News-Record.com

Are we SURE the Catholic Church called him a "moron"? Or was it the Catholic League? I'd have thought they were separate entities. Even the Catholic Church has a certain sense of decorum...

Looks like both from the posted site Eric.

The Catholic Church has branded Kanye West as a "moron", after the hip-hop star posed as Jesus Christ on the cover of the latest Rolling Stone

"It's moronic. I mean, Kanye West as Jesus? He's a pop star," Keira McCaffrey, spokeswoman for the Catholic League, said.

Wonder where the genius deal came in. I say little or no connect to anything resembling genius on the site link.

Genius is apparently presumed. Not an afficianado, I can't pass judgement on his music. I would say, as a professional in art & design, the image is strong. In fact, there was a Catholic-magazine-sponsored contest a few years back, judged by Sister Wendy Beckett, which chose a decidedly African/mixed-race face as the "new face of Jesus for the 21st Century". West bears some resemblance, albeit more "masculine"-seeming. I doubt West made this design decision alone; the editors and/or photographer for Rolling Stone had the genius here.

For anyone to call him a moron for wearing make-up and thorns seems getting way too serious about his likely ego-trip and the magazine's clear play for sheer publicity. The thorns and blood are not the sole property of Christian churches: it is open cultural costume to use for artistic expression/appropriation.

I would say that the whole issue is absurd, and unworthy of serious comment. (However, I can’t help myself.) The chasm between Kanye and the Lord Jesus Christ is beyond imagination. It is evidence of the continuing display of monumental ignorance of biblical knowledge and theology of the American leftist media and their liberal adherents. It’s just another pitiful attempt at shock art, reminiscent of Mapplethorpe; of grotesque ignorance of spiritual meaning and wanton disregard for truth and beauty – a further slide into modern American in-your-face sleaze culture.

I will point out that Mapplethorpe was a serious artist, not merely a "shock artist", with amazing talent for control of light and dark. This Rolling Stones picture is okay aesthetically, but stronger really as commercial art. It does overreach, but no one expects commercial art to succeed at having "depth", unlike much of Mapplethorpe.

Well, I do recognize that Mapplethorpe is a serious artist; although I do not resonate with his more sexually oriented stuff - technically, it’s good; but morally questionable.
His still lifes are quality. The Rolling Stone pic is religiously objectionable, although thought provoking. What is LaChapelle trying to say in this picture; that Kanye is a suffering figure for in-your-facing the culture. Maybe it’s a reverberation of the Beatles being more popular than Jesus. Poor Jesus; we’re still driving those nails and pressing down the thorns.

Good thing he didn’t have a turban with Mohammed stitched into it on his head. Like so much media production today, Christians and their Faith are fair game. Nevertheless, I would still prefer that people honor the Messiah because their heart is in it than because they might have their hands cut off. At least a free media let’s us know just how far we’ve fallen, and how desperately we need the grace of God.

I agree the image of West-cum-Jesus is not worth a tonnage of verbal sparring; but an analysis of the iconographic borrowing may reveal something afoot (or ahead?) in popular culture's realtion to "faith". We get the image of Jesus every era which exemplifies contemporary morals and interpretations of a variety of Christian messages (note: not all Christians are pro-war, not all anti-abortion or vice versa).
As I stated, I am not knowledgeable of West's music, so I am only evoking the power of the image alone (although it has different meanings for those who do know and especially enjoy his music). The crown: royalty. Thorns: suffering for one's cause (or art?). These are not set in stone, as visual semitoics allows many, many conflicting or ambiguous readings.
Do note that West's hair short-cropped, as is his beard. This both reflects our contmeporary aesthetic AND may actually be more accurate historically than long hair (an invitation to lice).
In addition, it seems to me to evoke a penitant, almost detainee image which might resonate with the gangsta culture, which I thought West was NOT particularly popular with).
Finally, the lighting and pose, along with very close-up scale: these factors create a challenge to self-identify with the West/Jesus "character". He appaers to be staring hard and UNforgivingly at some off-camera/composition antagonist.

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