Patterico’s Pontifications

8/20/2008

An Obama Rorschach Test (Updated)

Filed under: 2008 Election, Terrorism — DRJ @ 4:21 pm

[Guest post by DRJ]

Look at the photo of Barack Obama (scroll down) in this Michelle Malkin post and tell me what it makes you think of.

There’s no right or wrong answer. I’m curious if anyone else had the same reaction I did.

UPDATE: Triptych Messiah.

– DRJ

80 Comments

  1. Walking on air? He IS the Messiah!!!

    Comment by Stashiu3 — 8/20/2008 @ 4:23 pm

  2. Bingo.

    Comment by DRJ — 8/20/2008 @ 4:24 pm

  3. Why is he blocking the stairs to the loo?

    Comment by Perfect Sense — 8/20/2008 @ 4:24 pm

  4. The Ascention?

    http://www.christislord.us/artwork/TheAscention%5B1%5D.jpg

    Comment by Brett — 8/20/2008 @ 4:25 pm

  5. Like a puppet being held up by strings.

    Comment by Vermont Neighbor — 8/20/2008 @ 4:26 pm

  6. That’s a really weird picture. Looks all Scientology-like, or otherwise alien. Or operatic.
    Let’s use it in t.v. ads!

    Comment by m — 8/20/2008 @ 4:29 pm

  7. . . . and so “out of this world.” There’s a selling point.

    Comment by m — 8/20/2008 @ 4:31 pm

  8. Where’s Gort?

    Comment by Taj — 8/20/2008 @ 4:34 pm

  9. It’s a great shot. Kudos to the fotog.

    Comment by gp — 8/20/2008 @ 4:36 pm

  10. He’s obviously in the Cone of Silence! Which explains why nobody in the audience can hear him.

    Hey DRJ - I think my comment is stuck in the filter of the VFW post. Go figure.

    Comment by Apogee — 8/20/2008 @ 4:40 pm

  11. I’ll check. Everything is stuck today. There were 154 comments in the filter this morning.

    Comment by DRJ — 8/20/2008 @ 4:42 pm

  12. Hot Air continues the Messiah theme. It also reminds me of the Ascension as Brett said above.

    Comment by DRJ — 8/20/2008 @ 4:42 pm

  13. I’m one who usually debunks the fear mongering of the Left re Church & State….but, this makes me very un-comfortable.
    We are so close to a Cult of Personality problem it is scary.

    Comment by Another Drew — 8/20/2008 @ 4:47 pm

  14. OT: Speaking of Soros, has anyone heard or read anything from him re the Russian invasion of Georgia?

    Comment by SteveMG — 8/20/2008 @ 4:48 pm

  15. AD,

    Isn’t that the bubble the McCain campaign has tried to burst with the Celebrity ads? Of course, it won’t work with the true believers but it seemed effective with moderates.

    Comment by DRJ — 8/20/2008 @ 4:50 pm

  16. It didn’t strike me as anything in particular.

    ON the other hand, I am not a visual person. I read, I don’t watch, and to be honest, I disregard any visual image that is presented to me as being factual, because I’ve watched too much tv. I know that all images can be falsified.

    Comment by Jack — 8/20/2008 @ 4:51 pm

  17. #14:
    OT: Speaking of Soros, has anyone heard or read anything from him re the Russian invasion of Georgia?

    He’s probably underwriting it.

    Comment by Bill M — 8/20/2008 @ 4:51 pm

  18. #17
    lolza!

    Comment by Vermont Neighbor — 8/20/2008 @ 4:53 pm

  19. It is just kind of creepy.

    Comment by JD — 8/20/2008 @ 4:54 pm

  20. The pyramidal composition connotes strength. Wide angle thrusts BHO into the foreground. Lighting from above with cloudlike ceiling to left suggest a heaven above. Strange verticals create a triptych.

    Comment by gp — 8/20/2008 @ 4:57 pm

  21. I thought he looked like a TV evangelist at a Mega-CHurch…

    Comment by Scott Jacobs — 8/20/2008 @ 4:58 pm

  22. SteveMG,

    You raised his name so I’m sure you knew George Soros funded the Rose Revolution in Georgia, and that puts him on the side of the Bush Administration. That probably causes everyone indigestion.

