And the Award for Best Obama Cover goes to …
October 17th, 2009 Gumlegs Posted in Commentary, Humor, News | Comments Off
Incredible as it may seem, the American Society of Magazine Editors, ASME, now has an award for the Best Obama Magazine Cover. It shouldn’t be interpreted as an award for the best happy-smiley coverage because the New York Times Magazine entry, as befits the nation’s most grimly self-important source of left-wing group-think, shows an unsmiling president, his head resting on his left thumb, behind the caption, “His Economy.” No doubt this headline will be subject to later revision. Indeed, we suspect it is the reason this cover did not win first prize. How the multiple layers of fact-checkers and editors at the Times managed to miss the obvious possibility of future embarrassment to the President may never be known.
The ASME site’s write-up of the May 3, 2009 Times Magazine cover merits mention:
This amazing portrait of President Obama is striking because it captures a deeply thoughtful and real expression. It is not a posed portrait done in the studio, but rather a very real and vivid portrait made during an actual exclusive interview in the Oval Office. Normally that would be considered the least appealing of situations to shoot a cover portrait, but in the incredibly skilled hands of Nadav Kander, it became an opportunity to reinvent and stretch what a cover portrait can be. It is both beautifully lit and well-crafted, as well as a documentation of an actual candid and revealing moment.
Even the most jaded reader must vicariously feel the tingle going up the legs of the editors as they first beheld this inspiring portrait of the object of their adoration. And bear in mind: this cover was only a runner-up! Those inclined to read the description of the winning entry are duly warned: “The Color Purple” is no longer just a title.
Could this be the first hint of a new trend in awards? Much fun has been made of President Obama’s winning of the Nobel Peace Prize, but this sort of thing is self-limiting. In his first term, the president can win it, at most, four times.
We presume no rules change to allow more than one win annually, but on second thought, why rule out multiple Nobel Peace Prizes per year? The President may unexpectedly announce a new impulse or fancy, and these tremendous feats deserve recognition as they occur. Even we are compelled to acknowledge that no one in history has so boldly embraced the ideal of peace using exactly the words our beloved President has so movingly recited from his teleprompter.
So let us encourage the idea of awarding prizes in a new “Best Obama” category for all awards. This will insure that the wealth will be spread around, the President’s summum bonum … or so he says … and the ensuing laughter won’t be quite as distracting.
It’s easy to imagine a Pulitzer Prize for the “Best Obama Story of the Year,” but the competition will be heavy. Why stop there? “Best Coverage of the Obama Family” will allow newspaper style sections and women’s magazines to bask in the glow as well. A “Best Obama Pet Coverage” category will give publications like Dog Fancy, Dog World, and Dogs For Kids a chance for recognition and loot. We omit Dogs in Review, not because of their global perspective, a good thing, but because of the ugly possiblity inherent in their name — they might write a bad review. Upon proper assurance that their content will be safe for the first canine’s image we shall revise our thinking.
Some may object that the Pulitzer Prize is supposed to honor “excellence in journalism and the arts,” but this is petty. With a properly corrected definition of excellence, anything is award-worthy.
The Academy Awards are a natural area to award Obama-centric prizes. While an endless cycle of movies about Obama might prove so repellent to the general public that even Hollywood won’t produce them for long, perhaps something more subtle can be arranged. We suggest an Oscar category in the President’s honor, “Best Mis-Leading Actor.”
The folks at the Caldecott Medal and the Newberry Medal should take note as well. Given the general level of most of the Obama coverage, these awards are stunningly appropriate.
We feel compelled warn organizations that award anti-prizes (the Ig Nobel Prize, The Razzies, and the Bulwer-Lytton Awards, for instance, that their present status as beloved jesters will be destroyed if they attempt to create an Obama category. There are some subjects one simply cannot mock and still be considered worthy of NFL team ownership.
