Rolling Stone Magazine has got it’s August 1 issue all wrong by plastering a glammed up photo of 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the Boston Bomber, on the cover of it’s latest issue.
At first glance, you might mistake the young murderer for a cool devil may care attitude rock musician. He’s attractive with tousled hair, five o’clock shadow and a come hither stare and then you realize that you are being seduced by a man who, pardon my french but I don’t give a flying fuck how nice or religious he was, is a murderer of three innocents, one being a child, responsible for injuring 260 people and taking the American people’s sense of security hostage on April 15 in Boston.
Contributing editor Jane Reitman curated the story after 2 months of in depth interviews with all those people who knew Dzhokhar Tsarneav. She was trying to get to the bottom of the story and she may very well have done a fantastic job of telling us the whole story but to put a murderer on the cover of a magazine that glamorizes the lives of rock stars is sending the wrong message. It is making him into a hero. It is making murder sexy.
There is nothing glamorous or remotely cool about what Dzhokhar Tsarnaev did. He wreaked havoc on a nation and no matter what his reason was, he was wrong. Rolling Stone magazine is wrong. The title beneath his photo reads,
The Bomber
How a Popular, Promising Student was Failed by his Family, fell into Radical Islam and Became a Monster
To me, this title is dripping with sympathy; placing the blame on his parents. I don’t care how nice he was or great a kid or kind heart he had, the moment he decided to participate in an act of terrorism that changed the fabric of our country forever he forfeited his right to sympathy or understanding. The moment he killed another human being, he forfeited his right to being a hero. And by running his photo in this manner on the cover, Rolling Stone magazine has forfeited its right to my money. Not only did they have the audacity to glorify a murderer, they then stood behind their cover and defended it.
But Mayor Menino of Boston got it all right.
Mr. Menino said what had to be said in a way that it should be said. He was not seething with anger or dripping with hatred. He was disappointed and saddened. I am too but I am not so politically correct. Hey Rolling Stone, Fuck you!
Throat Punch to Rolling Stone Magazine. What do you think of Rolling Stone putting Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on the cover of next month’s issue?
6 comments
Besides what the Mayor said, it’s sensationalistic and immoral. I’m glad you pointed it out, because I may not have known.
I am sure it was done to invoke the wrath ( and publicity) of the general public. Sensational titles and provocative photos ( even those in poor taste) sell magazines. The story may very well be a great expose but who the hell will ever know because most of us can’t see past the cover. I don’t begrudge them fro writing the story, it needs to be told. I just hate the cover. Honestly, put him on the cover in his prison uniform before young adults start thinking its sexy to be dangerous and a criminal. I want them to know that criminals (murderers especially) go to prison.
Yes, exactly.
Ugh…I am totally disgusted and completely agree that it is wrong, wrong, wrong. Never again will I buy that magazine.
@AnnMarie It is indeed disgusting to glorify and galmourize a murderer to sell magazines.
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