May 12, 2012

"Julia" was the Democratic Party's "attempt to make singlehood cool and fresh and new..."

"... in an attempt to court [the single woman] demographic."

Yeah, I know: an "attempt... in an attempt" — it's sloppy writing. In the WaPo (by Jessica Gavora, but I'm linking anyway.
[Julia] is the Democrats’ answer to Romney’s family Christmas card. A nation of women on their own, after all, doesn’t relate very well to fecund portraits of smiling white moms and dads with kids and golden retrievers underfoot. With her spare, faceless affect, Julia is meant to evoke a more modern, independent sensibility — with the exception of her life of endless government dependency, that is.
Faceless! That word came up on the blog yesterday, as we talked about Obama's bullying of the schoolgirl "Coretta." He described the other children — the ones whose chanting caused him to turn on the girl – as "faceless." (They were silhouetted by the sun.)

There are 2 other appearances of the word "faceless" in "Dreams From My Father." But this is going to require a separate post. Just talk about "Julia" here. In the next post, I'm going to tell you about "Joyce."

53 comments:

chickelit said...

Gesichtslos in German is one of those fascinating double entendres.* The word literally means faceless, but buried in there is the word gesicht (cf. Eng "sight") which gives a second meaning of "sightless" or lacking vision. You can where I'm going with this.

_____________
*Like Schuld which means both guilt and debt and which is etymologically related to our word "should."

rhhardin said...

Face figures the person at hand; faceless figures the collective population.

The Drill SGT said...

When they talk about single women being a huge demographic, I think they ought to break it into at least 4 parts, several of which may not see the horror of: "fecund portraits of smiling white moms and dads with kids and golden retrievers underfoot"

- single black moms might not relate, sure, but they were in the tank already for Bro Obama.

- elderly grandmother types? I don't see them cringing at the image

- likewise, young single unmarried childless women must still see that as the "have it all dream"

- single white moms? a mixed bag.

Overall, not a lopsided appeal to undecided voters there to carry an election.

George said...

I'm waiting for the cover of Time that has Julia breastfeeding Obama who is standing on a rich person. The title would be "Attachment Governing".

DADvocate said...
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Brian Brown said...

Julia is meant to evoke a more modern, independent sensibility

Yes!

Because nothing says "independent" like a presentation bragging about Julia's need for government programs from age 4 to 67!

wildswan said...

Another way to think about Julia is to picture how out of line she will be with her own generation.

The majority of children in Julia's generation will be coming from families that had three or more children. People are surprised when they hear that but it is so because thirty-five percent of women in this generation have one or no children; twenty five percent have three or more; and those twenty-five percent have more than fifty per cent of the next generation. Today's reality is not that of tomorrow because tomorrow's voters have to be born before they can vote.
(I may be wrong; the Democrats may only need someone to die before he or she can vote.)

Michael said...

I know Julia has a tattoo. They just wont show us.

edutcher said...

The Lefties have always liked their people faceless.

The single mom who is poor, who will always be poor, and whose children ill always be poor is best contemplated faceless.

That way you don't have any pangs of conscience.



(a bourgeios phenomenon, to be sure)

Curious George said...

Hey single women of America, Toyoto used Julia in a commercial.

Have a nice "life".

Michael Haz said...

The more I read the nonsensical "Julia" stuff, the more I think "underachieving single woman with an overweening sense of entitlement".

Met plenty of 'em back when I was dating.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

When you are solely focused on YOU. Your thoughts and feelings and desires and wants and needs. And your only thought about other people is how they feel about YOU....naturally everyone else will be faceless.

edutcher said...

George said...

I'm waiting for the cover of Time that has Julia breastfeeding Obama who is standing on a rich person. The title would be "Attachment Governing".

That cover is a great little metaphor for the Lefties' ultimate goal:

Everyone attached to the Democrats from cradle to grave.

If there's a post about this "Attachment Parenting" nonsense, we can talk about why it's already been shown not to work.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...
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Lincolntf said...

Jay said...

Yeah, I haven't seen Liberals tout "Independence" as a virtue in decades. Even then it was just talk, but at least they kept up appearances.

Anonymous said...

So what's wrong with Romney's family Christmas card?

Why does it need countering?

Those are the people that are going to pay for Julia's benefits.

