On the Cover of the Rolling Stone

[WilliamPitt]

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings.
(Photo: Handout via The New York Times)

On the Cover of the Rolling Stone
By William Rivers Pitt
Truthout | Op-Ed

Thursday 18 July 2013

Wanna see our pictures on the cover
Wanna buy five copies for our mothers
Wanna see my smilin' face
On the cover of the Rolling Stone

- Dr. Hook

I awoke on Wednesday morning to the outrage du jour: Dzhohkar Tsarnaev on the cover of the newest Rolling Stone looking like Jim Morrison's little brother after a fight with a Flowbee. As someone from Boston who was personally affected by the Marathon bombing, I am apparently supposed to be all up in arms about this. It glorifies a murderer as if he were a celebrity or a rock star, they should have run a cover with the victims instead, and so forth.

Three things:

1. The outrage over Tsarnaev's face on the cover has everything to do with the fact that there is a puppy-dog cuteness about him which is jarring in the context of his alleged crimes. If Tsarnaev's face looked like the back of an old man's balls, no one would give much of a damn about this. I'm not going to get all worked up about the attractiveness double-standard involved here; this issue of Stone has a huge feature story on the dumb bastard, and so having him on the cover makes perfect sense.

2. The fact that Rolling Stone has excellent journalists like Matt Taibbi working for them means putting newsmakers on the cover is not out of line. Hell, they had Charlie Manson on the cover once upon a time, as well as George W. Bush in 2009. It's not like this is some crazy new thing. Hitler made the cover of Time twice, and I'm pretty sure that had nothing to do with how the middle of the last century shook out.

3. From everything I have read and heard - which is quite a lot given my location in the 617 area code - the victims of the Marathon bombing have no interest whatsoever in gracing the cover of Rolling Stone or any other periodical. They just want to be left alone to heal and recover. As for glorifying Tsarnaev or potentially upsetting the bombing victims, his face has been on the front page of every newspaper in the Western hemisphere more than once, so that horse left the stable so long ago that the oats have germinated and the hay has become straw...and speaking of horses that left the stable, the idea that being on the cover of Rolling Stone is some epic honor belongs to another era when Dr. Hook songs were actually relevant.

(Sorry, Stone, but in the immortal words of Robbie Robertson, it ain't like it used to be)

But perhaps more important than all of that, speaking personally, is the simple fact that I just don't care. There are far larger and more dangerous fish to fry right now than getting all worked up over who is on a magazine cover.

The rest: http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/17641-on-the-cover-of-the-rolling-stone

[liberal N proud]

1. This is just the faux media outrage to keep the people occupied not the Zimmerman trial is over

They need something to sensationalize and they decided to pick on a liberal magazine this time.

[Champion Jack]

2. K&R!

[NYC_SKP]

3. You know, I don't get it but it may be that the particular picture is so complimentary to him.

Some might say he's kinda cute, serious eyes and pouty lips, it's a cover boy shot of a mass murderer terrorist.

I don't fault the people who are pissed about it, but I'm not among them.

Bigger fish to fry.

[Bluenorthwest]

22. Rape, in prison or elsewhere, is not generally embraced by DU as a punishment

mode. I find your comment to be vulgar and right wing. The stuff you wish for can define you.

[JNelson6563]

4. War, plagues, pestilence and famine in the world...

not to mention countless, realinjustices every day...but let's get worked up over this picture that shows a beautiful boy that became twisted enough along the way to commit an atrocity. After all, the beautiful people don't do things like that, right?

So easily shaken, our "society".

Julie

[Xyzse]

5. I don't particularly mind it

The explanation is that even someone who looks normal can be a monster.

I tend to consider this as a problem of over-simplification and the refusal of people to take an honest look at themselves and their surroundings.
People have become lazy and don't want to think or consider other point of views. They simply look for opinions similar and items that just validate their world view, placing them increasingly in a bubble.

They want their monsters to look ugly and monstrous, or at the least, different from themselves. They can't accept that those that do bad things are human as well, and want to try to disassociate themselves with any trait found from any one caught doing something bad.

Any how, I can appreciate the journalism in this, and I appreciate the fact that it is thought provoking and gives a different point of view, hard as it is for some to accept.

[RC]

6. That Rolling Stone cover was turned into another shiny to distract us from what we should be paying

attention to.

The illegal, unconstitutional, wholesale hoovering of our digital communications, the miscarriage of justice in the Zimmerman murder, the corruption in Congress and our courts, including the Supreme Court and on and on and on...

For far too many people, their biggest concern is whether to watch 'Wipeout' or a rerun of 'Hell's Kitchen'.

[progressoid]

7. More Bieber...

[WilliamPitt]

8. Up

[frylock]

9. kicking this like it's "the back of an old man's balls.."

and reccing.

[TomClash]

10. Well put nt

[cbdo2007]

11. The media instantly turned him into a rock-star.

[NoPasaran]

19. A One Hit Wonder

[HappyMe]

12. Excellent point.

[olddots]

13. I only buy Rollingstone for the articles .

or was that Playboy

[RevStPatrick]

14. The article is live now...

...in case anyone wants to, you know, read it:

http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/jahars-world-20130717

[Spitfire of ATJ]

16. How are we to know his type without exposure?

[Clyde Tenson]

17. Kinda like Time magazine's "Man of the Year" cover...

...dumb fuckwads get their panties in a twist thinking that it's some kinda honor. (sigh)

[Duval]

18. Ahhhh, again we have WRP and

his responsible and rational thinking!! As always, thank you so much for your post.

[polichick]

20. imo it's an important cover because it's all about the real face of terrorism...

and how a seemingly normal human being can be influenced right here in the U.S.A.

[Bluenorthwest]

21. Same photo was the NY Times Page One above the fold on May 5, 2013

None of the folks boycotting and posting emoticons of deepest offense so much as mentioned it then. Boston Globe has run a very similar story to the RS piece, with videos of folks talking about how super the bomber was. In the Globe, he was called 'an angel' not 'a monster'.

[MineralMan]

23. It means nothing to me.

Это ничего не значит для меня. Черт возьми!

[bigwillq]

24. K and R

[Earth_First]

25. +1 for the Flowbee reference...

[BeyondGeography]

26. Some of your neighbors beg to differ

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2013/07/17/boston-marathon-bombing-victims-rolling-stone-cover-disgusting/

[WilliamPitt]

27. I am aware.

The Globe and Herald have done a fine job fanning the flames, but at least in the Globe, there are counterpoint articles arguing against the outrage. Here is one:

The Rolling Stone cover image can’t hurt us
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/07/17/can-take/uAvm2lLAnaqJULVvq5I9tJ/story.html

[whatchamacallit]

28. It doesn't fit the archetypal image the government and media have been promulgating for a decade

so it's OUTRAGEOUS!!1

[AsahinaKimi]

29. On the Cover of the Rolling Stone

[nyquil_man]

30. This is another case where the outrage produces more publicity

than the actual thing ever would have on its own.

Reading some of the comments on Facebook yesterday, I got the impression that a lot of people were outraged because they found a murderer attractive.

[WilliamPitt]

31. One last up