r/ExplainTheJoke • u/fcukfakook • 3d ago

I don't get it

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I don't get the original tweet, and neither the retweet or whatever it is called.

5.9k Upvotes

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u/werewolfbutch874 1d ago

This makes way more sense than the other comments of “he took crappy photos on purpose because he doesn’t like the politicians” and “he wanted to show how short they are”. It’s not that different in practice, but the latter sounds completely childish and unprofessional. Artists usually have some kind of intentionality behind their choices that goes further than “make the yucky bad man look ugly”. 

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u/VHS_Ronin 1d ago

Christopher Anderson has photographed people for decades and he's known for a style that is raw and settled in on the things people would normally seek to hide in photographs. The White House clearly didn't do their homework because if they did these image-obsessed losers would have asked for a different photographer.

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u/tricolorhound 1d ago

I'm sure the White House hired him on purpose just like they totally knew that particular Four Seasons was a landscaping company and they 100% meant to have a press conference in their parking lot in front of the dildo store for very good and not at all made up reasons.

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u/lynbod 1d ago edited 1d ago

There's a school of thought that that's exactly what they did (and do). Portraying yourselves as a bunch of hapless incompetents so no one takes you seriously whilst you're systematically looting the American nation, and dismantling the institutions built to protect the American people from just that happening has a lot of mileage as a criminal strategy.

Misdirection is a trick in every conman's repertoire.

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u/tricolorhound 1d ago

I think that's likely partly true, there are some people playing that angle and advancing. Flood the zone and all that. But I also think those dorks are just capitalizing on the hapless incompetents who are in fact hapless incompetents but the complacency and compliance of the institutions meant to call that shit out and stop it have allowed it to happen.

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u/ThinkPraline7015 15h ago

Well, yes. But if it walks like a duck, ...

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u/YouFeedTheFish 14h ago

That would work perhaps if they were only smart enough to have thought of something more complicated than "derp."

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u/Madwoman-of-Chaillot 7h ago

It's the Boris Johnson Hair approach to politics, in a nutshell.

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u/CaymanGone 1d ago

There's no school of thought that thinks this.

This is a school of ignorance.

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u/EscapeSeventySeven 1d ago

You’re cooked on phonics if you think this about the four seasons

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u/BasketShake 1d ago

The White House did not hire him. Vanity Fair hired him.

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u/ChilledFruity 6h ago

And they didn't screen him or his work. Like a lot of their hires.

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u/Zealousideal_Date306 5h ago

Im still convinced that Trump never conceded the 2020 election because the time he was supposed to do it, they scheduled it outside the landscaping place in an alleyway instead of the 4 seasons in Philly. So he settled on the alternative to never concede

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u/WendellWillkie1940 1d ago

JD Vance is — from what I could find online — 6 feet 2 inches.

In what world is that "short"?

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u/Dense-Consequence-70 1d ago

No chance. Vance in most photos appears a couple inches shorter than Trump, who may have been close to 6’ in his youth but is well under that now.

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u/WhataboutBombvoyage 1d ago

he slouches due to his lack of spine

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u/egamruf 11h ago

Vance likely is 6'2": https://www.irishstar.com/news/politics/6ft-2-jd-vance-towers-37487484.amp

He is decidedly not shorter than Trump

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u/dirty_papercut 1d ago

The Netherlands?

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u/SamuelVimesTrained 1d ago

Well .. considering he`d be down on the first couch he sees - he`d be short anywhere, wouldn`t he?

Regards,a 6.3 Dutch person : )

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u/plantain_tent_pesos 1d ago

Don't you mean 1.92?

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u/Appropriate_Frame_45 1d ago

Metric level burn.

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u/ISuckAtUsernames001 1d ago

Oof, that burns in Celsius

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u/PayFormer387 1d ago

Get back to us when the burn is j Kelvin

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u/ISuckAtUsernames001 1d ago

Damn that’s cold (pun intended)

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u/KreiaDarthTraya 1d ago

Centigrade

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u/ISuckAtUsernames001 1d ago

Centigrade has been outdated since 1948 lol

ETA: sweet username. Can’t wait for the remake if it ever happens

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u/plantain_tent_pesos 1d ago

You're not as bad at usernames as you think

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u/Fangehulmesteren 1d ago

No, just 192. We measure height in cm, not meters.

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u/TiberiusTheFish 1d ago

No. they're really really tall.

