I wonder if there have ever been quite so many Presidential T-shirts on offer as those commemorating the 44th incumbent of the White House...?Some, like the one on the left, that I spotted in a shop on 42nd Street when I was in New York recently, is pretty simplistic...
Others T-shirts (along with sweaters, baby suits, tote bags and coffee mugs) carry such slogans as: YES WE DID, And he shall be called Barack Obama, BARACK 'N' ROLL, THE TIME HAS COME, THAT ONE WON, HOPE WON and OBAMA IS MY HOPEBOY or - if you prefer a quote from the man himself - There has never been anything false about HOPE.
Some catch-phrases are clearly about looking towards the future: Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and begin again the work of remaking America; while a good few are about marking the progress of history: ROSA sat so that MARTIN could walk. MARTIN walked so that OBAMA could run. OBAMA ran so that our childen could fly; and still others are neatly (and punningly) saying good-bye to the past...
There is also an eloquently simple image created for the T-shirt (and allied products) trade that is surely one of the sharpest interpretations of this new presidency...
And, talking of logos on (or under) shirts, the brilliant comic book artist, ALEX ROSS whose work will be known to readers of Marvel and DC comics and who has created powerfully mythic imagery of some of the greatest superheroes has parodied one of his own classic Superman images (right) in order to create a new hero for a new era...
No PRESSURE, then...
I hope he can live up to this billing ! No one since Kennedy has had such a weight of expectation loaded onto him. Let's just hope he doesn't want like pets. Then we can get our prime minister back.
ReplyDeleteSQNON : An antiquated phrase meaning lapdog or poodle, used as an affectionate term by President Obama about another politician which immediately sends the media into a feeding frenzy.They are forced to come up with previous examples of its use, find people to whom it may now be applicable, define it in a way no one has ever done before and finally state how it should have been used correctly and who has a right to feel offended afterwards.
It's a terrific image by Alex Ross, but Barack Obama can't possibly live up to it and you almost wonder if those people who want to see him fail have increased the hype to ensure that he doesn't match people's expectations.
ReplyDeleteBeraters: Those who criticise human frailties in others whilst failing to recognise them in themselves.
You are both right, of course, in saying that the expectations are way too high, but that is, I think, as much a reaction to what went before as it is to the difficult times in which we now find ourselves...
ReplyDeleteIt is tempting to see Kennedy as the model, but maybe he will prove to be rather more of a 21st Century FDR...
Everybody is going on about the great things expected from Obama. What most people fail to realise is that the simple fact of him getting there is an incredible feat in itself. I am so glad that the Americans have finally seen the light and sincerely hope that he manages to accomplish something before anybody throws a spanner in the works.
ReplyDeletebunishe: qualifies a work regime imposed on people of whom too much is expected