Eyes on the Tiger.

Egads. This shirtless man is flexing his muscles on the cover of a magazine. In a skull cap. Won’t someone think of the children?:

Apparently, I’m supposed to be outraged or disgusted or something. Look at that picture: Annie Leibovitz is clearly trying to portray Tiger Woods as some sort of “sex-addicted thug” or  “ass kicker” or “golf version of DMX.”

Silly me, I just thought he was a famous billionaire golfer who has a toned athletic body and wasn’t shy about showing it off for the camera. And why wouldn’t he – with the possible exception of covering up that peazy chest hair?

Sure, Leibovitz has a clumsy history with people of color on her Vanity Fair covers. But the photos of Woods were apparently shot four years ago, and it’s tough to know Leibovitz’s original intentions for their presentation.

Maybe this would have been a better cover for Men’s Fitness. I get that. Shame on Leibovitz and Vanity Fair for capitalizing on the misfortune of a mega-sports celebrity to make a few bucks and move a few thousand more magazines.

That it?

No, there’s something deeper going on here.  Or so I’m being told.

Renee of Womanist Musings:

This picture sends the message to White women that Tiger is indeed a member of the scary Black man crowd, whether or not he identifies as Calablasian (sic).  He is shirtless with an expression that is decidedly threatening and therefore there can be no doubt that the express purpose of this image is to intimidate.

Joan Walsh of Salon:

Vanity Fair should be ashamed of itself. The Thug Life photo of Tiger Woods that graces the magazine’s February cover will go down in history with Time’s “darkened” O.J. Simpson cover and Vogue’s portrait of a brutish LeBron James carrying off a blond princess two years ago. I’ve always defended Woods’ freedom to call himself Cablinasian, as befitting his mixed heritage. But Vanity Fair just proved the arguments of black people who dislike what they see as Woods’ racial dodge. He’ll always be black, but especially after he gets in trouble.

And an unidentified member of the Sports Task Force of the National Association of Black Journalists to Richard Prince:

“Is he posing for a role in a prison movie?”

If anything, I’m more interested in why they had little problem making an awkward connection from a brown-skinned guy doing arm curls in skull cap to scary black thug. How does anyone get from here to there?

Joel

Joel Anderson —blackink —  writes about sports, politics, crime, courts, and other issues far beyond his competence at BuzzFeed. He has worked at media outlets in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Atlanta and contributed to a number of publications, including The Root and The American Prospect, among many others.

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  • Yeah, I can see the thug thing NOW that it’s been raised, but my mind definitely didn’t go there. Mostly he looks hot (not an exclusive thing to also looking thuggish, of course), but also like Tiger – i.e., never smiling, always serious, like he’s focused on his game.

    And I agree with you – going from the arm curls pose and weights in his hands to thuggish seems like a pretty big leap. Seems like the hat is to blame, in the excerpts you provided, and that’s a lot of responsibility to assign to a hat. (Or is it more than that hat?)

  • Mike

    That Joan Walsh quote is just flat stupid.

  • When I first saw this image I interpreted it as a Tough(er)/Sex(ier) Tiger Woods. And I rolled my eyes.

    So now that we know that Tiger Woods gets around – I’m suppose to find him sexy/dangerous (the skull cap and the use of shadows) now?

    And I realize that these pictures were taken years before, but the fact that they decided to release them NOW while the scandal still carries heat, gives them a new subtext apart from what the photographer and even Tiger may have orginally intended.

  • Annie Leibovitz should get some type of award for her shots of celebrities that get people to hyperventilate for no reason. I think her biggest problem is taking mediocre pictures of people with outstanding bodies. That Lebron cover did nothing to showcase that man’s fabulous body and this one of Tiger is bad. He looks like he’s sucking in his gut. and constipated.

    • blackink12

      I’ve always imagined that Leibovitz treats her photo shoots like a romantic getaway. Some wine, some soft music, some candles. For whatever reason, celebrities just seem completely amenable to her demands when she has a camera.

      In fact, I’ve often wondered if her reputation sorta makes her subjects feel like they have to push their limits, maybe test their comfort zones in an effort generate a little buzz.

      Like it or not, Leibovitz seems to be marvelous at getting publicity for her work.

  • Maybe I need to relax a little, I think I’m becoming hypersensitive. I saw the Joan Walsh thing and I agree that the pic reminded me of the intentionally darkened OJ cover and it gave me an adverse reaction. Why not airbrush on a few prison tats..Tupac’s Thug Life belly would work perfectly no? The original shoot was years ago, long before the scandal dropped but were never run. Minus the scandal its just a badass pic of Tiger right? But does VF run this cover without the scandal? Why did they run this particular picture post scandal?

  • rikyrah

    This picture bothers me on a number of levels. What was the point of the picture? What was the point of the person taking the picture. Tiger Woods has run away from ‘being Black’ to the point where he created a whole other category for himself; so, of course, the ONLY way to show Tiger Woods, was to THUG HIM UP? I think my tipping point is the cap.

    • blackink12

      Curious: What do you mean that he’s “run away” from being Black? Not poking. I’m legitimately curious. Where do you get that from?

      He’s never denied his racial heritage. But, over and over again, he’s also made sure to strongly acknowledge his mother’s Thai bloodlines. His mom has even said in the past, “I raised him as an Asian child.” http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0HFI/is_4_54/ai_100839565/.

      And I wear skull caps all the time, always have. I have about a dozen of them. Can we simply don one and avoid all of the ugly racial prejudice that comes with it? Do people of color have to give life to that stereotype? We don’t have to play a part in that.

  • I wonder would people have felt the same way about this cover if it were a basketball or football player in the same pose? If it had come out before Woods’ recent drama?

    My sense in both cases is: probably not. That is not to say that the decision on the part of the magazine to put it on the cover (and, as I understand it, bumping their planned cover) is not problematic. But the image itself can only be read as racially charged in the context of Woods’ current image issues.

    Otherwise, this is just a standard beef-cakey photo of an athlete trying to look serious and focused, flexing his muscles.

  • LaJane Galt

    This was cheap and easy for Annie to do, hopefully she can use it to pay Acme Collection Services.

    I will wholeheartedly admit that this picture is Adabisi-ish, sans the jaunty tilt.

  • Ladyfresh

    Again questionable editing.

    sell those magazines folks

    =\

  • -k-