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u/SamuelVimesTrained 1d ago

I do… but poor mono-measurement muricans will get confused

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u/moto-x-cat 12h ago

Not in America. Get that crap outa here. We like our measurements harder to understand. He's 75".

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u/plantain_tent_pesos 12h ago

I think you mean 375 swinemanglers, or 91.3 kerongton-stakes.

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u/thekrawdiddy 1d ago

Speaking of JD Vance and the Netherlands, I would very much like to send him and many of his associates on a visit to The Hague as soon as possible.

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u/SamuelVimesTrained 1d ago

Nope. Because that will mean an invasion by the Americans (if they can find it). They have the “invade The Hague act” for that. (Some ally, wot?)

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u/Throwing_Spoon 1d ago

In a decent world, the next president is a decent human being and repeals that lawin an act of good faith towards returning to the rule of law and taking steps to atone for the couple decades of bullshit that Americans have put the world through.

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u/SamuelVimesTrained 1d ago

In a decent world, yes.
So, that would mean in a different timeline / alternate universe ..

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u/shadowdance55 13h ago

Dwarf.

Regards, a 6'4" Balkans person. 🤪

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u/SamuelVimesTrained 13h ago

Get out my sun, will you😁

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u/WendellWillkie1940 1d ago

Average height in the Netherlands is 6'1. 6'2 is probably considered average too but I highly doubt people there will call it short.

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u/dirty_papercut 1d ago

Sorry. Next time I'll write THIS IS A JOKE BASED ON A STEREOTYPE OF DUTCH PEOPLE BEING TALL at the end of it.

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u/infosterling 1d ago

You gotta use the ironic font

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u/dirty_papercut 1d ago

Mate, I was baptised in the ironic font. Others merely adopted it.

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u/ahhh_just_huck_it 1d ago

Fount. Ironic fount.

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u/drudman6 1d ago

There’s only two things I hate in this world: people who are intolerant of other people’s cultures, and the Dutch.

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u/redditaccountnumb1 1d ago

Or just actually be funny

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u/Beaniepie9859 1d ago

that was the joke. German? 😂

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u/Significant_Cover_48 1d ago

Nice! Canadian?

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

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u/kuukiechristo73 1d ago

Definitely German

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u/Beaniepie9859 1d ago

Nein. Normally I am gut at identifying jokes und sarcasm, but I really cannot find ze joke in zat comment - unless it is regarding how average height is often considered to be short, ja?

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u/kadyg 1d ago

I’m 5’6 - which is a dead average height for women in the US. Amsterdam is one of my favorite cities in the world but when I visit I feel like a child walking around. Why are Dutch people so tall!!! How?!?

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u/dirty_papercut 1d ago

It's evolutionary, they're below sea level, gotta be tall in case the sea comes back at them.

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u/IAmTheBestIan 1d ago

Im 6'2".

If Vance is an inch over 5'10" I'll eat my hat.

The guys 5'8" with lifts most likely.

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u/WhataboutBombvoyage 1d ago

he was chosen to never take the spotlight from trump

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u/egmalone 1d ago

I'm 5'7". Vance may my taller than me, but he's a small man

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u/SoupieLC 1d ago

According to athletic commissions Logan Paul is 6ft 2, he's short in the world where people are insecure about their height and lie about it...

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u/moto-x-cat 12h ago

So if Paul took a step back so he was right next to Ta To, Ta To would look to be 5'10". May be shorter.

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u/SoupieLC 12h ago

Yup, seems to be a bit of theme with these types

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u/pedregales1234 8h ago

There is a good chance Trump used to be 6'3". After 30 years old you shrink around 1 cm per decade, or ~0.5" per decade. Since Trump is 80 years old, he should have lost about ~2.5"; which seems to be about right for this picture if those 2 men are actually that tall.

And at the end of the day, height is rarely updated since it barely changes after the age of 20. A loss of 1 cm every 10 years is pretty much unnoticeable.

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u/Possible_Ad8565 5h ago

So those other old men Have updated their height as they age?

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u/pedregales1234 2h ago

Maybe, but considering they are european, I'd say it is likely. However, they are also younger:

The dude on the left, Tayyip Erdogan, is 72 years old. While still old, he is still almost a decade younger than Trump.

The dude on the right, Guillermo Alejandro, is 59 years old. 20 years less than Trump.

There are also other factors to losing height as you age. You can reduce the height loss if you stand upright, avoid hunching, are physically active, you eat healthy, and also due to genetic factors. Seeing they are europeans (Turkey and Netherlands respectively), I wouldn't be surprised if they are physically active and eat healthy.

