Harmless Photo Op or Unacceptably Bad Taste?

[Virgil Showlion]

The photo comes from U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama's twitter feed, with the caption "Bone Appetit!" as a nod to Marie Antoinette.

I'm curious to get some opinions here since the photo is drawing quite a bit of criticism--and not all from the usual quarters. Dressing dogs up in jewelry and posing them near (feeding them off of?) fine china in the current economic climate can easily rub people the wrong way.

As for the rabid right, The Daily Caller points out that U.S. First Lady Nancy Reagan was lampooned in the press for purchasing a china set (with donated funds) during the recession in 1982. Heads of state were expected to demonstrate a modicum of stoicism out of respect for the suffering of the laypeople. Do we hold the same standard in force today?

What say you? Harmless photo op, unacceptably bad taste, or something in between?

[The Captain]

I'm not sure I get the tie-in to Marie Antionette.  Did Mrs. Obama explicitly state that or is someone throwing gas on the fire?

The Jewlery and dogs sitting at a fine dining table setting could (I guess) be a lame attempt at being funny.  Personally I think it's in poor taste especially when there are (supposedly) going to be millions of Americans starving due to the cuts in food stamps.

[chiver78]

I don't get the Marie Antoinette tie-in either.

you drinking today, Virgil?

[Deleted]

China probably thinks the dogs should be on the plates.

[Wisconsin Beth]

I too am missing the Marie Antoinette tie-in.  I know she's reported to have said "let them eat cake" not realizing that they didn't have cake or bread. 

And this is the first I've heard or seen of this.  So either it's not much of a firestorm or I'm hopefully out of it (probably the later...)

[Deleted]

I love cute dogs and cute dog pics. Don't have a problem with it.

[chiver78]

oh I've seen the pic before, but I think it was an official release by the WH. no analysis, especially nothing like what's in the OP.

[Virgil Showlion]

I'm not sure I get the tie-in to Marie Antionette. Did Mrs. Obama explicitly state that or is someone throwing gas on the fire?

She stated "Bone Appetit!" on her feed. That was it.

The allusion probably wasn't intentional, but Ms. Antoinette was the first thing that popped into my mind when I saw the photo, even before I saw "Bone Appetit!". The Caller obviously saw it the same way. Marie Antoinette is emblematic of the "clueless upper class". A head of state failing to recognize the significance of "Bone Appetit!" in the context of the photo is... well... clueless.

[Virgil Showlion]

Feb 14, 2014 13:35:20 GMT -5 Wisconsin Beth said:

I too am missing the Marie Antoinette tie-in.  I know she's reported to have said "let them eat cake" not realizing that they didn't have cake or bread. 

And this is the first I've heard or seen of this.  So either it's not much of a firestorm or I'm hopefully out of it (probably the later...)

Marie Antoinette. The French aristocracy.

The rulers of France dining in luxury while the commoners died of hunger in the streets.

Don't they cover the French Revolution in US schools?

[justme]

The first that popped into my head at that phrase was Julia Childs. Antoinette was the let them eat cake phrase in response to being told about starving people.

[Deleted]

Feb 14, 2014 13:40:46 GMT -5 Virgil Showlion said:

Feb 14, 2014 13:35:20 GMT -5 Wisconsin Beth said:

I too am missing the Marie Antoinette tie-in.  I know she's reported to have said "let them eat cake" not realizing that they didn't have cake or bread. 

And this is the first I've heard or seen of this.  So either it's not much of a firestorm or I'm hopefully out of it (probably the later...)

Marie Antoinette. The French aristocracy.

The rulers of France dining in luxury while the commoners died of hunger in the streets.

Don't they cover the French Revolution in US schools?

Only on Broadway.

[Virgil Showlion]

Feb 14, 2014 13:41:02 GMT -5 justme said:

The first that popped into my head at that phrase was Julia Childs. Antoinette was the let them eat cake phrase in response to being told about starving people.

"Let them eat cake." has been popularly attributed to Marie Antoinette, although there's apparently no record of her actually saying it.

"Bone appetit!" would simply be an allusion to the French. As I say, Ms. Antoinette just happens to be emblematic of a clueless elite happily dining away while the working class suffered.

[justme]

Feb 14, 2014 13:52:03 GMT -5 Virgil Showlion said:

Feb 14, 2014 13:41:02 GMT -5 justme said:

The first that popped into my head at that phrase was Julia Childs. Antoinette was the let them eat cake phrase in response to being told about starving people.

