TIME's Convention Promo: A Flap In The Face

So Obama is a "one man Rorschach test," or a man of five faces (which, I guess, is better than two).

If I hadn't been in an airport yesterday, I probably never would have seen this -- the promo flap of the TIME convention edition evoking an Obama who is apparently too complex to be fully seen.  (It sort of reminds me of this, another instance in which a Democratic nominee was fragmented by TIME.)

Maybe the ineffability has something to do with Obama's "passion gap?"

(image: Platon for TIME)

Comments

[Stuart Noble]

I'll just add that the 2004 media script you convincingly point back to represents a continuation of the media narratives around Gore's 2000 Presidential Campaign.

See Eric Pooley's article for Time (also dated August 21)"The Man Behind the [5] Myths."
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,997753,00.html

But the ascription of "multiple faces" adds a minstrelsy quality to the characterizations of Obama. Not surprising, "the Black Man" is face number one. Then there's also "the healer" and "the radical."
I'm surprised they didn't just go with a cover of Obama in Black Face.