Paper Argument

Argument:

The excitement of President Obama’s inauguration mythicized the material displays in Washington DC. Window displays, wall paintings, and public exhibitions of support and enthusiasm held meanings far deeper than the verbal or visual significance. While on first glance these material displays appeared to be just what they were, their veiled messages depict Obama’s presidency as what Roland Barthes defines as a tautology. Furthermore, the constant grouping of Obama with other historical leaders illustrates Barthes’ idea of quantification of quality.

Examples:

Lululemon Athletica’s window display portrays an inspirational quote yet its rhetorical rhythm creates a direct tautology. The sign reads “Rosa sat so Martin could walk, Martin walked so Obama could run, Obama ran so our Children can fly” and is surrounded by three manikins dressed in modern exercise clothes; one is walking, one is running, and the last is flying. The meaning of the message, which is mythical itself, is de-emphasized because of the rhetorical flow of “A did X so B could do Y so C could do Z.” To use Barthes’ terms, the quote’s language has a metalanguage which creates the notion that Obama’s presidency was inevitable thanks to the actions of black leaders before him.


2. On the outside of a building at the corner of 14th and U streets in Washington, D.C. is an enormous wall painting of the famous portrait of Obama with the word “progress” underneath. Right beside him is a painting of Abraham Lincoln, who Obama is constantly compared against. Surrounding this public art display stands a hoard of individuals snapping photos as if there were some kind of religious significance to it all; and in fact, the obsession that people have for placing Obama on the same golden throne of Lincoln before he’s done anything has become a statement of fact and an inoculation. It is a public knowledge that Obama holds deep respect and admires Lincoln greatly, yet the continual grouping of the two leaders as if Obama was pre-destined to follow in Lincoln’s steps is again a tautology and a quantification of quality. The lives of these two men are starkly different and the times in which they live and lived are worlds apart. The grouping of them together is a quantification of quality because it is taking away each individual’s story, both of which are inspiring and different for their respective periods of history.