Saturday, September 17, 2011

There's an Elephant in the Room--and in the Globe and Mail Photo

Okay, so I'm stuck in the house, feeling crappy due to some low grade bug that has given me body aches and left my throat feeling as though I've swallowed a scratchy wool sock, when I happen upon a story in the Globe and Mail that lifts my spirits and make me feel all sunshiney inside. It's about one of the late Jack Layton's wet-behind-the-ears newbie M.P.s. She's a 20-year-old named Charmaine Borg who's been studying "political science and Latin American studies at McGill University"--quel stereotype of a young NDPer, eh? Anyhoo, the Globe adorns the article about fair Charmaine with this photo:

Twenty-year-old MP Charmaine Borg meets with staff, youth and media at a local youth house Ste-Anne-Des-Plaines, Que. - Twenty-year-old MP Charmaine Borg meets with staff, youth and media at a local youth house Ste-Anne-Des-Plaines, Que. | Christinne Muschi for The Globe and Mail

And here's the part that made me chortle--the caption reads: "Charmaine Borg, 20, centre, spent the summer introducing herself to her constituents in Terrebonne-Blainville."

Thanks, helpful caption-writer. But for you I might have mistaken her for the fat dude in the superhero outfit or the hefty white-haired chick in purple.

But here's the funniest part: nowhere in the article does the reporter identify or even remark upon the bizarrely-dressed fat guy!

Seems to me that's the most interesting part of the story: chubster turns up for a meet 'n' greet with his too-young-to-buy-a-drink-at-a-bar M.P. dressed in Superman spandex, and everyone in the room pretends that that's a perfectly normal thing to do.

If that's an indication of the kind of constituents there are in Terrebonne-Blainville, it looks like Charmaine has her work cut out for her.

No comments: