An Open Letter to Anyone at The Economist (Y’all REALLY Need to Read This)
I grabbed my pimento cheese sandwich and some fresh brussels sprouts (for my third night in a row of making this fantastic recipe) at Central Market and made my way to the express checkout, where I was greeted by this atrocious magazine cover:
“The horror, the horror!” is right, but in this case it has nothing to do with the European economic meltdown. If there’s a case for mixed visual metaphors as a term, this terribly photoshopped image (wait, why is the Acropolis lit up in front when then sun is behind it?) is exhibit A. Who is Merkel supposed to be? Brando or Sheen? Maybe Hoffman? At this point I have no clue and could use some illuminating comments from any readers. And why are the helicopters flying over the Acropolis? Greek don’t surf or something?
Whatever the cover’s intended meaning is, and it seems to suggest that something very, very bad is happening, it’s assembled so poorly that it detracts from all the significations deployed in trying to make the point. The Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now are both resources for powerful symbols that might, somehow, have something to say to the current Greek crisis, but any symbolic value here is obscured by the fact that this image looks like it was made in fifteen minutes by some World of Warcraft player who loves posting his Frankenstein photoshopped images on Internet forums.
Usually I’m a fan of The Economist, and whenever I get their invitations to subscribe in the mail I tend to actually open the envelope and consider signing up. After seeing this thing I’m glad I haven’t yet. This is an image I will need to get over.
P. S. I think I just moved a little bit closer to writing like David Bentley Hart. That’s alright, I guess. I’m not going to edit it out.
Popery 
Agreed. This cover is totally bizarre.
We have dabbled in Economist subscriptions. The pros are obvious–intelligent news at your fingertips, insightful analysis, the ability to constantly refer to Economist articles in your conversations and soundsmart. The cons are a little more subtle. You can boil them down to the fact that it is all you will ever read. And–because it is weekly and expensive and most of the types who are drawn to the Economist hate the thought of them piling up–you have major anxiety and guilt about getting each issue read–at least each article skimmed. Therefore you take it everywhere–in the car to read at stoplights, to work to read over lunch…I’m sure these thoughts are among those you consider when you pull out that envelope and debate whether to just sign up–especially with their student rates…but there you go.