Reconstruction Vol. 12, No. 4
Return to Contents»
Yanes, Nicholas A. and Derrais Carter. The Iconic Obama, 2007‐2009: Essays on Media Representations of the Candidate and New President. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2012. / Molly Brost
<1> In the introduction to The Iconic Obama, 2007‐2009: Essays on Media Representations of the Candidate and New President, co‐editor Derrais Carter notes that “popular culture warrants attention, for it depicts the superficial and subconscious aims of citizens throughout the globe” (1). Indeed, while the collection of essays is ostensibly about media representations of Barack Obama that appeared both during his campaign and in the early days of his presidency, the collection addresses issues that are relevant to virtually any media consumer: namely, how the media shapes our perceptions; how social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube have affected the current political landscape; and how we talk about race in American society.
<2> One particularly effective analysis can be found in Justin S. Vaughn’s essay “Character‐in‐Chief: Barack Obama and His Pop Culture Predecessors.” In this essay, Vaughn challenges the argument perpetuated by numerous journalists that fictional black presidents such as 24’s David Palmer (played by Dennis Haysbert) and Deep Impact’s Tom Beck (Morgan Freeman) allowed “broad swathes of the white electorate to imagine black executive leadership as not only possible but positive” (45). Not only are such fictional presidencies less heroic than a cursory glance might suggest, Vaughn argues, but such arguably positive fictional presidencies are far outnumbered by films, stand‐up comedy routines, and other media representations that present black presidents as incompetent, ridiculous, and/or presiding over a nation on the brink of ruin. Citing examples ranging from 1933’s Rufus Jones for President, in which “images of the black child president [played by Sammy Davis Jr.] are interspersed with a seemingly endless parade of racist visual clichés” to 2006’s Idiocracy, in which Terry Crews plays a former professional wrestler and porn star who presides over an extremely dumbed‐down version of the United States, Vaughn effectively argues that “rather than preparing the viewing public for a future real black president, the catalogue of fictional black presidents instead prepared generations of viewers to consider it farcical, impossible, and undesirable” (48, 55, 61).
<3> Similarly effective is John T. “Jack” Becker’s essay “The President Speaks to America’s Schoolchildren: Outline of a Brouhaha,” which examines why Obama’s 2009 planned, televised speech addressing American students invited such controversy even before it aired. Part of the reason, he claims, might be the widespread use of the Internet, which allows individuals to discuss and take action on information that is sometimes unreliable or incomplete. Other essays similarly discuss how new media affects the political process, though some view such media in a more positive light; for example, in James Carvou’s interview with Ben Relles, creator of the video production company Barely Political, Relles argues that such media “does help democratize the election process to some degree. It gives people a way to comment on candidates, whether that’s using remixing, satire, comedy, or other methods” (190). Regardless of the perceived positivity or negativity of such social media, however, the scholars featured in The Iconic Obama, 2007‐2009 do seem to agree that it is, for better or worse, changing the way politicians campaign and constituents respond to such politicians.
<4> Essays in the collection also address the way that Obama’s presidency has brought race to to the forefront in mediated conversations, both factual and fictional. In “Barack Obama or B. Hussein?: The Post‐Racial Debate in Boston Legal,” for example, Jenny Banh offers a close reading of a Boston Legal scene in which characters Allen Shore (James Spader) and Shirley Schmidt (Candice Bergen) debate whether Obama’s election means that we live in a post‐racial society. Ultimately arguing that “the evidence that we are not color‐blind is seen in the persistent black‐white inequalities of prison, health care, cancer, education, and unemployment rates,” Banh’s essay provides an excellent example of how a fictional television program can provide a jumping‐off point for analyzing Americans’ views on race. Similarly, Angela Nelson’s essay, “Popular Culture in the Age of Obama,” argues that “one significant thing that Obama’s presidency will demonstrate is that race still matters in the United States and that shifts can occur and are occurring in traditional, boundary‐laden areas such as American politics” (11). While the connection Nelson attempts to make between Obama and other areas in society where she sees boundary shifts (such as on television cooking shows and in fast food) could be strengthened and clarified, she does make a salient point that “it is impossible to assume that Americans are not on some level reflecting regularly on their beliefs and values about race” (12).
Ultimately, The Iconic Obama, 2007‐2009 is impressive for the variety of types of media representations its essays covers ‐ from television and movies to social media to comic books to rap music to campaign materials ‐ as well as for the inclusion of interviews with scholars and media professionals that allow the editors to overtly ask some of the questions, and make some of the statements, that the scholarly essays make more abstractly. Nicholas A. Yanes’ and Derrais Carter’s collection provides not only an interesting discussion of the media artifacts surrounding Obama’s campaign and the early part of his presidency, but provokes thought on the role of the media and popular culture in politics and in shaping consumers’ perceptions.
Return to Top»