"There's No Place like America Today!" | Assertion Analysis #4

“There’s no way like the American Way.”: a 1950’s billboard showing a perfect white family, completed with the white dog. With the start of the baby-boomer generation, came the start of suburban America. Which eventually lead to the “ideal” American way. 1970’s funk artist Curtis Mayfield challenged this billboard’s message on his album cover, stripping the original piece of all underlying meanings, and reducing it to what it really is, a pretty picture on a board. An unrealistic dream that makes it almost impossible to live comfortably.

In the album cover, the viewer is presented with a multitude of objects that each draw attention. Things such as: the line of presumably povertous people under the large “There’s no place like America Today!” billboard, which was changed from the original “American Way”. When comparing the billboard to the line of people below it, it shows a bright, vibrant, image. Which contrasts with the dark, unsaturated people below. Both components in front of a skyscraper-filled background.

The artist used many techniques in order to show what exactly “America Today” looks like. The use of juxtaposition is shown in the bright smiles of the billboard’s subjects right next to the almost emotionless faces of the people below it. With the use of saturation and contrast, the artist was able to represent the depression-esque environment that is “America Today” in comparison to the bright and lively colors in the billboard. The use of color showed that this dream, this idea can really only be achieved by white people. This is present in the heavily unsaturated image of the line of people; colorless people, otherwise known as white. While those in color are struggling to reach this white standard of living.

With the strong pathological appeal in the image, shown in the use of juxtaposition and contrast, feelings of anger and even confusion can be shown. Curtis’s use of these artistic elements still affects viewers today, questioning this “American Dream”, and just how problematic “America Today” really is.