire is be taken at face value.

As a public figure, and a man running for the highest office in the nation, Barack Obama is ripe fodder for political cartoonists, satirists, and parodies. Cartoonists have a long history in the United States of caricaturing and satirizing political figures. The message of these images, similar to to the New Yorker Magazine Obama cover is not always apparent on the surface.

Whether you agree with the New Yorker reasoning that its New Yorker Magazine Obama cover is satire or not, controversy has long been a part of selling magazines. Magazine covers seek to tap into our collective fears and question social mores.

The Most Controversial Magazine Covers Ever

The New Yorker Obama cover may have failed in its attempt to convey satire to the general public, but it has succeeded in drumming up controversy.

With print becoming a less desirable medium for news and entertainment, magazines have stepped up their game in the past decade, in order to gain market share. The New Yorker magazine Obama cover is not the only controversial magazine cover in recent years, but it may go down as the most misunderstood.

Most of the most controversial magazine covers in the past have toyed with ideas of sexuality, nudity in gender. In more recent years, the politics of race have become the most controversial subjects for magazine covers, as shown by the New Yorker Obama cover.

#7 K.D. Lang and Cindy Crawford

The Vanity Fair cover of a long-legged Cindy Crawford giving a barbershop facial shave to female singer K.D. Lang was also controversial when it was published in August of 1993. The cover and the inside pictorial create questions about gender roles, lesbianism and sexuality.

#6 "Is God Dead?"

Time Magazine asked, "Is God Dead?" on its April 8, 1966 cover.

#5 Bush as Saddam

Maclean's Magazine published a cover depicting Bush as Obama with a headline, ""How Bush Became the New Saddam,'' in September of 2007.

#4 The Dixie Chicks Naked and Anti-Bush

The Dixie Chicks combined the controversies of nudity with politics on the cover of Entertainment Weekly in 2003. They had previously said they were embarrassed that George Bush was from Texas.

#3 A Pregnant, Painted and Naked Demi Moore

A memorable and controversial Vanity Fair magazine cover depicted a pregnant Demi Moore wearing nothing but body paint. This cover was controversial not just because of the nudity, but because it bridged the gap between being pregnant and motherly vs. being sexy. Demi Moore shows that a woman can be both.

#2 LeBron James, King Kong and Vogue

LeBron James and Gislele Bundchen posed on the cover of Vogue magazine, in March of 2008. The photo shot by photographer Annie Leibowitz was considered racist. The magazine and the photographer were accused of depicting LeBron James in a King Kong pose.

#1 New Yorker Obama Cover

The New Yorker Obama cover is currently the most controversial magazine cover. It's unlikely that any magazine will push the boundaries of satire on its cover, like the New Yorker Obama cover, any time soon.

Sources

Entertainment Weekly, 2003
Vanity Fair, August, 1991
Vogue, March 2008
New Yorker Magazine, August 2008
Rolling Stone, 1981