Award-winning columnist Tom Archdeacon — an old-school storyteller in a brand-new venue — writes about sports, the city, southwest Ohio and anything else that catches his fancy… or yours.Home > Blogs > Through the Arch > Archives > 2008 > March > 28 > Entry
LeBron As King Kong — All Wrong!
You know how they say a picture is worth a thousand words?
Well, sometimes a picture is just a picture.
As for Orlando Sentinel and ESPN.com columnist Jemele Hill and radio talkmeister Screamin’ Stephen A. Smith, I think you two are seeing something that’s not there.
Then again, contrived controversy does get you noticed on the blogosphere and bump those on-air ratings. Or, is there something else going on here all together — some kind of jealousy by one P.O.’d black woman — as Skip Bayless, another over-blown, look-at-me talk show type, suggested to Hill.
The point of contention is the April cover of the fashion magazine, Vogue. It’s the Shape Issue: “Secrets of the Best Bodies” and it features Cleveland Cavs superstar LeBron James and supermodel Gisele Bundchen.
James — dressed in black workout gear and letting loose with that same mouth-open scream you’ve see him do so many times after a rim-bending dunk — is dribbling a basketball with his right hand and has his left arm draped loosely around the waist of the smiling Bundchen, who’s wearing a slinky, form-fitting green dress.
Hill called the cover “distasteful” and compared the image — shot by the much-acclaimed photographer Annie Leibovitz — to that of King Kong imposing his will on Faye Wray.
“Maybe the point was to show the contrast between brawn and beauty, masculinity versus femininity, strength versus grace,” Hill wrote. “But Vogue’s quest to highlight the differences between superstar athletes and supermodels only successfully reinforces the animalistic stereotypes frequently associated with black athletes.
“A black athlete being reduced to a savage is, sadly, nothing new. But this cover gave you the double-bonus of having LeBron and Gisele strike poses that others in the blogosphere have noted draw a striking resemblance to the racially charged image of King Kong enveloping his very fair-skinned lady love interest.”
I think this is a racist take by Hill herself — painting James as some big ape — but she found support from Dr. John Hoberman, a University of Texas professor and author of the controversial book “Darwin’s Athletes: How Sports Has Damaged Black America and Preserved the Myth of Race.”
“It’s a great, great issue that Vogue has made trivial,” Hoberman told Hill. “It’s exploitative. It’s going for the primitive, racial emotion as opposed to something tasteful and edifying.”
And Smith parroted some of those thoughts and more on his daily radio show Friday.
Maybe I’m a Neanderthal or simply naive — and I do realize that Hill as a young black woman and myself, a white Baby Boomer, probably see things differently — but I didn’t have the same initial thoughts she did when I first saw the cover.
This was before the firestorm hit, and to me it seemed pretty natural for a Shape Issue that both would be wearing the clothes they wear on the job.
James is a super-amped, in-your-face athlete and that’s how he looked. He doesn’t seem to be holding Bundchen against her will. In fact, she’s smiling as if she’s having a good time.
That’s what prompted Bayless to ask Hill on air whether she was bent out of shape because LeBron was on the cover with a white woman.
Hill denied that — said something like that could not be further from the truth. But you can’t deny that some black women — like some white men — have the same adverse reaction when they see a black man and white woman arm-in arm.
Now if you want to grill the folks at Vogue on why they haven’t had more black women on the cover of their magazine — something like three in 114 years — I’m all for that.
But to think that James was duped here — or to paint him, as Hill does, as a guy who is uneducated on the plight of blacks — is unfair and biased in its own assumptions. Few athletes control their image or associations more than he does .
He told the Cleveland Plain Dealer that he was pleased with the cover: “Absolutely. It was good.”
As for the controversy, he slapped it aside the way he does a lazy lay-up by an under-sized, opposing guard:
“Everything my name is on is going to be criticized in a good way or a bad way. …Who cares what anybody says.”
The way I see it, things could have been worse.
He could have been in pinstripes and wearing a Yankees cap.
