Bachmann (Groan)
By Jeffrey Page
Suit: Black.
Blouse: Conservative gray.
Spinach on teeth: None.
Hair: Coiffed.
Accessories: Pearl necklace and earrings.
Drool dripping from mouth: None.
Expression: A bit of a smile; slightly wide-eyed and gazing slightly upward.
Leakage from nose: None.
So what is Michelle Bachmann complaining about? Critics of her Newsweek cover picture have concentrated on her eyes and expression. The picture has been described as showing someone who is “wild-eyed,” “a lunatic,” “enraged,” “nuts.”
I don’t get it. To me, it’s a picture of an assertive, hopeful, dressed-for-business woman whose politics I loathe. Do better pictures of her exist? Of course. Were there more flattering pictures shot in the same session as the one that made it to the cover? We’ll never know. And the question: Is Newsweek somehow obligated to ask the subjects of its articles which pictures they want the magazine to use? Ask Hillary Clinton about that.
Of Bachmann’s cover shot, there can be no question: This is Michelle Bachmann and, for better or worse, this is what she looks like.
I don’t recall any of Bachmann’s friends coming forward to take Newsweek to task for the bad-cop shot of Clinton it used for its cover just three months ago. Clearly unflattering. She looks not like a cop — and not like a secretary of state — but like a hired thug with squinty, dangerous eyes. If she was angry about the picture, she was too much of a pro to mention it.
But of course the fight is not just over Bachmann’s picture. There’s the caption: The Queen of Rage. And here, I think Newsweek has a problem. First, with two important exceptions, I don’t know of any woman in public life who’s been described as the queen of anything. That excludes Elizabeth II, but Newsweek wasn’t trying to compare Michelle Bachmann with her. The other was the late Leona Helmsley who, among other things, declared that “only little people pay taxes,” who bequeathed millions of dollars to her dog, and who was described by everyone as “the queen of mean.”
Was Newsweek making that comparison? How could it not have been? After all, the magazine described Clinton as “Obama’s Bad Cop” with all the coded messages that “bad cop’ brings with it.
Another problem for Newsweek is one of pure piggish sexism. The National Organization for Women wisely asked if Newsweek ever described a man as “the king of rage.” It did not.
What are your thoughts on this?
jeffrey@zestoforange.com
Tags: Jeffrey Page
August 17th, 2011 at 9:29 pm
I liked the photo. I thought it was flattering. I’m w/ you! I dont get what all the flap is about!
August 17th, 2011 at 11:02 pm
The photo looks fine. But it isn’t about the photo. It’s about power. The tea partiers will not be happy until they’re calling all the shots – even the at the photo shoots.
August 18th, 2011 at 9:59 pm
oh please! since when does Time or any other publication have to start justifying editorial decisions? Remember freedome of the press/media; it was such a quaint era, wasn’t it? Now, we have “the witch” walking off a broadcast because SHE wants to decide what questions to be asked and not have her answers challenged and the queen of rage is upset because of her image. enough of this crap. When will the media regain some integrity and really do hard core news again.