And fortunately for Julia, they are producing enough numbers to help balance the payers with receivers of Medicare.

Did the Romney Christmas card say "'you suck because you don't have this?"

Did it say "we're not paying for anyone that chose another lifestyle?"

Romney is pictured with what he values most.

Is his life choice now suddenly disfavored in supposedly tolerant and diverse America?

Or is the family still the last bastion of reactionism that hasn't yet been smashed by the progressive revolution, and it must be destroyed, even as some artists in America are starting to pine away for its meaning and comfort?

Saint Croix said...
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Saint Croix said...

The faceless people were of another race. Faceless = white, I think. Or not black.

As Eric Holder put it, "my people."

Heard Obama read some clips from Dreams From My Father. I was shocked at how racist it is. "White greed" in particular jumped out at me.

Dante said...

Wow, Julia gets lots of stuff. Who pays for it? I suppose her one kid is supposed to pay for it all.

This stuff is really scary. Given the recent push by the government into day to day type decisions, starting with what kind of lunch you have to give your kid, I wonder where this ends. Perhaps in the future the government will have sucked all money out of the system, and perhaps they will tell you what kind of college degree you can get. Who knows where it can end?

Anonymous said...

Can you guys help me out here.

Which rich, hateful, sexist republican was it - I forget - who said, "Ask not what your country can do for you..."?

Saint Croix said...

I suspect in Obama's mind there are circles of humanity. The closer to Obama you are, the more human. So he is very nice and loving to his immediate family.

Everybody else is a type. "Typical white person." He thinks in abstractions, and is utterly cool with reducing human beings to abstractions.

Saint Croix said...

And of course he reduced his own grandmother to a "typical white person." So if you are white, apparently, there will no intimacy or warm human feeling from Obama. Not even for family members.

No dreams from his mother, apparently. Who's she again?

Deb said...

That screen shot from "Julia" pictured on the WaPo site is interesting. Note that "Julia" decides to have a child. Just "Julia."

Phil 314 said...

Only now do I realize who Julia (or at least the name Julia) reminds me of.

As a kid watching the show I thought:
-where's Dad?
- how does she afford such nice stuff as a nurse?
- she's a nice black person

Now I realize I'm a racist.

John said...

OK. So this black president thingy left a bitter taste. Next course is mormon. I hear mormon tastes just like chicken.

Nichevo said...

Am I really the only one who hears 'Julia' in this context and thinks of Julia from 1984? I mean, c'mon, Victory Gardens!

And you get her vote by figuring out her Room 101.

Nichevo said...

Hmm. I condescended to go to the link, which I rarely do, to see the facelessness. Hmm. Notice "Julia" is white. Notice also that the Obama plan is in a white text box and the Romney strawmanning is dark.

RAAAAAACIST!!!!!

Nichevo said...

And the whole idea of having your whole life mapped out for you...so appalling to any freethinker.

Eh, Professor? I hope the scales are falling from your eyes and those of his past victims. We can't reward these totalitarians with government power any more.

Do your femmy ADD flitting-about word-association thing but keep your eye on the prize, which is freedom and everything good in our American way of life.

Nathan Alexander said...

Speaking of Julia, there is a commercial I saw for the first time a few months ago on HGTV.

It was for frozen food, I think.

It shows a busy mom, then an older daughter setting up the table, then the woman and her two daughters sitting down to the wonderful dinner their wonderful mom made for them after a wonderful day st work.

No dad.

No son, either.

Now FIOS has a commercial about another smart mom (architect?) who unlocks the door for her daughter and turns off the light for her, too, from work using her smartphone.

No dad was mentioned, I don't think.

No son, either.

I think they are erasing sons so women don't think about what it will do to a son to grow up in a dateless, may less world.

I will now call these Julia commercials.

Social engineering through advertising.

Nathan Alexander said...

Stupid iPad.

Dateless = Dad-less

May less = man-less

The Crack Emcee said...

A nation of women on their own, after all, doesn’t relate very well to fecund portraits of smiling white moms and dads with kids and golden retrievers underfoot.

True, but another truth is there are lots of people who don't respond well to that 1950's image, as it can indicate - rather than productive creativity - a rigid, vacuum-sealed isolation, as well as an almost timeless warning that others have never been, and never will be, truly welcomed in that home - except as "The Help" - a movie I bet has never been in Romney's Netflix cue, if he even has a Netflix cue.