    In any event, I haven’t seen a statement from Soros but Russia blames the US.

    Comment by DRJ — 8/20/2008 @ 5:04 pm

  23. gp #20: “Strange verticals create a triptych.”

    Close examination shows that it IS a triptych.

    Comment by Ira — 8/20/2008 @ 5:05 pm

  24. gp,

    Yes, but the ears are strictly Alfred E. Neuman.

    Comment by Vermont Neighbor — 8/20/2008 @ 5:05 pm

  25. gp and Ira,

    Please elaborate on that for people like me who are architecturally-challenged.

    Comment by DRJ — 8/20/2008 @ 5:10 pm

  26. Ditto #21. Ditto #24. Altogether creepy…and telling.

    Comment by Dana — 8/20/2008 @ 5:11 pm

  27. Okay, Triptych. You’re right.

    Comment by DRJ — 8/20/2008 @ 5:12 pm

  28. #20 gp
    Art history major, eh?

    Comment by m — 8/20/2008 @ 5:12 pm

  29. Well, screwed that up the first time — but I found it right here.

    Comment by Altadenablog — 8/20/2008 @ 5:14 pm

  30. “tell me what it makes you think of”

    ET talking about his trip home?

    Comment by Rick Ballard — 8/20/2008 @ 5:14 pm

  31. Ira, is it 3 photos fused, or is the triptych an accident of the interiors, like glass panels? I can’t tell. It’s one of those pix that’s so good, I’m jealous I didn’t take it. I daresay it’s the best photo of a wealth-confiscating radical leftist I’ve ever seen.

    Comment by gp — 8/20/2008 @ 5:16 pm

  32. “Art history major, eh?” Nope, code-slinger and amateur shutterbug. :)

    Comment by gp — 8/20/2008 @ 5:18 pm

  33. If I knew how to do it here, I would put the Michelle Malkin photo on one side of the screen and the reverse image of Altadenablog’s triptych on the other. They are amazingly similar, including the Messiah figure with one arm raised with the adoring fans on one side and the almost reverential pose by George Soros on the other.

    Comment by DRJ — 8/20/2008 @ 5:23 pm

  34. Does this tryptich count? It’s a view from the war room. Obama For President.

    Comment by Vermont Neighbor — 8/20/2008 @ 5:27 pm

  35. #32 gp
    Whoa! Maybe the shutterbugging is tapping into heretofore repressed vistas.

    Comment by m — 8/20/2008 @ 5:33 pm

  36. Looks like higher taxes and less freedom.

    Comment by Icy Truth — 8/20/2008 @ 5:34 pm

  37. We’re all repressed here in Bush’s Amerikkka. Hope for Change!

    Comment by gp — 8/20/2008 @ 5:38 pm

  38. Update after the *MORE* link.

    Comment by DRJ — 8/20/2008 @ 5:40 pm

  39. DRJ
    Or maybe this. That’s Soros there at the right.

    Comment by m — 8/20/2008 @ 5:41 pm

  40. DRJ - since it’s a reversal of the triptych, does that imply that Obama is the Anti-Christ?

    Comment by Apogee — 8/20/2008 @ 5:44 pm

  41. m,

    Yes, and the fact he’s surrounded by disciples.

    Comment by DRJ — 8/20/2008 @ 5:44 pm

  42. I’m not going there, Apogee. I’m getting uncomfortable enough with this as it is, but it’s striking.

    Comment by DRJ — 8/20/2008 @ 5:45 pm

  43. This weirdly reminded me just a little of The Last Supper - his supporters doth creepeth me out.

    Comment by Dmac — 8/20/2008 @ 5:47 pm

  44. Wow, you already beat me to it, DRJ. Kudos.

    Comment by Dmac — 8/20/2008 @ 5:48 pm

  45. #40 Apogee
    DRJ - since it’s a reversal of the triptych, does that imply that Obama is the Anti-Christ?
    [Not DRJ but] yes. Yes, it does.

    Comment by m — 8/20/2008 @ 5:50 pm

  46. My impression precisely. The Savior is here!

    Hallelujah!

