Another Magazine Count

At the Borders in Nashua, New Hampshire, a full 13 magazines had Barack and/or Michelle Obama on the cover, 14 if you count the commemorative New York Times from the election. Looks like the press is hoping for its own Obama stimulus program. 

GQ Man of the Year

Barack Obama, Michael Phelps, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Jon Hamm were named GQ's men of the year. According to the accompanying article, these men were chosen, because they "blew our minds." The four are among 27 men or groups of men listed.

I don't know what sort of criteria blowing a mind is, and I have to say, mind-blowing is not how I view either Hamm or DiCaprio--I think they are fine actors but just two of many.

I am more intrigued by the pairing of Obama and Phelps, both figures who achieved big things by inspiring the nation--and grinding it out. 

Anyone who knows swimming knows that it's the grind-iest of sports, hours and hours in a pool, and some more doing "dry-land" work,  all with the hope that endless practice will lead to greatness. Obama is no stranger to the grind, though of a different form, an endless triathlon of traveling, speaking, and meeting.  The success of Obama and Phelps shows men of the year can be celebrities and those who put in the time. (And of course, win eight gold medals or become president.)

--J.S.

The front page

Since we began here at SemiObama, we have spent a lot of time discussing the covers of newspapers and magazines, despite the fact that newspapers and magazines are losing their grip on American journalism.

As much as we love blogs and watch television, there is still something different about newspapers and magazines that make them crucial when an historical moment happens. We know this, and sales of The New York Times and Washington Post, days after the Obama election, or the cumulative effect of something like this, show how strong an effect the tangible has on us. 

In the case of a long election that ended in history, the need for the tangible may be overwhelming. Television news was thrilling, reading the blogs surprisingly less so, but reading the newspapers and the commemorative magazines, though decried as cynical by some observers, gives people a sense that something real has happened.

--J.S.

Obama on People and Us

One of our projects has been to chart the movement of Barack Obama from political culture into the realm of popular culture, but his appearance this week on the covers of People and Us marks a new level of super stardom--even for the messiah.

What's interesting about these covers is not that Barack and Michelle Obama are on them, after all, they are the President and First Lady Elect. What is fascinating are the stories they tell and the images used to tell those stories.

In both cases, the covers indicate a metaphorics of struggle, a thematic of overcoming. Note how unlike the recent covers on Time, The Economist, and Rolling Stone Obama is smiling, as if to indicate arrival. In some of the previous photos, Obama has come off as aloof or cold, but now that he's "won," it seems to be safe to represent his victory as proof of his perseverance.

Also interesting is the fact that it now seems okay to represent him less as an allegory and more as a regular guy. That he graces People and Us merely reinforces his status as someone who is able to bridge those seemingly unbridgeable worlds.