Considering the cynical "Leave It To Beaver" backwardness of such an image in 2012, one has to wonder if he's even heard of Netflix,...

alan markus said...

Crack Emcee - I miss "The Macho Response"!

Peter V. Bella said...

Julia was a cartoon meant for entertainment. Who can take this administration seriously. It is run by children.

Paco Wové said...

"Am I really the only one who hears 'Julia' in this context and thinks of Julia from 1984? I mean, c'mon, Victory Gardens!"

Nichevo: absolutely not, Julia with her scarlet sash and shapely hips was definitely my first thought as well.

Paco Wové said...

And the whole 'no males' thing dovetails into the Junior Anti-Sex League membership pretty well, too.

The Crack Emcee said...

alan Markus,

Crack Emcee - I miss "The Macho Response"!

Me, too - it actually bothers me. I'm slowly drifting back to the original site, but there's some offline music projects I'm working on that are preventing me from giving TMR my full attention right now. I've started some podcasts as an offshoot of that, but I'll get back to blogging once I work out these funding issues for the rest of my work - CDs, comix, video - which will soon be where the real action is, with TMR as a focal point for us to reach each other directly.

Thank you, though, for the encouragement. And I promise, once the rest of this is resolved, you'll see your daily dose of posts once again soon.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

@ Crack

Sorry to be so off topic and not trying to threadjack. I won't do this again. But have to know.

I've read your bio on your profile and just today came across THIS

Is that a serious article??? I love the music but never dreamed.... really?

Carnifex said...

Obamas dreams of his father are as O'bots dreams of Obama. There was no "Father" for Obama, so he was free to imagine and project any beliefs and traits into him that a boy could wish. So to the people who fell for his schtick in the last election. There was deep delving into his past, no vetting. Not by the major media outlets in this country. The liberals there saw a young handsome well spoken black man who was a law professor. I imagine they practically creamed their jeans with affirmative action orgasms.

And so people, good people, tired of the wars, and the bitterness of the past few regimes were able to write what ever transcript THEY wanted on this blank page. Blacks saw a messiah come to free them from the tyranny of white oppression. Illegals saw a man from a different culture and country getting ahead, and dreamed maybe for them too. Liberals saw their eugenic programs of AA and PP coming to fruition. Actors saw a cool guy...everyone was able to do this.

Except for the ones who stayed rooted in reality. The ones who didn't vote for Obama. The "bitter clingers" as it were.

Much like internet affairs that are so popular. They're popular because the other person isn't real. They are a figment of your imagination. and your dream mate is always perfect. Until you meet them in person, and see all the flaws that people have.

But some people don't like to admit they've been fooled. Not by malicious intent, but by their own desires. And so they leave the relationship there in to chase the dream of a dream lover.

And so we come to the election of this year. We have met Obama. And anyone rooted in reality would admit he has serious flaws. Vain, thin skinned, obsequious, fawning, condescending, are just a few of the terms that come to mind. None of them good. I'll admit it, though I hate to, Obama does have some good qualities. He is well spoken, something not to be discounted these days. He does appear to be a loving husband and doting father. He is intelligent, I think we can agree, what he does with that intelligence is another matter. He has pressed forward with the drone war on Al Queda, something I didn't think he would continue. I give the devil his due so to speak.

Obama was able to write whatever dreams of his father were because he never met his father. His father could have been a great leader of men, a statesman, a soldier, a freedom fighter, any sort of hero that would let a lonely boy survive the tumult his mother dragged him through. This accounts for his animosity towards white people. His white parent dragged him from country to country, from man to man, from village to village, until she could no longer be bothered with him, so she foisted him off on his grandparents. Who were very much more mainstream than the life he had known previously. After all, his grandmother was a bank official, and I'm sure his grandfather was pleased as punch to be raising the half white child of his promiscuous daughter. I'm not saying his grandfather didn't love him here, I'm saying his grandfather probably didn't love the idea of him.

So a child that grows up projecting masks, and motives, to people he hasn't met, grows up, and is it a surprise that now he sees all people as masks and projections, maybe even himself. I actually feel sorry for Obama.

Chip S. said...

I think I found a picture of Julia's mom. (h/t Lileks)

ricpic said...

