Vogue cover with LeBron stirs up controversy

Amber Samson

article:http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/23797883/                                                                                                                               vogue cover: http://blog.nj.com/entertainment_impact_celebrities/2008/03/large_cover.jpg

My morning routines usually involve watching the Today show, which typically consists of superficial news stories, tips for health and beauty, relationship advice, and the intermittent weather reports. Last Wednesday, however, one story particularly caught my attention. Until that day, I had heard nothing about the Vogue cover that was, allegedly, causing so much commotion. The cover features the NBA star LeBron James and Supermodel Gisele Bundchen who share a spread together within the magazine. Yet the controversy surrounds the one photo chosen for the cover, which is claimed to be a ‘King Kong’ like pose.

            My immediate reaction to this argument was that it seemed unfair, even inflated, to say that the cover was perpetuating racial stereotypes. I think if I had seen the cover without first seeing the Today show story, I would not have thought twice about the so-called demeaning pose. Although, looking at the photo after hearing the suggestion that it was King Kong-esque, well, I couldn’t help but see what the critics meant. Still, I can hardly fathom that Annie Leibovitz, an extremely respected though at times controversial photographer would purposely put the two celebrities in such a position. In my opinion, the energy in the picture represents both well. Gisele is a bubbly, good-natured model and LeBron is a fierce competitor on the court. Why wouldn’t the cover choose to feature both as they are known to the world? After all, LeBron James isn’t called King James for nothing!  At the same time, knowing this fact, was Vogue careless to have chosen a picture that has a basketball player with the nickname of “king” in a gorilla-like stance? It seems hard to believe that with all the time put into choosing a Vogue cover that none of the editors would have thought the picture could be interpreted to have racial stereotype undertones. Even though I believe the cover has been overanalyzed, hopefully, it will lead other influential media sources to think twice about how they’re product could be perceived.