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05.20.03 08:32 PM
a picture is worth a thousand words, and then some
It's not that I haven't been following the Jayson Blair story, it's just that I haven't been talking about it. And so, upon my descent into the subway today an arresting cover photo on a magazine caught my attention. I copped that sucker mad fast. And I ought to be ashamed, for this is just what the folks behind Newsweek wanted me to do. Not quite as dark and haunting as the cover of OJ on Time back then, this photo was placed for the sole purpose of evoking certain emotions with none of them being positive. Some of the adjectives that come to mind shady, unstable, gangster, trickster...damn! Is there no sympathy for this man? Is he really the only one at fault? What about the folks behind the engine who tried to turn him into supernegro? Hmm... If you haven't seen the cover, it's here. Hey even the title connotes images not quite so bright: The Secret Life of Jayson Blair. Not to be outdone, New York magazine has handled the affair a little differently. On the site, we see color photos of Blair and Raines, with Raines looking sinister and Blair as the charming man. On the newstands the photos are unretouched black and whites. The title: The Times Under Fire. To be quite honest, I thought all news outlets used fact checkers to avoid such fiascos to begin with.
10 Years of Vibe Charting Urban Fashion's Rise. While that isn't exactly the title of the piece, Guy Trebay's Taking Hip-Hop Seriously. Seriously. in The New York Times today gives a long due big ups to urban style. Check it out:
"The hip-hop revolution in fashion is rarely called that, of course, or even taken seriously. There has not been a museum show devoted to it, and yet it is hard to contemplate a survey of style's last two decades that omitted the importance of the following things: track suits, sweat clothes, wrestling, boxing or soccer shoes, designer sneakers, outsize denims, prison-style jumpsuits, underwear worn above the trouser waistband, do-rags, cargo pants, messenger bags, dreadlocks, cornrows, athletic jerseys, Kangol caps. The phenomenon of ghetto-fabulous dressing, as evidenced by exotic pelts, platinum watches of alarm-clock proportions and diamond barnacled bling-bling from Jacob the Jeweler, might warrant an exhibition, or at least a doctoral thesis, all its own."
Aren't we Just a Little Sick of Reality TV?. Not that I've watched "Extreme Makeover" nor will I ever watch "America's Next Top Model," but there is an interesting culture piece in The New York Times by Gina Bellafante, titled " Our Bodies, Our Silicon, Ourselves," that gets to the point of this madness. Check it out:
"As disheartening as it is uplifting, "Extreme Makeover" is a bittersweet rebuke to principles cherished by most thinking, sensitive people: that what you look like does not determine who you are; that personal growth can be achieved only through meditation, therapy or other taxing avenues of introspection. In an enlightened world, liposuction should not make you a more engaged participant in human affairs."
"But what if it does?"
"Interviews with a half-dozen participants of the show several months after they recovered from surgery suggest that the dramatic changes in appearance did ignite changes in their feelings of self-worth."
Funny I'm so drawn to The New York Times when the paper's integrity is so in question right now. Isn't it?
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Comments
yo, i copped that same Newsweek last night...i passed on it earlier that day, but i felt a need to KNOW. lol plus two of my boys work over at the Times and i wanted to compare their opinions with the reporters'.
posted by hardCore | May 21, 2003 3:15 PM #
oh yeah, notice how they took the flame out of that cigarette he's smoking on the cover, making it look more like he's smoking a joint!
posted by hardCore | May 21, 2003 3:16 PM #
I haven't seen Extreme Makeovers. But, I did see the Oprah episode with some of the participants and it's fascinating really.
Over the years, my views on cosmetic surgery has softened to the point where I'm actually considering a couple of things, myself. WHAT?! Yes. As the prices go down and the procedures become easier to do, I figure, why not? Some of those people acted like they had a new lease on life.
