Eyes right or tighty-whitey?
On the semiology of image choice and other notes
The above picture was posted on social media recently by Matthew Goodwin (now Matt, apparently), professor of politics at Kent University. Subscribers to Notes from the Undergound have met the professor before. I first encountered him over a decade ago when he and professor Robert Ford authored an excellent book on the appeal of Ukip.
But this is not a post about our various disagreements. It is purely a post about the image. Or, if you like, about semiology - “the study of the use of symbolic communication”. The word itself comes from a Greek word concerning the interpretation of signs.
The first thing to note is that this is an unusual image for a professor of politics to deploy. If you google “professor of politics” in the image category the typical picture you will come up with (and my apologies to the professor whose image I have used to illustrate this) is this:
Check it out if you don’t believe me. Most professorial pictures are in colour and show a person in middle age smiling at the camera, probably seeking to reassure potential students that they will enjoy their time in his or her classes. I could not find one which was like Goodwin’s.
His “sign” - clearly chosen and written by himself - consists of a photograph and a legend. The photograph is in black and white and shows Goodwin speaking while looking to the horizon. His brow is furrowed. The text refers to “me” ie to his personal credo and the message is not the sort usually associated with an academic who might be expected to refer to the complexity of an issue. It is hard to imagine our anonymous other professor pictured above saying other than “I am glad you asked me that question, and the answer has many facets”.
So we are to take it that the Goodwin of the image is not a professor at all. So what is he? Or rather, what does he want us to think he is?
The answer is obvious: he is a political leader. But one of a particular type. He is not friendly, but stern. He comes not to bring peace, but with a sword. He is tough. And the black and whiteness suggests that he is old-school tough. And who is he being tough on? Them. He will get rid of them for you for the sake of the country. Who will oppose him? Wicked elites. He’ll see them off too.