Semiotic Analysis of Barack Obama in Time Magazine

SEMIOTICS ASSIGNMENT The preliminary trade of TIME clipping, issued on December 10, 2007 was interpreted before the start of the pre perspectivential campaign in America, and the existence on the social parkway cover is Barack Obama who was a favourite at the clipping. The bias of the deliver, the covers anchorage and the article altogether certify that the underlying purpose of this snips issue was to influence endorsers to side with TIME and vote for this gentle art object. This cover resembles a famous scenery taken of Martin Luther pansy Junior and serves to link Obama with the Ameri stool Civil-Rights hero in erect to influence the endorsers position towards Obama.This cover can be seen as a metaphor of the rise of the African American in order of magnitude, as well as politics. Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols and their use or interpretation (Oxford dictionary) and go out be used to unveil the hidden gist behind this front cover. This is a movi e of a black man in a suit, who is standing upright with has his arms crossed. This man is neither smiling, nor is he frowning and is non looking directly at the camera. The terra firma is multiple shadings of grey. The word TIME, as well as the anchorage is in white, and words the contender be in red.The outside sassing of the magazine is in any case red, with a white border between the picture and the red rim. Obamas suit gives off an impression that he is smoothened, brisk and austere. Obamas suit in addition commands a sense of respect from the reader and a sense that he has etiquette as well as control. The mans facial expression is neutral which gives off the impression that he is stable, reliable and somewhat loyal. This is effective because one sees this control and presumes that this man is respectable in who he is (he feels no need to make false pretences) and thence one can trust him with their vote in the coming presidential elections.The mans upright pushe r illustrates a sense of strong suit because he looks anchored and thus powerful. The man is not looking directly at the camera which enhances his seriousness and creates a sense of intrigue within the reader one cant help but wonder what this man is thinking of, and why he is thinking it. The mans posture makes him appear courageous and determined to handle the responsibility of anything (i. e. the presidential campaign). Obamas body language of firmly folded arms insinuates that he is being defensive, lively to take on a boxing fight.The fight will be the upcoming presidential campaign which includes the attacks that he will get from the familiar and media being in the race (for example the media will be ban and pointedly high wanton his inadequate characteristics). Therefore by looking meet beyond the camera, Obama appears to be aware of what is coming and prepared to face the coming battle like a courageous boxing hero. The shaded grey backcloth high put downs the mans po wer and illuminates him in a god-like manner.The light skirt the man results in the readers eyes being raddled directly to him, and gives the the impression that he is the light and is like an angel in the darkness. The magazine name, TIME, is in white in order to transmission line the grey background and highlight the magazines name. The anchorage on the front cover enhances the overall message of a sense of polish and control. TIME is written in Times New Roman, an old-fashioned and serious style of writing which corresponds to the pieces of writing within the magazine.The name of the magazine is as well not fully displayed (Baracks head is blocking the M of TIME) and this demonstrates the popularity of the magazine because the magazine is so well known that people can at present recognise it, without even displaying its full name. It also highlights Obamas importance and prestigiousness the fact that the association are willing to be less recognized by their name is not an issue due to Obamas wide popularity and self-assurance, which will influence people to buy the magazine anyway because of him.TIME is in the colour white which makes it an arbitrary sign which represents goodness, peace and innocence. The Contender is also highlighted on the cover, and characterizes someone who is fighting for first place in a competition. Red attracts the readers eye to the title of the magazines issue, draws attention to the mans face and highlights that he is in the travel rapidly for something big. The Contender is in bold (which draws the readers attention to the words) and is in a very rich red which is an arbitrary signifier that can represent passion, power and strength.This corresponds to the articles position towards Obama which highlights his courage, ambition and dominance in the presidential campaign. It is also interesting to note the publishers use of the instead of a because Obama is a contender for the presidency of America, and is conjugat ed by many new(prenominal) contenders. However, by replacing a with the the reader is positioned to view Obama as the one and only competitor in the campaign.This thence influences the reader to believe that he is going to be the ultimate achiever of the competition because all separate opponents are forgotten and will unhinged in comparison to his lead in the competition. The article inside the magazine talks around Obamas pledge to practice a bran-new kind of politics and how he managed to get more money from miserable donors than all the other Democratic candidates combined (TIME). This extract shows the biased onward motion that the author of the magazine, as well as the director of the photography for the front cover took with regards to Obamas portrayal as an American politician.The article purposefully highlights the massive power that Obama and his organization has in the lives of many Americans, and this is linked to the light in which hes portrayed in on the front cover a portrayal of power and dominance. The article also speaks about the other political campaigners who are opponents of Obamas (such as Hilary Clinton, Dick Cheney and wear thin Rumsfeld) however Obama portrayed to be in a more ascendent position than them.For example Obama has also begun to sharpen one of his strongest arguments that experience is not the same thing as judgement for which Clinton has not yet embed a rejoinder. When reading the article, it is very apparent that the writer is clear in favour of Obama and his political campaign. This bias is also seen through the light that Obama is portrayed in the picture a dominant, powerful and superior light, a sign that he is superior to all the other contenders in the presidential campaign.One cant help but question if this magazine companys political reliability due to their bias when it comes to the governance of the country. It is also interesting to note that Obama, who used to practise Civil Rights Law, is p ositioned to resemble Martin Luther King junior. OShaughnessy and Stadler (2008) define intertextuality as the process of knowingly borrowing and referring to other texts or interpreting one text in the light of other related texts. As you can see from the very famous supra image, TIME very skilfully resembles the Front cover to this picture of the American hero, Martin Luther King junior.King was a peaceful Civil Rights leader who also refused to accommodate to the political practices of the time and created a peaceful yet powerful movement that America had never seen before. King is known as an innocent, e select-driven leader who make a big difference in a small metre of time. Kings portrait is a medium sized picture of him in a suit with his arms folded where he is also not looking directly into the camera much like the portrait of Obama.The coincidence between these two pictures thereof makes the reader assume these same quality traits of King, to that of Obama which then makes the reader regard Obama to be a hero who will lead the country into equality and greatness, much like King did. This picture highlights the growth of the African Americans in society as well as politics because Obama is portrayed in a dominant light, instead of the substandard light with which the African Americans were portrayed in the previous century.TIMEs lay market is success-driven, intelligent men (and on the rare occasion women) who are involved in business and take an interest in politics. This is therefore a successful front cover because it addresses all of those fields politics, business, menses affairs etc. Whilst most people would say this was a dull front cover when correlated with their target market, it is clearly effective in convincing their desired consumer to choose their magazine from the rest. Even though this cover is severely biased, it is valuable because of its link with Martin Luther King Jr. nd its ferocity of the rise of the African Americ an in not only society but also politics. REFERENCES BarackObama. Biography. 2010. O Available http//www. biography. com/people/barack-obama-12782369? page=4. Accessed on 25/03/2012 Oxford Dictionaries. 2012. O Available http//oxforddictionaries. com/definition/semiotics? q=semiotics. Accessed on 27/03/2012 Tumulty, K. 2007. O Available http//www. time. com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1689203-2,00. html. Accessed on 28/03/2012