LeBron on the cover of Vogue - controversy?

I see nothing wrong with this.

LeBron was a big guy coming out of high school. I couldn't believe he was his age when he entered the NBA. Dwight Howard as well. I think Howard is far more muscular than James, but LeBron is the superstar.

 

If they superimposed the Empire State building in the background and had him swatting biplanes instead of dribbling a basketball while carrying fair Giselle, I'd really have a problem.

 

That cover shot is soooooooooooo photoshopped.

 

Apparently the punchline of that old racist joke about how to keep five black guys "away" from a white woman isn't true ...

 

I can see how it evokes imagry of Kong and Ann Darrow. That was actually the first thing I thought of. Of course, I always loved King Kong and thought of Kong as a sympathetic figure, so in my view it's a compliment. 8)

From an art perspective, the photo that ran is a much more dynamic photo than the alternate shot that website thinks is the less offensive shot.

I don't know ... it doesn't bother me, but then again, as a white guy, I've never been compared (in looks and intelligence) to a gorilla the way many black people and their parents have been.

 

Let me add that LeBron, the black man in question, doesn't seem to have a problem with it, so why should anyone else? He obviously didn't feel like he was being made to look like a savage or a gorilla.

There have been much more inflammatory depictions -- the Barkley cover on SI springs to mind (which was, of course, supposed to be provocative) -- that I thought were much ado about nothing, too.

 

I think a more controversial thing was SLAM (?) airbrushing the tattoos off Allen Iverson.

 

That was my first thought. That's the only thing I find offensive here.

 

Ah, I knew it was one of them. But still, they should have left him in his natural tattooed state.

 

I enjoy your mind.

 

Somehow, I think if the man was white and the woman black, of two were opposite, there would be a much louder racist cry.