Final Exam - Perceptions

Jan. 17, 2012. President Obama unexpectedly runs into the First Lady on her birthday in the basement of the White House.

                The image I chose is of Barack and Michelle Obama in the basement of the White House on her birthday. It is from Time Magazine’s Light Box 2012 Year in Review. What caught my eye about this picture was how quaint and pleasant it was, and how that related to the caption. This image is an important contemporary American artifact because it illustrates the emphasis on perception in our society by displaying an appealing idea of President Obama.

            At first glance, the perfect angles and black and white effect have it resembling a scene from an old movie. It looks casual and plausible for every day, but in somewhat of a staged way. The caption is interesting because it calls the meeting “unexpected.” Considering that there was a cameraman already down there, figuring out the perfect angle to shoot at, it probably wasn't as unexpected as the caption suggests. I believe this image was taken with the desire to portray Obama as just a “regular guy,” the ideal, relatable and down to earth man that always makes time for his family. Not to say he isn't this man, but it seems that with this image that persona is being specifically highlighted.

            This reminded me of a class discussion we had months ago, about Reagan and how his campaign commercials were very “down home,” attempting to appeal to the general audience as a friendly, All-American, regular guy you could walk up to. We discussed that in the US, the idea of candidates identifying with the population, rather than being above them, has become very valued. Most people wouldn’t want to vote for a stuffy man who flaunts his riches and high education. All presidents are highly educated and many have been rich, but it’s important to tone that down to appeal to the masses. More recently, we also discussed a picture of Obama in the 2008 election, standing during a speech in front of not 1, but 8 American flags. At that time, there was some controversy about him not being “American enough,” so he was trying very hard to debunk that idea and get the American population to perceive him as very patriotic. In all of these cases, it’s all about perception and the desire to be painted in a good light.

            Moving away from politics, this idea of perception has been apparent in many other things we’ve examined this year. While reading the 3 different editions of Frederick Douglas, there were countless instances where Douglass changed his wording with each new publication. In his second edition, while describing his altercation with Mr. Covey, he says, “The man had obtained complete control over me” (Douglass, 100.) However, in the third edition, he uses this same sentence, but instead changes “man” to “monster.”  He seemed to have wanted to change the feel of this section, to inject more emotion into it and make it more powerful. At the time he was writing this, he wanted to show people how terrible slavery was, and get people to feel negatively towards the perpetrators. The word “monster” is more effective at getting an idea and image across than just “man.” By dehumanizing Covey, Douglass was showing us how monstrous these actions inflicted on him were. By swapping certain words for more powerful ones, Douglass was creating the perception of a more emotional, probably more accurate experience that he went through.

            The final text I applied this idea to was the short story, “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas.” The town in the story, Omelas, has a very shiny, perfect exterior. However, to maintain that utopia, a child must be kept living in the dark and filth forever. While this is not kept a secret, this fact is generally ignored by the people and attempted to be put out of mind. This town is perceived to be perfect in every way possible, but it isn't how it seems when you go deeper. Omelas is obviously taking this idea of perception to extreme lengths compared to the previous examples, but it ties in with the general theme. In all these examples, an authoritative figure decides what kind of name they want to make for themselves or their work. Exaggerated or not, perception is extremely important because it encompasses how society views someone or one’s work, and is the basis for all ideas and opinions.