Senator John McCain has called it “horrifying” and “stupid”.
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino called it “ill conceived at best”.
65 percent of Americans called it “inappropriate” in a Huffington Post and YouGov poll.
What could be inciting citizens and politicians alike across the country?
A pop culture magazine.
The face of Dzokhar Tsarnaev is the front cover of this month’s Rolling Stone magazine.
The photo shows a close-up of Tsarnaev’s face to advertise the story “The Bomber,” which examines how a seemingly normal college student suddenly and secretly fell into the world of Islamic extremism. However, the cover’s critics claim that the photo “glorifies” him and puts him in the same playing field as the celebrities regularly featured as cover stars, like Bob Dylan and Seth Rogan.
The media circus that has followed the release of the magazine has only enforced public opinion. Rolling Stone has a long history of controversial cover photos, a lot of which are sexually suggestive. Remember the famous image of Kanye West wearing a crown of thorns? The unique and new problem with Tsarnaev’s cover is that it shows a monster among men who look just like us: college students.
Tsarnaev, before the bombing, was just a typical college student. He kind of looks like a hipster and he was known to smoke a lot of pot. He looks like thousands of people we know at UF and I believe the controversy stems from how easily we can relate this young face. At first glance, the picture of Tsarnaev could show any of a million twenty-year-olds, but once you see the word “monster” in the preview, you immediately recognize that the face of a terrorist is featured on the magazine.
Although they have released an apology, Rolling Stone had to have known that the image would create controversy, especially in the Boston area. Using the photo of any terrorist would do so, but especially America’s most recent enemy and someone who doesn’t look like our archetype of a terrorist. Several stores, such as CVS, have refused to sell the August issue. Why? Maybe because they feel the magazine’s choice of cover is offensive to customers or they simply don’t want the image of a terrorist sitting on their shelves.
Contrary to the public outcry, I agree with Rolling Stone’s decision to put Dzokhar Tsarnaev on the cover. Three months after the bombing, the story delves into the psyche of a terrorist and provides insight into what drove him to commit such a heinous act. Not only was this the first terrorist attack on American soil since September 11, it was also the first attempt on American soil.
Understanding what drove him to extremism can only help us prevent future attacks by recognizing the signs before it’s too late. There are subtle indicators when someone you know might be depressed and suicidal or starving with an eating disorder, maybe knowing the indicators of this kind of extremism can stop an attack before innocent people are killed.
This important story is being overshadowed by the controversy surrounding it’s cover. After reading the article and seeing how it chronicles the transition from an innocent and hopeful immigrant boy to a hate-filled terrorist, you come to realize only a photo of the monster himself would fit the story.
