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John McCain’s Grimace ‘Evokes Surprise and Incredulity’: 24 Heures, Switzerland
It was a moment of self-consciousness that couldn’t have come at a worse time for the Republican: at the end of the third debate with his opponent, Barack Obama, John McCain gestured in a very unfortunate fashion – and a photograph which captured that gesture has created a global reaction.
“McCain is unlucky: once frozen and taken out of context by a photographer, this harmless, spontaneous gesture took on another meaning. Instantly devastating and taken at the right angle, the photo evokes surprise and incredulity. … That said, we’d like to see what one of those ‘body language’ specialists says about the McCain case, because the man was a great lover of grimaces and other tongue tricks – even before the debate.”
By Nicolas Berlie
Translated By Kate Davis
October 17, 2008
Switzerland – 24 Heures – Original Article (French)
Taken in real life, the gesture nearly escaped television cameras, but not still photographers: John McCain has been immortalized showing a not-very- presidential attitude at the end of the debate against Barack Obama.
It’s the story of an image. For once it’s a still image – not a video – circulating on the Web. At the end of the debate between the two men, John McCain was immortalized in an unfortunate pose: a sort of potbellied Nosferatu [see picture, left], trying out his best grimace while walking behind Barack Obama. It’s a pose that could be called “incompatible with the office.”
READ ON AT WORLDMEETS.US, along with continuing translated and English-language foreign press coverage of the U.S. election
5 Responses to “John McCain’s Grimace ‘Evokes Surprise and Incredulity’: 24 Heures, Switzerland”
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OK, I'm not planning on voting for McCain, but could you possibly have found a less photogenic photo of him? I personally doubt one exists!LOL
It's designed to play up his running mate's beauty even more?
This image has actually stimulated a lot of debate in media circles, as it is taken out of context . . . and radically alters any impression of the moment and the candidate from reality.
Please see video of the context: http://www.rue89.com/campagnes-damerique/2008/1…
(Sorry, yes the site is in French. But you can click on the video)
You can see that McCain is just making fun of himself in a millisecond, sticking out his tongue. (Isn't that what one wants . . . a politician who doesn't act pompous?)
But from the angle, and the shot, it looks like he is (1) having a stroke; (2) lunging zombie-like for Obama's butt.
To obtain this shot, one had to capture McCain in a split second.
This is my point: This image is equivalent to a picture of Obama scratching his nose, taken from the side, which would make it seem like his finger was up his nose to the knuckle.
This is why the picture has stirred wide debate in media circles (themselves generally Democrat-liberal biased).
We have all seen the pictures of Rove with the “Exit” sign over his head, or the gotcha pictures of Bush, Cheney etc. If you are conservative, you expect this.
But this picture – as I argue in the Obama analogy – so radically alters the “message” of the original context (in semiotic terms) that it becomes a stand-alone piece of propaganda.
Effectively, this is . . . in spirit, if not in reality . . . a Photoshop.
I always think of the silent vampire movie Nosferatu when I see that picture.
I distinctly remember that during the years that Clinton was in office, it seemed that newspapers went out of their way to publish the most unflattering angled shots of him they could find. An occasional bad one is expected, but they seemed to actively strive to put them up.
I think most people realize that the McCain pic is a microcosm of a split second, not that he walks around doing that all the time