"Let them eat cake." has been popularly attributed to Marie Antoinette, although there's apparently no record of her actually saying it.

"Bone appetit!" would simply be an allusion to the French. As I say, Ms. Antoinette just happens to be emblematic of a clueless elite happily dining away while the working class suffered.

And I'm saying it's a phrase that is widely attributed to Julie Childs (in that she said it, not coined it). She frequently said it on her American cooking show as she loved French food and that's what she cooked (and she also lived in France at one time).

Maybe the image would bring up an allusion to Marie Antoinette in people, but the phrase should not.

ETA: I believe it was her "send off" phrase for her cooking show.

[Virgil Showlion]

Feb 14, 2014 13:55:36 GMT -5 justme said:

Feb 14, 2014 13:52:03 GMT -5 Virgil Showlion said:

"Let them eat cake." has been popularly attributed to Marie Antoinette, although there's apparently no record of her actually saying it.

"Bone appetit!" would simply be an allusion to the French. As I say, Ms. Antoinette just happens to be emblematic of a clueless elite happily dining away while the working class suffered.

And I'm saying it's a phrase that is widely attributed to Julie Childs (in that she said it, not coined it). She frequently said it on her American cooking show as she loved French food and that's what she cooked (and she also lived in France at one time).

Maybe the image would bring up an allusion to Marie Antoinette in people, but the phrase should not.

ETA: I believe it was her "send off" phrase for her cooking show.

Ah. Before my time.

[Deleted]

Feb 14, 2014 14:02:37 GMT -5 Virgil Showlion said:

Feb 14, 2014 13:55:36 GMT -5 justme said:

And I'm saying it's a phrase that is widely attributed to Julie Childs (in that she said it, not coined it). She frequently said it on her American cooking show as she loved French food and that's what she cooked (and she also lived in France at one time).

Maybe the image would bring up an allusion to Marie Antoinette in people, but the phrase should not.

ETA: I believe it was her "send off" phrase for her cooking show.

Ah. Before my time.

Unlike the French Revolution.

[Virgil Showlion]

Feb 14, 2014 14:06:46 GMT -5 ArchietheDragon said:

Feb 14, 2014 14:02:37 GMT -5 Virgil Showlion said:

Ah. Before my time.

Unlike the French Revolution.

We didn't study Ms. Child in history.

[Deleted]

Feb 14, 2014 14:24:29 GMT -5 Virgil Showlion said:

Feb 14, 2014 14:06:46 GMT -5 ArchietheDragon said:

Unlike the French Revolution.

We didn't study Ms. Child in history.

What about in home economics?

[Virgil Showlion]

Feb 14, 2014 14:25:03 GMT -5 ArchietheDragon said:

Feb 14, 2014 14:24:29 GMT -5 Virgil Showlion said:

We didn't study Ms. Child in history.

What about in home economics?

I actually did take home ec as one of my high school electives. The electives were first-come first-serve. I was lazy and always took whatever was "left over" at one day before the sign-up deadline, which happened to be home ec.

I have absolutely no memory of what I learned in that class. I can recall the layout of the classroom, a few of the conversations I had with other students, and an incident where a recipe called for five cups of milk and one group mistakenly added five liters. But I can't tell you the name of even a single dish we made. I'm sure it was simple stuff like bran muffins and vegetable stir-frys, etc.

The earliest I remember hearing of Julia Child was when I was in grad school.

[Jaguar]

Oh gosh Virgil, pick apart a funny image, hon you need to take up some sort of weird hobby.

[billisonboard]

President Barack Obama is hosting the dinner for French President Francois Hollande, who arrived in the United States on Monday. www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/10/bo-sunny-state-dinner_n_4763381.html

So that is the reason for the use of a French expression. Of course that little factoid is left out of The DC article.

[EVT1]

Bad taste?  Come on man.  No one takes pictures of their dogs in funny outfits or locations...oh wait..I forgot we have 10,000,000 you tube videos showing exactly that....

[Virgil Showlion]

Feb 14, 2014 15:01:31 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

President Barack Obama is hosting the dinner for French President Francois Hollande, who arrived in the United States on Monday. www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/10/bo-sunny-state-dinner_n_4763381.html

So that is the reason for the use of a French expression. Of course that little factoid is left out of The DC article.

What does that matter?

My criticism is that the expression evokes memories of Marie Antoinette in the context of the photo and the US's dismal economic climate. I'm not saying she didn't have some rationale for using it.

But I should count you among those who don't mind the U.S. First Lady putting out photos of this nature?

