Barack Obama "Joker" poster

US president Barack Obama depicted as the Joker, a comic book supervillain, based on the portrayal by Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight.

The Barack Obama "Joker" poster is a manipulated image of Barack Obama, then president of the United States, used by some critics of the Obama administration.[1][2] The image was created by Firas Alkhateeb in January 2009, and portrays Obama as comic book supervillain Joker, based on the portrayal by Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight (2008).[3] Alkhateeb has said the image was not intended to make a political statement.[4] He uploaded the image to the photo-sharing website Flickr, from where it was downloaded by an unknown individual who added the caption "socialism".[5][6] It was described in 2009 by The Guardian as the "American right's first successful use of street art".[7]

  1. ^ Wong, Danielle (August 30, 2009). "'Freedom lover' behind 'Obama Joker' posters". Toronto Star. thestar.com. Archived from the original on September 2, 2009. Retrieved September 29, 2009.
  2. ^ Milian, Mark (August 21, 2009). "Aftermath: Unmasked Obama Joker artist confronts fame firsthand". Los Angeles Times, latimesblogs.latimes.com. Archived from the original on August 26, 2009. Retrieved September 26, 2009.
  3. ^ George, Justin (August 9, 2009). "Portrayal of President Barack Obama as Joker stirs roiling debate". St. Petersburg Times. tampabay.com. Archived from the original on September 11, 2009. Retrieved September 25, 2009.
  4. ^ Moses, Asher (August 21, 2009). "Obama as Joker parody sparks censorship storm". The Age. Melbourne: theage.com.au. Archived from the original on September 26, 2009. Retrieved September 27, 2009.
  5. ^ "Palestinian-American behind 'socialist-joker' Obama poster". Haaretz. haaretz.com. August 20, 2009. Archived from the original on September 17, 2009. Retrieved September 24, 2009.
  6. ^ Borrelli, Christopher (August 19, 2009). "Talking to the Chicago college student who may be behind Obama-as-Joker poster". Chicago Tribune. chicagotribune.com. Archived from the original on August 25, 2009. Retrieved September 24, 2009.
  7. ^ Walters, Ben (August 5, 2009). "Why the Obama as Joker poster leaves a bad taste in the mouth". The Guardian. London: guardian.co.uk. Archived from the original on September 7, 2013. Retrieved September 29, 2009.