"A Weight Lifted"

     

    The New Yorker magazine is known for its vivid magazine covers, political cartoons, and depiction of popular social issues. One of their most recent magazine covers, “A Weight Lifted” by Barry Blitt is a cartoon representing a certain political issue. The image depicts a bald eagle carrying away former president Donald Trump in the sky. At first the image seems rather simple, but as you take a look there are a lot of little details that carry a big meaning. The background of the image is a baby blue, with subtle notes of white. The baby blue then fades down the page into a brown color. The blue takes up almost the entire page, except for a little bit of brown at the bottom. The background colors fade into each other easily, looking like a watercolor painting. The top half of the picture shows a bald eagle. The eagle is very large and takes up almost half of the page. The eagle is shown flying and stretched out. Its wings are angled above its head and body. The body of the eagle is all brown, except for white at the end of each of the wings and tail. The head of the eagle is completely white, with a yellow beak. You can only see one half of the eagle's face, but the whole body. The eagle is pointed in a rightward direction. As you move down the body of the eagle, you can see the eagle’s yellow claws grabbing onto Trump’s suit jacket. 

Trump takes up the second half of the page, except a little bit of room at the bottom, where the blue fades into the brown. The eagle is carrying Trump by the jacket, which is at the level of Trump's head. Trump is wearing a royal blue suit, with a red tie, and a white dress shirt underneath. Trump's face looks upset, and is frowning. His arms are crossed in front of his body, and his tie is shown underneath his arms and almost reaching down to his legs. He is wearing small black shoes. His white shirt can be seen reaching further down the arm than his suit jacket. At the end of his dress shirt there are three cufflinks. The top of Trump's body is much larger than the bottom of his body. It looks un-proportional, as though he is leaning forward, due to the fact that the top of his body is out in front of his legs. His whole body is in the sky, except for his feet, which are at the top of where the brown starts. Lastly, at the top of the cover “The New Yorker” is spelled out, along with the price of the magazine and the date of publication. This is placed on top of the eagles wings. 

The New Yorker magazine has been around for a long time, and caters to a certain audience. The magazine’s readers tend to be well-educated liberals. This makes sense due to the fact that most of their political cartoons that take on social and political issues, tend to be more democratic in their interpretation. The date of publication for the magazine cover “A Weight Lifted” is January 25,2021. It is very important to know the date of publication, and the events surrounding this date in order to get a better understanding of the image. Previous to this being released, former President Donald Trump lost in the presidential election to now president Joseph Biden. There was a lot of tension around the election, and even claims of the election being fraudulent. This created an uproar in Trump supporters that soon led to an invasion in the United States capitol. The breach of the capitol resulted in government property being stolen, and even lives being taken. This was an upsetting thing for most Americans to witness, and had a huge impact on those who originally supported Trump. Trump officially left office on January 20th, five days before this magazine cover was released. By the time the cover was published, Biden was officially president. The magazine cover is not portraying Trump in a pleasant light, appealing to its liberal readers, most who do not support Trump. This helps to give context to the events surrounding the cover. 

This cover contains a lot of symbolism and is open for interpretation. The first thing to notice is the angry look on the eagle’s face. Since the bald eagle represents freedom, the reason he could be angry is because Trump went against many freedoms. The bald eagle can also be used to represent the American people, which at the time many Americans were angry with Trump. It is also important to note that Trump has an angry or sour look on his face. This can be used to show that he was unhappy being removed from office or even that he thought the results of the election were unfair. He also has his arms crossed, which can be used to represent his discontent or anger. It is important to note that the eagle is above Trump. This can be used to symbolize that freedom and liberty are above a single person. It is also important to notice that Trump's suit is blue, and his tie is red. This can be used to symbolize the colors of the democratic and republican party, but also the colors of the United States. It should be noted that Trump and the eagle are almost the same size. It is also very important to notice that the eagle is carrying Trump away, and that he is not leaving voluntarily. This can be used to depict the idea that if it weren’t for the certain laws and liberties we have in place, that Trump would not leave voluntarily. Lastly, it should be noted that Trump’s feet are still on the ground. This shows that he is resisting leaving. With all of this information given the image seems to be about Trump leaving office, but could also be about how Trump is struggling to leave. It also seems to be about Trump resisting leaving office, but could also be about how certain liberties we have in place played a role in the process.