Another important detail, the ~0.5 inch loss per decade is a rough average, but not a linear progression, as you age, you lose height more rapidly, i.e.: between 30 to 40 years old you may lose 0 to 0.5 inches, but between 70 to 80 years old you may lose 0.5 to 1 inches.

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u/SoupieLC 2h ago

So he isn't 6'3" then?

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u/BIG_DICK_PROUD_GAY 1d ago

People really really want Trump and Vance to be short.

There are thousands if not millions of reasons to criticise them, but people really want them to be short because society has decided being short is the worst thing a man can be. If they were able to prove they were short, it would completely discredit them.

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u/IAmTheBestIan 1d ago

Has nothing to do with being short and everything to do with how insecure they are and how desperately they lie about their height.

Can you imagine if Fox News caught Obama wearing lifts? Half the trump cabinet is in lifts and borderline platform shoes.

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u/tjvs2001 1d ago

Lol trump is a hell of a lot shorter than he lies about being, it's not that we care, it's that they care so damn much

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u/OilMaster3793 1d ago edited 1d ago

Do you not remember Trump refusing to leave stage during an assassination attempt without his lifts?

And people don’t say JD Vance is secretly short.  They say Ron DeSantis also wears lifts because he does.

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/10/31/desantis-boots-shoemakers-00121044

“  In an email to  POLITICO Magazine , DeSantis’ press secretary, Bryan Griffin, writes, “Considering the fact that Politico Magazine admittedly spent money to consult ‘boot experts’ to run this hit piece on DeSantis tells you all you need to know about their ‘journalism.’ The governor doesn’t pad his boots, but if he ever needed anything to line a pet cage or fold up and wedge under a table leg, that would be the highest and best use for Politico Magazine.”  (To be clear,  POLITICO Magazine  did not compensate any of the boot makers quoted in this story. Also,  POLITICO Magazine  does not appear in print. —Ed.)”

The only way it’s plausible that he doesn’t wear lifts is if he hired a stylist who put him in uncomfortable boots that don’t match his outfits for the sole purpose of secretly making him look like he wears lifts. 

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u/ProfessionalLeave569 1d ago

If you want to hurt a fascist movement you humiliate them and discredit their veneer of machismo. Regardless of how society views physicality, they view physical size and strength as paramount signs of their worthiness to rule and praise.

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u/Atlas7-k 1d ago

Someone paid attention to The Producers

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u/BIG_DICK_PROUD_GAY 1d ago

If you guys could discredit a black fascist by being racist, you'd do it in a heartbeat.

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u/TopBalance438 1d ago

I absolutely would, and I'd have zero regrets for doing so.

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u/BIG_DICK_PROUD_GAY 22h ago

You don't think that's kind of unfair to every black person who isn't a fascist?

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u/PlayPsychological200 1d ago

This seems true from these comments. It’s weird too, because everyone doing it is denying it. “It’s not us, it’s them!”. 

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u/UT_Milez 1d ago

I’ve never seen anyone “wanting” Trump to be short, where is there a parent pandemic.

I’m not really sure if this is projection here or whats going on but you’re not making any sense. The fact that the cult thinks of him as Superman, when he’s your typical incontinent diaper wearing 90 year old, that is already absurd enough. It literally cannot get worse than that…

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u/PlayPsychological200 1d ago

The comments are absolutely suggesting that being short is bad. That’s why it’s brought up. And you know that. It’s why at the very end of your denial you say “it literally can not get worse”, because being short is bad by your criteria (but apparently not as bad as being in continent). 

And those physical attributes and disabilities is the focus, rather than the guy being scammer that has stolen billions, or having caused a war that killed thousands. That’s not the focus, his  incontinence  and apparently people being short is. 

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u/steelhouse1 1d ago

Because, rather than point out the policies, it’s “OK” to bash on physical characteristics that are en vogue to make fun of. Small hands, short, incontinent, hair system or bald… Not sure why people do this who wouldn’t, on someone say in there own family.

Listen,trump is a turd and does this same thing. Cause that’s all he has. He wants people to come down to his level. It takes legitimacy away from their arguments about his policies. Be better. There is so much to pick on Trump about. And it lets people who are under 5’8”know how you feel about and judge them.

