Time: Marines Raise A Tree?! Over Iwo Jima

Joe Rosenthal was famously generous with his Iwo Jima flag-raising photo. He recognized that the Marines, not him, were the real story. He never tried to get rich off his photo, giving away prints to people who asked and making it available it for uses like postage stamps and sculptures.

I wonder what he would have thought of the cover of Time's latest issue:

(Time credits Rosenthal for the Iwo Jima photo and Arthur Hochstein for the photo illustration.)

Green issues have become a cliché in the magazine world (so much that we're starting to see green issue backlash). Hoping to make this one stand out, Time went with this provocative image and changed its signature red border to green. (Apparently it's only the second time Time has changed the border; the other was the black-framed cover right after 9/11.)

This cover provokes a lot of questions:

• Who, exactly, are the "soldiers" in this metaphoric "war" on global warming?
• If global warming is like World War II, how come so many Americans (and American politicians) seem utterly ambivalent toward it?
• Is this tired concept really the best Time editors could come up with?
• Why is that tree so out of perspective with the rest of the image?
• Can Richard Branson save the airline industry?

But casting all that aside, this green issue may test Time's credibility with veterans. There are early signs of backlash on some conservative Web sites. Keep in mind what the cover illustrators have done: They've erased the American flag. This kind of controversy might subside rather quickly. Or it might blow up. If the green cover distracts from the green information inside the magazine, Time may have actually hurt its important case for environmental stewardship.

Comments

[Sara]

It may subside, but what will not subside is my refusal to purchase the magazine. Ever.

Maybe that will help with the global warming problem.

[ian]

I haven't read the magazine, but my interpretation of the image is that maybe we should all buck up and tackle the issue the same way the "greatest generation" fought WW2?