This picture is pushing every button White America ever invented about race.
“Intense or Intimidating?” blares the headline of Entertainment Weekly’s Pop Watch blog. Referencing photographer Annie Leibowitz saying she tried to capture Woods’ focus, blogger Adam Markovitz writes, “But is “focus” what comes across here? Tiger’s expression also seems more than a little menacing to me, but maybe that’s just a result of the fallen sports idol’s post-scandal image?”
Actually, that’s not why he looks so “menacing” or “intimidating.” It’s because he looks completely black. We’re only used to seeing Tiger as a mixed race athlete (is he white? black? asian?) in conservative golf clothing bathed in flattering sunlight. But this picture shows him shirtless with a black cap, closed fists and darkish lighting. And with a look that says, “Where the white women at?”
He doesn’t look like the focused athlete we once loved; he looks like the guy you’re afraid of when you lock the door at night. Did Vanity Fair mug the athlete of the century with an unfair portrayal? Did they capture the real Tiger Woods? Or did they simply hold up a mirror to the country?