Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Obama Gives Romney a Hand

Steve Sack's cartoon last week, commenting on North Carolina's vote against and President Obama's statement in favor of marriage equality, had an unintended effect on me.

Political cartoon of a guy in running clothes labeled equality who has tripped on a rock while running uphill. An arm with an Obama campaign logo reaches down to give him a hand up
At first glance, before I saw that the rock is labeled "N. Carolina" and the guy's shirt says "equality," I thought the fallen runner was supposed to be Mitt Romney, and that Obama was giving him a hand up.

Didn't make any sense, but that's what I thought. The runner's head shape and hair, plus something about his eyes and nose, seem like the way Sack would draw Romney.

I wonder how a cartoonist like Sack makes the decision about what type of person to turn into an everyman such as this? If he'd made the fallen person a woman, or a man of color, would it have been less clear that the cartoon focuses specifically on same-sex marriage?

Instead, for me, at least, it was less clear because the runner is a white guy who looks like Romney.

1 comment:

Walter H. said...

Thank you for posting this! I'd just emailed someone telling them about this cartoon after my initial Google failed me.

I love the imagery, but never considered the fallen person to be Romney - though that's an interesting take on it. Then again Romney's only "connection" with the GLBT world was the advisor whom Romney's major donors, etc hated (simply for being gay) so he resigned. Truly sad...