Permalink | Comments (17) | Post your comment |
Comments
By Gary
April 3, 2008 11:57 AM | Link to this
The only issue is people trying to make it an issue. I am sick of people crying racism at the drop of a hat.Jemele Hill needs to save the argument for when an actual racist problem occurs not just when she has column space to fill!!By marker
March 30, 2008 4:23 AM | Link to this
Great column per usual Tom excellent ending. The cover was just a cover “beautiful people” selling magazines.By Dave Stieb
March 30, 2008 1:34 AM | Link to this
This country is on the verge of electing a black president. Lebron James agreed to be in the photo. He is black. Jemele Hill is trying to keep a fire burning that gets closer to burning out every day. Trivial articles like this only cause more problems and create more hate and division between races. You’re living a sad life when you spend a good portion of your time scanning every magazine cover and newspaper article for traces of racism, that in 99.9% of cases you won’t find.By Jane
March 30, 2008 1:01 AM | Link to this
The context: first cover of a black man on their magazine- Ever. First time out, positive emotions on display or negative ones? Hmmmm. Negative? We all love LeBron, but lets not let that arrest us from shaming Annie Lebovitz and Vogue. They should know better. There are more than enough negative portrayals of black men in the media. Enough! Have some sense! There is a name for it: it is called “Race Baiting for Fun and Profit.” Time to call it what it is. To conclude that the cover is harmless is not possible unless one views it out of context.By Jane
March 30, 2008 12:59 AM | Link to this
The context: first cover of a black man on their magazine- Ever. First time out, positive emotions on display or negative ones? Hmmmm. Negative? We all love LeBron, but lets not let that arrest us from shaming Annie Lebovitz and Vogue. They should know better. There are more than enough negative portrayals of black men in the media. Enough! Have some sense! There is a name for it: it is called “Race Baiting for Fun and Profit.” Time to call it what it is. To conclude that the cover is harmless is not possible unless one views it out of context.By tammy
March 29, 2008 7:37 PM | Link to this
And his mother bought him a Hummer during his high school days while she was drawing welfare checks.By joe
March 29, 2008 7:34 PM | Link to this
LeBron James once walked off the floor of a Cavaliers game before time was out. He recently was caught speeding 115 mph in a 55 zone. In high school he accepted stuff like the throwback jerseys and was suspended by the ohsaa only to have a lawyer get it postponed until the state finals were complete. He is a problem child.By Wolverine
March 29, 2008 6:39 PM | Link to this
This shows the effects of one irresponsible statement. This squabble about racism is not about the cover of Vogue. I think Lebron and Gisele looked they were having fun…and considering neither really needs the money, I don’t think either was forced into it, and they both probably picked the specific cover photo together. This cover was about fun and fitness. This discussion has turned racial b/c a couple “reporters” apparently have been out of the headlines for too long. Maybe we should check their motives, and not Vogue’s. I thought Lebron looked awesome, like a young man enjoying his celebrity status. And I appreciate Arch for stepping up and calling all the hype for what it is. Maybe these journalists are jealous b/c Bron’s having more fun and earning more money?By Wolverine
March 29, 2008 6:38 PM | Link to this
This shows the effects of one irresponsible statement. This squabble about racism is not about the cover of Vogue. I think Lebron and Gisele looked they were having fun…and considering neither really needs the money, I don’t think either was forced into it, and they both probably picked the specific cover photo together. This cover was about fun and fitness. This discussion has turned racial b/c a couple “reporters” apparently have been out of the headlines for too long. Maybe we should check their motives, and not Vogue’s. I thought Lebron looked awesome, like a young man enjoying his celebrity status. And I appreciate Arch for stepping up and calling all the hype for what it is. Maybe these journalists are jealous b/c Bron’s having more fun and earning more money?By MAC
March 29, 2008 4:02 PM | Link to this
JoeMorgan: Have you ever heard of the Kingdom of Cush?…No, well I suggest you read! And Egyptians have nothing to do w/Caucasians. How ignorant.By Miranda
March 29, 2008 3:41 PM | Link to this
“and I do realize that Hill as a young black woman and myself, a white Baby Boomer, probably see things differently” -then how dare you suggest that what you saw was “right” and what Ms. Hill saw was somehow a figment of her vivid imagination? Your arrogance in that suggestion is pretty telling - but its so ingrained and so natural that you probably don’t even realize the message it sent, as do a lot of people that dare to tell me that what I see, isn’t there (and they wonder why we’re “angry”). Don’t worry, as a young black woman myself, I’m so used to it.By Matt
March 29, 2008 3:26 PM | Link to this
This reminds me of the fable of the boy who cried wolf. racism is bad, LeBron is good at basketball and Obama is articulate. Please quit looking for racism where none exists.By JoeMorgan
March 29, 2008 12:49 PM | Link to this
The “myth of race”? The largest Chicano organization in America is called the National Council of La Raza (The Race). There are thousands of racially defined nonwhite leaders in America and thousands of racially defined nonwhite organizations. And if race is a “myth” then why is it that there has never been a black society on the planet that has been something other than a hunter/gatherer society or a Third World society? (Except for Egypt where all the “blacks” look like Caucasions.)By JoeMorgan
March 29, 2008 12:48 PM | Link to this
The “myth of race”? The largest Chicano organization in America is called the National Council of La Raza (The Race). There are thousands of racially defined nonwhite leaders in America and thousands of racially defined nonwhite organizations. And if race is a “myth” then why is it that there has never been a black society on the planet that has been something other than a hunter/gatherer society or a Third World society? (Except for Egypt where all the “blacks” look like Caucasions.)By BRAD UHLENHAKE
March 29, 2008 10:25 AM | Link to this
WHAT YEAR IS THIS? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE? IT IS 2008 - THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE A LAND OF FREEDOMS - WHETHER THE MAN IS BLACK, BROWN, TAN OR RED SHOULD MAKE no difference whatsoever. ARE YOU BLIND - THE WORLD, THE STATE, YOUR CITY IS FILLED WITH INTERRACIAL COUPLES… THIS IS A BIG non STORY. GROW UP OHIOBy LaTonya
March 29, 2008 10:03 AM | Link to this
This reminds me of the joke about how do you keep a black man from raping a white girl? You toss him a basketball.By good dude
March 29, 2008 9:52 AM | Link to this
Forced integration was proven to be not good for American society.