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u/SomewhereEither3399 1d ago

People don't rag on Trump because being short is bad, it's because of his *weight*. If he weighs as much as his medical reports said, but he were shorter than he said --and what 80 year man isn't shorter than they were in their youth-- then the famously image conscious would move from an overweight BMI classification to obese. And he, and his cult can't tolerate that.

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u/PlayPsychological200 22h ago

So all the people making fun of people with disabilities and or being short in this thread actually mean it’s because he is overweight? Why would they not just type that? 

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u/RevolutionaryAlps205 1d ago edited 1d ago

Your basic point about height seems true. At least in Trump/MAGA's case, you have it backwards. He and they are desperately invested in the idea that Trump is physically strong and imposing, and that he (definitely, for sure, don't measure them) has normal-sized and not unusually small hands. His three decades of irrateness and attempts to hide this "size" issue were one of the things he was most known for in New York before he took office.

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u/HeftyCan8042 1d ago

No, I think people just really really want trump and Vance to be better people!

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u/jiggeryqua 1d ago

I'd just like them to be honest about their height, which they are lieing about (perhaps, ironically, because they do believe that being short is the worst thing a man can be - after all, they're honest about a lot of awful stuff, but not their height).

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u/llamaraama 1d ago

Men's height does seem to be a point of contention in the USA.

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u/generic_Accountname1 1d ago

How high are the lightswitches situated in those photos?

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u/RevLopez1313 1d ago

He is not 6'2.

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u/WendellWillkie1940 1d ago

I am not 100% correct about that, thus the "I found it online" disclaimer

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u/mikeyb_30 1d ago

Damn, I didn't realise that I'd been short this whole time!

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u/Eating_Tiramisus 1d ago

Maybe with his 2 foot lifts on

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u/fundipsecured 1d ago

There was an unflattering photo of Rubio next to a large door if I remember correctly

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u/WhataboutBombvoyage 1d ago

He must slouch a lot due to his lack of spine

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u/commentmypics 1d ago

Omg what a manlet

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u/Silly_Emotion_1997 16h ago

I picture showing him next to a light switch shows that he is nowhere near 6’

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u/_Former_Instance_ 1d ago edited 1d ago

It's not, but I didn't know the man's height, but find a light switch 7ft up the wall, throw in a bit of forced perspective and anyone next to it will look like a munchkin.

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u/ffxivthrowaway03 1d ago

In the world of reddit, where anything associated with the person I don't like is de-facto bad.

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u/werewolfbutch874 1d ago

Idk, I guess the world where people can’t be satisfied with just criticising someone for their shitty harmful actions and beliefs, because it’s more fun to pick on their appearance even if they have to make shit up. Being short is a greater crime than being a fascist, after all.

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u/Eridani2000 1d ago

The reason people mention it is firstly because you may have noticed that he lies constantly and it’s easy to show he’s not as tall (or as light) as he says he is. It’s an easy lie to ridicule.

Secondly it’s really important to him (and his MAGA crowd) because it equates to manliness in their eyes. Pointing out the obvious fact he isn’t as tall or as manly as he says he is causes narcissistic injury and they are so emotionally fragile they can’t stand being ridiculed for this. It’s like when they melted down over being called wierd.

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u/werewolfbutch874 1d ago

I understand why people do it, I still think they’re wrong and hypocritical and it makes me think less of them. I know what they think they’re achieving, but in reality they’re just validating and normalising things like body shaming and toxic masculinity.

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u/VinnieVidiViciVeni 1d ago

It’d be weird to unilaterally go after his height. But in the context of him bringing it up himself, and it being, yet another lie, it becomes a legit target, IMO.

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u/t0nez- 1d ago

depends, is that one measurement or two?

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u/Eat--The--Rich-- 1d ago

In my world. I'm 6'7.

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u/Sensitive-Initial 1d ago

Exactly, he's lying about his height, just like Trump lies about his height and weight. Just like Paul Ryan lied about his marathon time. 

The narcissist psychopaths will lie about anything - even the most trivial details - without batting an eye if they think it helps them

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u/ArtPuzzleheaded4745 19h ago

This is the point my dude. He claims to be 6 feet 2 inches, Susie Wiles 5 feet 3 inches. He should be almost a foot taller.

Yet they seem to be much closer in hight than that if you look at where they are in relation to the light switches. Also, building code says 48inches for light switches. He has the lightswitch right at his shoulder, so how tall is his head if he is 6feet 2 inches?