    We’re not worthy of The Lightworker!

    Comment by Bradley J. Fikes — 8/20/2008 @ 5:58 pm

  47. #1 Stashiu3
    Walking on air? He IS the Messiah!!!
    Got it in one.

    Iiiiii I’m walking on air
    Head in the clouds
    Oh woh oh oh oh
    Iiiiii I’m walking on air

    I’m walking on air
    Above the crowd
    I’m walking
    I’m walking
    Head in the clouds

    Because of you boy…

    Comment by m — 8/20/2008 @ 6:00 pm

  48. All the Egyptian painting showed the Pharaoh or the gods as much taller than the common people. Note the three sizes in this example. Obama, Michelle and the rest of us.

    Comment by Mike K — 8/20/2008 @ 6:01 pm

  49. Televangelist on the stairway to heaven. Also, he looks remarkably taller than life. He’s standing on steps maybe 2′ off the floor but looks at least 4′ higher than anyone around him. Has he been photo-stretched for effect? The ceiling over his right shoulder looks like heavenly light, and the two ceiling lights over his left shoulder look like doves.

    This puts Huck’s Christmas bookshelf cross to shame.

    Comment by ManlyDad — 8/20/2008 @ 6:04 pm

  50. Have you ever noticed that these photos are always taken when Obama is looking slightly skyward where there is absolutely nothing to look at? Somehow that is supposed to make people want to vote for him.

    I remember catching on to this kind of crap when Buchanan was running. The Daily Show had a moment of zen with Buchanan surrounded by dozens of photographers and Democrat media journalists, walking in a field and suddenly he stops walking, raises his head about 35 degrees skyward and then he lifts his arm up as if to point to something or grasp some invisible hand. All the photogs started snapping like mad. It must have been an awesomely presidential pose.

    The other one they like to use is the hand out in front with the elbow slightly bent like he’s doing a karate chop. Maybe that one is supposed to convey “fairness”.

    Comment by j curtis — 8/20/2008 @ 6:10 pm

  51. A marionette?

    Comment by Curtis — 8/20/2008 @ 6:10 pm

  52. In answer to your query

    I’m curious if anyone else had the same reaction I did.

    Uh, yeah.

    Creepy.

    Comment by EW1(SG) — 8/20/2008 @ 6:11 pm

  53. It looks like Soros is operating some kind of lever with his right hand and pulling it to the desired setting. Either that or Obama looks like a lab specimen on a giant glass microscope slide.

    Comment by M. Jacques du Klompus — 8/20/2008 @ 7:08 pm

  54. That photo is very surreal as it is so obviously carefully posed to look like that. It is no accident.

    Comment by SPQR — 8/20/2008 @ 7:36 pm

  55. Instant impression? I thought he looked like a game show host.

    Comment by Lesley — 8/20/2008 @ 7:40 pm

  56. Absolute first impression: “Marionette”

    Comment by mjn1957 — 8/20/2008 @ 8:04 pm

  57. AS an actual art history major, I would say yes, it’s evocative of any number of paintings. I always thought it reminded of the Raphael’s School of Athens.

    After all, Obama is the new sage of Western civilization, isn’t he?

    Comment by Patricia — 8/20/2008 @ 8:29 pm

  58. I thought he was the new Oregano.

    Comment by Icy Truth — 8/20/2008 @ 8:37 pm

  59. Dr. Robert!

    Comment by Joe M. — 8/20/2008 @ 8:38 pm

  60. it reminds me of Elvis Costello on one of his early album photos, but without the talent or charisma.

    Comment by redc1c4 — 8/20/2008 @ 9:11 pm

  61. Reminded me of the Pope in his Pope-mobile. Same wave too.

    Comment by roy — 8/20/2008 @ 9:12 pm

  62. It’s actually reducable to a normal situation. Speakers often try to find a position that is somewhat more elevated than the rest of the room so everyone can see them (that’s where pulpits come from, after all), and groups do tend to look at a speaker when he’s speaking. In this case, the stairs supplied the elevation. Obama himself reminds me of nothing more than your run of the mill preacher emoting something particularly interesting; waving arms are just another bit of body language that people often don’t even notice when they are doing it. (That’s why people flail their arms around when talking over the cell phone.)
    The only creepy portion of the picture is the reverential awe on the faces of the people closest to Obama. They seem to think he’s about to give them the Secret of the Universe or something.