As for Jayson Blair... I think this incident is a(nother) reminder to question everything you read. Blair is certainly not the only journalist making shit up. Ultimately, I hold The New York Times responsible for not having proper checks and balances.
posted by j. brotherlove | May 21, 2003 5:03 PM #
Sad thing J. ... the issue here is the crucifixion of Affirmative Action. I hold the Times responsible also...but as folks get to talking on my favorite listserv afrofuturism...I'm beginning to see other issues developing here. Most notably, that there is a plan behind all of this. They could have handled this behind closed doors...the man had resigned. There's more than meets the eye on this one, as there is behind much of what the media does...go read hardcore's two latest posts to see what i'm talking about http://thought.3rdeyeopen.org/archives/000220.html
and
http://thought.3rdeyeopen.org/archives/000219.html
posted by lynne | May 21, 2003 5:36 PM #
yes, this is becoming a question of Affirmative-Action. it's sad. whenever a black person is "caught" doing something wrong (like other people don't do wrong!) all the conservatives and closet-conservatives come out and say, "see! this is why we need to get rid of Affirmative-Action, these people don't know how to do anything right." there is always another agenda. i'm sure there are SEVERAL journalist that make shit up (esp if no one is checking, sup with THAT?), but why so much attention on the black man? because he's just that. a BLACK man.
here is the eternal question....is he were white, would this be such a deal? or would they be making a movie about his life and how he was SO smart (i.e. "catch me if you can)?
things that make you go hmmmm...
posted by britni | May 21, 2003 8:31 PM #
Damn, that's crazy. That man's business is all in the public eye now. I agree that the establishment could've handled it behind closed doors but I would imagine that that would take away from the humiliation of Mr. Blair- Black man under fire. I feel for him, but I also wonder if he thought of the consequences before he got caught. <groan> How disappointing...
posted by Nadine G. | May 21, 2003 10:21 PM #
WE at NEWSWEEK are happy that you grabbed this week's cover issue. shit, it helps keep me employed.
but i do understand your point. the cover illustrates so much. down to the damn cigarette that has become a sign of disgust....i guess jayson is to be added to that list.
being that the editor of Newsweek is a black man, when i got to work and saw this week's issue i dived into the article to see what would and would not be said.
more later...
posted by kevinrscott | May 22, 2003 3:26 PM #
jayson blair: f*ck up, or rebel?
if Jayson Blair was a Black Panther, and he had infiltrated the most powerful news corporation in the country, got them to pay him a bunch of money, and consistently did everything he could to sabotage that paper and bring negative attention to that paper by printing lies, plagerizing, and being cunning enough to continue there, and eventually write a book about it, he would be viewed by blacks everywhere as a HERO, a WHISTLE BLOWER, a REBEL.
but he's not. he's a regular dude. so we label him f*ck up. see the truth is black people, we don't give a f*ck about jayson blair. all we give a f*ck about is our own asses. jayson has made the spot hot for all of us. so we're worried about the brotha who has to follow jayson, because we see ourselves as "that" brotha. *shakes my head* when will we learn? the Times doesn't love us, Corporate Amerikkka doesn't love us, none of these muthaf*ckas love us. jayson is a bad reporter, not a bad "black" reporter, and if the powers that be treats him like a bad "black" reporter, let's see if all you black people hating on jayson will be as equally outspoken and ashamed about that. what you're all forgetting is, we're all on the coporate plantation. we don't own these businesses. it's not like the Times is a black owned paper. don't be outraged by the slave, be outraged by the master. i don't know about you, but i don't have a problem with any slave, who f*cks up picking master's cotton. one.
posted by hardCore | May 22, 2003 11:18 PM #
I know I never said Jayson was a fuck up. Trickster maybe in that ole br'er rabbit...esu elegbra sense...but I never said fuck up. Scapegoat I said. Whatever was going on with JB was going on for awhile, the paper knew it. It happened on whichever senior editor's watch. Jayson was set up to fail...dat's dat. He's the example that everyone, who is trying to get a crumb from the system, now has to live by. He is the new standard of blackness in the workplace. And basically he reveals that affirmative action don't work. Sonsabees...we've been hoodwinked and bamboozled all over again.
posted by lynne | May 22, 2003 11:35 PM #
I know I'm late to the party, but as someone who is in the process of her very own (time-delayed) "Extreme Makeover", I'll testify that the changes in my appearance have done more for my mental and spiritual self-worth than a Dr. Phil marathon or personal sessions with Deepak Chopra ever could.
Either that, or I've always been shallow, but the flab was keeping me grounded. Heh.
posted by Cecily | June 7, 2003 2:13 PM #