Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Chicago Tribune Mag's Fetish For Interracial Coupling

Odd Couple Seal and Klug
The Chicago Tribune's Sunday magazine seems to have developed an odd fetish for portraying interracial couples.

More precisely, for black and white interracial couples with 4 out of 5 being a black man and a white woman.

Like the old 70s era Chicago Daily News and other newspapers who gallantly tried to stave off the death rattle, the Tribune has been frantically experimenting of late. First a smaller news sheet, then a new layout, then new little features.

But this interracial coupling emphasis is a new one on me.

The front cover of the June 12th pre-father's day issue of the Tribune magazine featured a rather creepy looking black man, besmeared with a cucumber facial, reposing in a bathrobe and being daintily proffered a cold drink by a servile feminine white hand. It illustrated a piece on how wives should pamper their mates on father's day.

Next week, the June 19th Tribune mag sported a cover story on high school reunions with a posed shot of an aging black man and a white woman in age-discordant high school attire.

The same edition featured 3 more staff concocted depictions of couples -- all were interracial.

The most notorious interracial odd couple of recent memory -- German model Heidi Klum and Carribean rapper, "Seal" were pictured on page 23. That photo was preposterously intended to illustrate the idea that facial look-alikes attract.

Aside from its surface improbability, that notion seems all the more ludicrous in light of the fact that the Teutonic blond bimbo told tabloid reporters that she first noticed the hulking Afro-Carribean when she espied his male package bulging from within his spandex running shorts.

Seems facial compatibility was hardly the curious cover girl's paramount priority.

Anyway with less than 2% of Americans involved in black/white unions and only 7% considered interracial, this new Tribune editorial obsession seems a trifle odd.
Good Buddies Laurent and Berge

Perhaps its a calculated ploy to entice away the Sun-Times' heavy minority readership, such as it is. Or perhaps a private fancy of kinky Tribune magazine staffers and photographers.

In fairness, though, the Tribune did see fit to feature a photo of one all-white couple in the past two issues.

On page 19 of the pre-father's day issue, there was a touching portrait of fashion designer, Yves Saint Laurent alongside his bosom buddy of many years, "businessman" Pierre Berge.

The Tribune magazine really got into the spirit of things with that one.

After all, what says "Father's Day" better than an intimate photo of two gay French women's dress designers?

2 comments:

  1. "After all, what says "Father's Day" better than an intimate photo of two gay French women's dress designers?"

    Okay, I busted out laughing at that one! :D

    ReplyDelete
  2. I wonder if, in its death throes, the Tribune hasn't begun to lose touch with reality. Liberals have a tendency to talk to each other too much and the Tribune staff is 99.62% left-liberal.

    ReplyDelete

Comments invited, however anonymous commentors had better deal directly with the issues raised and avoid ad hominem drivel. As for Teachers' Union seminar writers -- forget about it.