White moms and dads must die! Only then will Obama and the beautiful people on college campi everywhere be able to breath free!!! For the children. For the children kill the WHITE parents!!!!!!!!!!!!!

chickelit said...

I actually feel sorry for Obama.

Hopefully not enough to vote for him out of pity. That would be like mercy sex.

Carnifex said...

@DBQ

Yes it is serious. we had a cat that did this on her own. Use the toilet I mean. Just started doing it there, and flushing. I guess she watched us often enough she got the idea. That cat died of old age, but we have one of her offspring, and it did the same thing...once. But there is still hope.

And for some reason ALL the cats like it when I go. I will have cats on my legs, cats on the bathtub ledge, cats jump on my back, cats climbing in my underwear to snuggle. It's gotten so bad that I try to lock them out but with so many there's one around on every floor vent.

Cats are malicious too. My wife feeds them scraps from her plate, something I refuse to do, it's a bad habit for them. So they will circle me, begging for food, and when none is forthcoming they will lean against me to rub their head, then they'll whirl like lightning and flick their tails into my plate. Damn cats.

Carnifex said...

I said I feel sorry for him... I didn't say I was stupid :-)

Ralph L said...

I believe Julia's last name is Rigby.

The Crack Emcee said...

DBQ,

LOL! Sorry, but I'd have to ask my sister for anything authoritative on cat training. Let's just say Mingus was a man of many talents!

You cracked me up, though, with that one,...

wildswan said...

What if Zack wrote a book called "Dreams from MY Father"? Obviously his father was so terrible that Julia had to flee him (just as she did her own family because they were alike). He was probably a firefighter who died on the job while Julia's father was a Ford worker who became a union leader - a fisherman and a beer drinker. Zack imagines himself as regular American, an Eagle scout, and leads the next generation to victory over socialism - changed forever after learning the words to God Bless America from his aunt during a trip to the MidWest.

kimsch said...

The world run by women reminds me of the TV movie Planet Earth a Roddenberry flick starring John Saxon and Diana Muldaur. Women ran the earth and men were "Dinks"...

I saw the movie as a kid (I was 12 when it first aired) and never forgot it.

bgates said...

fecund portraits

A nation of women on their own apparently can't staff the nation's most prominent newspapers with chicks who understand how to pair an adjective with its subject, either.

The Crack Emcee said...

alan Markus,

Crack Emcee - I miss "The Macho Response"!

Well miss it no more:

I'll See Your Weird (And Raise You A Mormon Weird-O)

yashu said...

True, but another truth is there are lots of people who don't respond well to that 1950's image, as it can indicate - rather than productive creativity - a rigid, vacuum-sealed isolation, as well as an almost timeless warning that others have never been, and never will be, truly welcomed in that home - except as "The Help" - a movie I bet has never been in Romney's Netflix cue, if he even has a Netflix cue.

Considering the cynical "Leave It To Beaver" backwardness of such an image in 2012, one has to wonder if he's even heard of Netflix,…


Rolling my eyes, so so hard.

So now a picture of a square traditional family-- which happens to be Romney's family-- is ipso facto an indication of "cynical backwardness"? So now looking like a square traditional family suggests you're racist? You're going with that, Crack, really?

I guess only pictures of people who look like Julia or hipster bohemian non-traditional alternative multi-ethnic families from NYC or SF can look authentic, not retrograde and not racist. That's pretty pathetic.

Don't worry, Crack. I'm sure the DNC/MSM Obama machine is ready to unleash a blitz of "Mormons are weird" and "some say Mormonism is a cult" stories any day now. You won't be a lone voice in the wilderness of the Althouse blog, but joined by a full-throated media chorus. Enjoy it.

SGT Ted said...

They already trotted out the real life version that failed utterly to convince anybody that other people not paying for whatever liberal women demanded is oppression to all women.

Her name is Sandra Fluke.

How did they convince themselves that a cartoon character of the same person would work?

Nichevo said...

Do tell me, did Romney's Mormonism impact his business career? Did he hurt Bain Capital with his magic underwear or caffeine-shunning? Perhaps despite being a Mormon he can do an okay job. Or, no?

So, Cracky, as per the 'faceless 3' thread, you prefer Obama over Romney? Or some third candidate you won't get? Or anarchy?

Choose!