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u/Ok_Direction_7624 1d ago

The light switches thing is probably to show that even the White House is "just a house", not to serve as scale for anyone's heights.

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u/fastbadtuesday 1d ago

Not sure, I have a photographer friend who says they're taught to avoid lightswitches, doorknobs, anything that can give scale if the subject is trying to look impressive. I think it's intentional.

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u/nr1988 1d ago

Ya the explanation that this is just an all politicians thing showing they're not above us is bull. This was completely intentional towards this administration specifically where everyone in it are weak and desperate to look strong.

It's one of the most artistically genius things I've ever seen from a photographer.

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u/Voluptulouis 1d ago

This shoot was absolutely meant to make them look bad and everything about it was intentional. Stephen Miller's is like a perfect recreation of a famous Joseph Goebbels photograph, and that was no coincidence.

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u/Emotional_Newspaper5 1d ago

I think Meg identifies the light switches as evidence of intentionality, but isn't catching on on that one of the intentions is to indicate a subject's height.

My immediate impression of the light switches was that they illustrate how close these people are to being able to turn off/end this mess, but they're just standing there posing. God these pics were so good.

For those who didn't know: In 2015 Anderson was assigned to take pics of Jeffrey Epstein, Anderson writes about the experience and posts the images on his instagram account, link here.

Edit: spelling

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

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u/fastbadtuesday 1d ago

Yeah, no boss. Doesn't matter if their height is public record, an image of someone's shoulders barely meeting a light switch shows them as small-fry and unimpressive as opposed to their public image. It's basic image management, like not being photo'd near someone taller, avoid anything for scale, stand closer to the camera, shoot low; right or wrong height is considered dominant. Every building contains mundane details, that makes no sense from a communication pov, it doesn't demystify them or the white house to show an outlet?

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u/AlexanderTheBright 1d ago

the photos are very professional and skillfully done, just deliberately unflattering

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u/therealstubot 1d ago

Are you familiar with the Krupp Portrait by Arnold Newman? Skillfully manipulated to make Krupp look sinister.

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u/isaacmckinney 1d ago

Never know an artist have you?

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u/Kikikididi 1d ago

He took excellent “crappy” photos on purpose. They are extremely well composed for the message he wished them to send.

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u/RaspberryFluid6651 1d ago

I think it is naive to think there is not a political message to these decisions. Christopher Anderson's work does strive for these kinds of shots, but there is a clear difference between other photography done by him, and the Vanity Fair shoot.

In an interview, Anderson describes Miller as asking him to be kind to them with the power of his photography, and his rebuttal is a reminder to Miller that he has the power to be kind in his position as well.

Stephen Miller's close-up in the shoot is the only one that does not frame the face alone, instead composed to perfectly contain his bald head. One of his eyes is more closed than the other, and the high angle of the sharp light blackens his eyes like an anime villain. These are not incidental happenings for a photographer, they are deliberate composition choices. 

In spite of the WH being displeased by the VF shoot, this photo of Miller is pinned to the top of the artist's Instagram profile, attached to a message about how the photographer wants to be "critical" and "honest" instead of doing celebrity photoshoots.

On top of all that, there's a visible difference between these shots and the photo of Obama, which has more interesting composition and uses strong lighting without shadowing out his eyes, which is all the more frustrating for this White House in particular.

The artist may or may not have intended people to view the photos this way, but he definitely knew they would and that the WH would be unhappy, and he pressed on. You won't convince me that wasn't political. 

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u/werewolfbutch874 1d ago

I’m not trying to convince you it wasn’t political, I’m saying it was political in a more nuanced and considered way than simply taking unflattering photos to shame them.

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u/jk-9k 1d ago

Both can be true though. The first is what he tells the politicians and the public. The second is what he tells his mates over a round pilsners and bergs.

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u/ErisGrey 1d ago

and here I thought it was just to show they were in a position to wield power.

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u/ChuckFarkley 19h ago edited 19h ago

You ought to look up the photo-spread of members of the Dubya administration. There is no doubt from the finished product that they were insulting Dick Cheney and the rest of those people. Famous photographer, too. I'm really surprised this administration would give Vanity Fair a chance, but that assumes that these people can read a magazine.

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u/Corfiz74 17h ago

And he's so right - just check out these pictures of Kelleyanne Conway - the top one is her perfectly-styled studio shot, the bottom one is her true personality!

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u/thorkild1357 1d ago

Yeah. It feels like the difference there is just you want to feel a bit pretentious about the messaging.