[chiver78]

Feb 14, 2014 13:52:03 GMT -5 Virgil Showlion said:

Feb 14, 2014 13:41:02 GMT -5 justme said:

The first that popped into my head at that phrase was Julia Childs. Antoinette was the let them eat cake phrase in response to being told about starving people.

"Let them eat cake." has been popularly attributed to Marie Antoinette, although there's apparently no record of her actually saying it.

"Bone appetit!" would simply be an allusion to the French. As I say, Ms. Antoinette just happens to be emblematic of a clueless elite happily dining away while the working class suffered.

so because YOU made the jump from the red text to the blue text, and the rest of us didn't, WE are clueless?

uh, sure.

[Jaguar]

Well this thread fell flat.

[Virgil Showlion]

Feb 14, 2014 15:08:10 GMT -5 EVT1 said:

Bad taste?  Come on man.  No one takes pictures of their dogs in funny outfits or locations...oh wait..I forgot we have 10,000,000 you tube videos showing exactly that....

Ms. Obama is wife to the U.S. Head of State. The photo inadvertently emphasizes the fact that the White House dogs have a far more comfortable existence than 47 million Americans who don't earn enough to feed themselves, and that Ms. Obama certainly isn't ashamed of that fact.

And so yes. Call me a stickler for old-fashioned stoicism, but I consider the photo to be in extremely poor taste. I'd say the same if it came from Rep. Boehner, or Warren Buffet, or Lloyd Blankfein, or any other major policymaker/beneficiary.

Not unforgivable, but in extremely poor taste.

Feb 14, 2014 15:14:11 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

Feb 14, 2014 13:52:03 GMT -5 Virgil Showlion said:

"Let them eat cake." has been popularly attributed to Marie Antoinette, although there's apparently no record of her actually saying it.

"Bone appetit!" would simply be an allusion to the French. As I say, Ms. Antoinette just happens to be emblematic of a clueless elite happily dining away while the working class suffered.

so because YOU made the jump from the red text to the blue text, and the rest of us didn't, WE are clueless?

uh, sure.

I said any head of state ignorant of the allusion is clueless.

As for anyone here who didn't "get it": now you do.

[chiver78]

you asked if the French Revolution was taught in US schools, as if we were clueless to have not made the same connection you did. we are not ignorant of the Revolution, we just don't think the picture is as horrible as you apparently do.

[justme]

I don't think it's particularly wise, but I'm not aghast by it. It's rather opulent looking and somewhat sends a message that they're not "of the people" and have money. But the White House by itself says that. Realistically it was someone who thought it'd be funny to even dress the dogs up for the head of state - or maybe someone walked in while one was sitting on a chair or something.

Though I still fervently deny any allusion or connect to Marie Antoinette was made by the caption of Bone appetite. Especially since it's really spelled bon, so the bone was a play on the fact that they're dogs.

[billisonboard]

[Artemis Windsong]

"Heads of state were expected to demonstrate a modicum of stoicism out of respect for the suffering of the laypeople. Do we hold the same standard in force today?

What say you? Harmless photo op, unacceptably bad taste, or something in between?"
-------------
There is zero suffering by the heads of state who enjoy more in all areas for now and forever in health care to continuing salary.

The photo is harmless and whimsical.

[Virgil Showlion]

Feb 14, 2014 15:40:18 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

you asked if the French Revolution was taught in US schools, as if we were clueless to have not made the same connection you did. we are not ignorant of the Revolution, we just don't think the picture is as horrible as you apparently do.

I guess not.

I tend to be more sensitive to pet idolatry issues in general. It seems to me that western society has shifted to the point where we value the lives of animals more than we value the lives of our fellow man. I'm seeing wider participation in egregious excesses like "pet spas" and "pet hotels"--more generally people wasting huge sums of money on pampering animals. The nation will react ten times as strongly to a news story about a roaming gang of thugs killing dogs than to a roaming gang of thugs targeting pedestrians. And quite a few members on these boards have admitted that they categorically love and respect animals more than they love and respect human beings.

A dog is a dog. He's a good companion. Train him. Give him kibble and fresh water. Give him some exercise and attention every day. Beyond that, for heaven's sakes look at your countrymen before you give the dog anything more.

And if you're the head of state of a nation with a burgeoning class divide, don't dress your dogs up like royalty in front of fine china for a cutesie photo op. Have some class.

Especially since it's really spelled bon, so the bone was a play on the fact that they're dogs.

I know. But again, my grievance is with the symbolism of the statement, not what was intended by it.