Abstract
In 2009 a fly-bill captioned ‘Socialism’ appeared, depicting Obama as ‘The Joker’ from Nolan’s Batman movie The Dark Knight. The fly-bill was assumed to express a right-wing Republican view, representing an objection to Shepard Fairey’s ‘Hope’ poster. The fly-bill’s appearance coincided with the public debate on healthcare reforms. This article explores the origins of the poster and its range of meanings, both political and racial. Reading the poster also as part of a tradition of political satire, it analyses the racialist connotations of depicting Obama in white greasepaint as well as other popular portrayals of Obama as a ‘magic negro’.
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