    Comment by kishnevi — 8/20/2008 @ 9:44 pm

  63. I don’t have time to drill down and find the artist, but it reminds me of a painting of the Ascension.

    In thirty-five years of religious study, I have come with only three hard, incontrovertible truths: there is a God, I’m not Him, and neither is OHB.(Apologies to Fr Cavanaugh and whoever the screenwriter of “Rudy” was)

    Comment by Stephen Cobbs — 8/20/2008 @ 9:45 pm

  64. The only creepy portion of the picture is the reverential awe on the faces of the people closest to Obama.

    Psst… look at the feet kishnevi. Look at the shadows his shoes cast. That was the first odd thing I noticed anyway.

    Comment by Stashiu3 — 8/20/2008 @ 9:48 pm

  65. Without reading the comments, I see an elevated Bambi preaching to the choir from within the cone of omniscience.

    Comment by Ropelight — 8/20/2008 @ 10:15 pm

  66. The only creepy portion of the picture is the reverential awe on the faces of the people closest to Obama.

    Or they’re just sleepy. All those no-host cocktails and meager appetizers.

    Comment by Patricia — 8/20/2008 @ 10:40 pm

  67. tell me what it makes you think of.

    The left out the Angelic Choir singing

    HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Comment by Dan Kauffman — 8/21/2008 @ 2:12 am

  68. Christ in Michaelangelo’s Last Judgement at the Sistine Chapel: the light above, the cynosure of sanctity. Mind you, this Obama photo has no God . . . .

    Comment by goldeneagle — 8/21/2008 @ 3:57 am

  69. If the Messiah of Menlo Park is speaking to the crowd, why is his back towards them?

    Comment by Rob Crawford — 8/21/2008 @ 4:58 am

  70. I am an Architect, and when I looked at the photo I found myself wondering what the layout of the rest of the room is. Who is Senator Obama looking at while he is talking? Are there any people in that part of the room or just a camera?

    Whatever, Obama raised his children in a racist church. Some people like that. I don’t.

    Comment by tyree — 8/21/2008 @ 6:47 am

  71. Instant impression? I thought he looked like a game show host.

    Comment by Lesley — 8/20/2008 @ 7:40 pm

    I had a similar reaction - I was thinking of Fred Astaire, singing and tapping his way down the stairs. An entertainer.

    Comment by carlitos — 8/21/2008 @ 6:59 am

  72. Travelling revival preacher was the first thing that leapt to mind.

    Comment by Dodd — 8/21/2008 @ 7:14 am

  73. Televangelist. i.e. scam artist.

    Comment by Bar Sinister — 8/21/2008 @ 8:49 am

  74. This was my morning project: combining the triptychs together:

    Triptych

    Comment by Altadenablog — 8/21/2008 @ 10:11 am

  75. A-blog, it looks great.

    combining the triptychs together

    Comment by Vermont Neighbor — 8/21/2008 @ 10:15 am

  76. I have no comment about Obama’s pic, but what I did see as I was scrolling down was right wing trashy blog site akin to huffington post.

    Comment by Oiram — 8/21/2008 @ 11:19 am

  77. ^ Give this Arianna gal of yours a break!

    It’s not easy being married to a cross-dresser. She worked her buns off trying to be his Nancy, his Hillary… The guy was supposed to help her become a big political power broker. Now she’s a blogger, up for scrutiny from her own kind!

    Comment by Vermont Neighbor — 8/21/2008 @ 11:54 am

  78. That’s Benito Mussolini.

    Do I win a prize?

    Comment by DAN MCNEIL — 8/21/2008 @ 4:11 pm

  79. #78 - That’s Benito Mussolini.

    Not yet.

    Comment by Apogee — 8/21/2008 @ 4:26 pm

  80. An accurate, and fitting, portrayal of El Duce, would have BHO hanging by his feet.

    Comment by Another Drew — 8/21/2008 @ 4:46 pm

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