To be a leader
Abstract:
Climate change is becoming a serious issue in today’s society. To solve this problem, the president of France is collaborating with leaders of 100 countries but surprisingly the president of the united states is excluded and will not take part in this project.
This paper will discuss the challenge of leadership and the different sides of a politician portrayed in the same picture. This article is about a project lead by Emmanuel Macron the president of France concerning climate change. Emmanuel Macron is portrayed in the cover of this magazine published in November 2017. The author is Vivienne Walt an award-winning foreign correspondent, who has written for Time Magazine since 2003.
This is an informational photo that represents the president of the French Government.
In this image the President isn’t looking towards the camera but is looking to his right as if he looking into the future. His position as a President requires him to always be in a formal apparel. As we can see in the picture, he is wearing a suite. This image gives an impression of control and assertiveness. It portrays a political figure, a young man with a vision. At first sight the headline shows how big of an icon he is by using the term “leader”. The fact that it says “next leader” signifies that he is a trustworthy person that is up to the challenge. However, if we look closer on the bottom right in a smaller font, Macron is represented as a failure to his country. The headline can be divided into two parts. The first part of the headline “The next leader of Europe” is written on the left side, it represents Macron himself as an important figure. The second part which is written on the right “If only he can lead France” shows the contrary, in other words how he isn’t being a good leader for his country. The context of the image is implied because of several elements. The background is dark in order to make the subject more appealing. Likewise, the lighting, where his face is half lit, showing the two sides of Macron. On the left we can see the bright side of Macron, his future as a successful figure in Europe and on the right his dark side.
In the article “At Home in the World” Vivienne Walt mentions much of the responsibility for leading this club has fallen to an erudite young Frenchman who has only just begun his career as an elected politician. This shows how Macron is taking major responsibilities in a short period of time where mistakes can’t be made. This picture of Macron is the most suitable to show if he is up to the challenge. The majority of The Time Magazine audience are Americans and this article informs us that Macron does not want the president of the united states Donald Trump to be part of this project. Thus trump supporters will get offended and will see the bad side of Macron on the cover. The same goes to the French audience, the fact that Macron is working on projects that don’t involve France but the European audience, they will see the good side of Macron, due to the fact that he may become the new leader of Europe. I will interpret it differently because the decision he is making won’t affect my country. The underlying stereotype embedded in this graphic is that political figures have to be always powerful and strong, however, in reality they can cause many conflicts due to their decisions.
In conclusion the cover of the Time magazine can be interpreted in many different ways. It depends who is the audience and from which perspective you are looking at the cover. The placement of the headline and the lighting played a very important role in showing the two sides of the young politician.
References:
http://time.com/magazine/us/5016709/november-20th-2017-vol-190-no-21-u-s/
