Obama Jokerface is an FSU Original Students’ Poster Preceded Controversial Depiction Seen Nationwide Rebecca Hertz
CONTRIBUTING WRITER A politically charged poster featuring presidential Candidate Barack Obama in Joker make-up debuted during a campus rally when Democratic Vice Presidential Candidate Joe Biden visited FSU in November 2008. Members of the FSU College Republicans Tom Bortnyk and R.J. Keeth turned the widely popularized Obama Hope Poster into a political statement protesting Democratic Vice Presidential Candidate Joe Biden’s campus rally just before the election. The poster featured Obama’s face painted as the Joker, a villainous character played by late actor Heath Ledger in the 2008 film The Dark Knight. The poster carried the tagline “Why so socialist?” as a play on the Joker’s infamous line “Why so serious?” Bortnyk and Keeth intended to show support for Republican candidates John McCain and Sarah Palin. “We wanted to get the attention of a college audience, so we made a pop culture reference,” Bortnyk and Keeth explained. “The Dark Knight had just come out, and even Biden gave us a shout out during the rally.” The following January, a similarly “jokerized” image of Obama was digitally produced by Firas Alkhateeb, a student attending the University of Illinois at Chicago. This version was missing the tagline of “Why so socialist?” but it sparked a heated debate after it was taken from the website by a third party and the word “socialism” added. This
“
Tom Bortnyk holds the Jokerface poster at the FSU Joe Biden rally on Nov. 2, 2008. He and R.J. Keeth made the iconic poster the night before.
new joker poster has spread across America, attracting the attention of critics and media outlets everywhere. Critics of the poster claim it is disrespectful and inappropriate. Joe Schweitzer, President of FSU’s College Democrats, calls the poster a scare tactic of the extreme right and “the defacing of our President.” Chris Lacey, an FSU Political Science major who considers himself a moderate and politics junkie, described the poster as “clever and funny.” “It definitely speaks to a college audience,” said Lacey. “I am not offended by it. I mean it’s obviously Republican propaganda, but demeaning cartoon images of Politicians have always been around.” The jokerized poster with the “socialism” tagline has appeared at many rallies and
We wanted to get the attention of a college audience, so we made a pop culture reference.
protests throughout the United Sates since its viral discovery during the summer months of 2009. The Tea Party, a conservative movement, has used the Obama joker poster rallying at the mall in Washington D.C. and throughout the U.S. to protest the current Obama administration’s fiscal and social policies. Members of some activist organizations have used the term “socialism” or “socialist” when referring to President Obama’s Health Care Reform Bill. Bortnyk and Keeth feel this title is not unwarranted. They, like many conservative Americans, refer to President Obama’s bill as “Obamacare” and are concerned with the administration’s stimulus and healthcare legislation because of the increased level of government spending and involvement they entail. “It is easy to call anyone a socialist because it is simple and many people believe simple is right,” said Schweitzer. “It is unfortunate images like this work.”
Issue 2, December 2010
5