Profs Give Obama an F for Selfie at Mandela Memorial
Academia weighs in on Obama’s selfie moment in South Africa.
Gary J. Remal of the Boston Herald has the story.
Scholars: Obama should have known better
President Obama should have known his giddy selfie with the prime ministers of Britain and Denmark during a memorial for Nelson Mandela was a smartphone faux pas that was sure to backfire, presidential scholars told the Herald.
“He should have been more careful,” said Boston College political science professor Marc Landy, who added the president let his “game face” slip at the wrong moment.
“Let’s face it, the eyes of the entire world were right on that spot. Everything having to do with Nelson Mandela was being viewed through a magnifying glass,” said Northeastern University journalism professor and public debate expert Alan Schroeder.
The worldwide fascination with the ill-timed snapshot with British Prime Minister David Cameron and Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt during Tuesday’s service in South Africa lit up the Web.
The term “selfie Mandela” was trending on Twitter, and “Obama selfie” was one of the hottest searches on Google that day.
Whether first lady Michelle Obama was really upset at her head-of-state husband for his antics — as photos show — is not clear.
The photographer who snapped the selfie moment said the first lady had been laughing along with the others moments before.
“I really accept what the photographer said,” Landy added. “Photographs lie. In this case, she had regained her game face and he hadn’t.”
Comments
Whether or not Michelle regained her game face is immaterial. What is real, making the photo a genuine view of a single moment in time, is that the POTUS was crass enough to be indulging in sophomoric behavior during an event that was important to his host country and that he depicted as being significant to himself. The behavior and his stated view of Mandela are not congruent. So, Obama’s behavior shows the true man. The speech? Just words. Just speeches.
Wow! The board ate my comment! Let me see if I can remember it.
Let’s see. Ah.
That Michelle Obama regained her game face before the picture was shot is immaterial. What matters if that the POTUS, at the funeral of a man significant to the host country and allegedly so to himself, was seen indulging in sophomoric behavior.
The photo is not a lie. It tells the truth of what Obama is doing, and it demonstrates the gap between what Obama says and what he does.
Funeral of someone he allegedly looked up to? Yaay! A few giggles and time for a selfie!
His eulogy? Just words. Just speeches.
We have a word for that; it begins with H and ends with Y or E.