Beauty Of Giselle And The Beast Of Lebron

The Beast of Lebron and the Beauty of Giselle

It has always been quoted from time to time that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. However, what we see is not always necessarily beauty but sometimes just an individual perspective of the viewer’s sense of the images they see. You see all of these different types of mainstream media that heavily influence and criticize our culture so negatively by the creators and executives who sometimes put there spin on the way we see and view things. Advertisements, movies, internet, radio and TV are sometimes with their images convey hate, racism, and inequality. For example, take Gisele a world’s top model, and a NBA star athlete Lebron James and you put them on the front cover of Vogue’s April 2008 issue with Lebron with his arm around Gisele showing facial expressions of King Kong. Meanwhile holding Gisele resembles Botticelle’s Venus. The result is going to be a buzz of speculation about what we are really looking at when we see this current issue of Vogue Magazine. Although the images of Lebron and Giselle intend to reflect an issue devoted to size and shape their facial expressions, postures, and similarities to past images inflict common stereotypes.

First, the facial expression of the Lebron James and Giselle gives the readers and viewers a sense of meaning and interpretation of common stereotypes. It is very evident to say and see that the facial expression of Lebron James on the cover of this magazine issue is a very deranged, crazy, and gorilla-beast image of him that is much related to common stereotypes of African-Americans. These characteristics of stereotypes about blacks have always been linked in media images of blacks. The African-American male continues to be the subject of extensive stereotyping. Such stereotypes are pervasive and reinforced by media images that deliberately discourage and devalue the African-American male as a crazy and out of control beast with a penchant for violence and that all black guys are basketball players that exemplify muscular and aggressive tendencies.

This magazine is perpetuating Lebron James as an animalistic black man and the point is that there is a long history in the United States of imaging black men as brutish, and comparing black people to monkeys and apes. A good deal of racist propaganda has rested on those images, and they’re a deeply ingrained part of our cultural history. That’s why this Vogue cover, which plays on racist facial expression and imagery, is troubling and that just because you don’t see racism of this stereotype of black males; it doesn’t mean that it isn’t there. Lebron James is one of the most famous sports stars alive, and his image and endorsement are worth tens of millions of dollars a year. He’s got a carefully-maintained public persona as a squeaky clean, family-friendly, playful person, and his substantial personal interests as well as the interest of his top-tier agents and PR team, as well as the interest of several large multinational corporations with whom he has long term endorsement deals that are all centered on maintaining that image. When looking at this cover, it is LeBron who grabs your attention. On the Contrary, Gisele is a mere after thought; a beautiful after thought, but an after thought nonetheless.

Similarly, Giselle a world’s top model has a facial expression that is calm, refreshing, and pleasant. Gisele looks elated with her partner, not terrified despite Lebron’s exaggerated snarl. Some feel it plays to the stereotypes about the dangerous criminal minded black man and his desire to possess the white man’s woman. She is definitely portrayed on the cover of Vogue magazine as if white women are the cream of the crop and that they are obsessed by black men in society. This stereotype of Giselle as a white women further relates to her facial expression that white women are most of the time pleasant and that they never express themselves as angry human beings by the way her expression is portrayed and viewed in the magazine.

Furthermore, the posture of Lebron’s ape like stance while holding Giselle in his left hand is very symbolic of the movie King Kong. King Kong is a legendary fictional animal of large proportion and is often reference to stereotypes of black people being ape-like animals resembling King Kong. When Lebron is standing there in his pose it is absolutely clear to the viewer and readers of Vogue magazine that he is being used as an example of King Kong. For instance, according to an internet source, “Many likened it’s symbolism to the 1930’s King Kong, where a huge black ape grips a fair maiden in one hand while growling and swatting at her would-be rescuers” (http://edc1creations.wordpress.com)

Therefore, the pose of Lebron looks exactly like King Kong in the movie and stereotypes a black man being portrayed as a beast. For Vogue to choose this "beastly" ape like stance of Lebron (the first black male on the cover) makes you wonder” Is this what they think of us?" I'm sure he smiled during the photo shoot but no, this is the image Vogue chooses. Is that how you want the first black man on the cover of Vogue magazine to be remembered? That's ridiculous. If Vogue is going to represent the first African- American male on there cover they should at least made Lebron look dressier and organize in a more presentable fashion, but they didn’t and choose to degrade him as a stereotype. As being a icon for African-Americans, Lebron must be conscious of how he portrays himself, because believe it or not he represents our African-American