It remains the face of a bully, a face lacking compassion, a face showing no sign of a sense of humor or honor, a face that leaves no room in the frame for anyone else.
It is a face that says, “Stay Away. You are not welcome. There is no hope for you here. Forget the tired and poor and the wretched yearning to be free BS. This is my country. Don’t forget it.”
But the more I look at that face, the more I begin to see a small tinge of uncertainty behind it, a slight concern that his act isn’t working as well as it once did.
It is nonetheless an image of United States that he prefers to show to the rest of the world.
Forgive us for being artsy-fartsy in our appraisal of this new image that actually is not really new at all. It reminds this critic of a song from a 1965 Broadway Musical, “The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd.” Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse wrote it as a follow up to their earlier success, “Stop the World, I Want to Get Off,” a title that might be familiar in current mood more than in Broadway history.
One review we have seen of “The Roar…” says it “explores the themes of class, power, and social inequality,” which again seems to be a familiar theme for our current circumstances.
Tony Bennett had a hit with one of its songs, “Who Can I Turn To?” Another hit from the show was “On a Wonderful Day Like Today.” But the song from the show that came immediately to mind upon observing Glower #2, as it might be called, is “Look at That Face.”
I can imagine the subject of the portrait singing—–
Well, cancel that. Imagining him singing is so far beyond practicality that I don’t know what I was thinking of when I said it. And even though he is a New Yorker to the bone, I doubt that his knowledge of culture is broad enough to appreciate the Broadway stage. I can, however, imagine him standing in front of the portrait however, and saying:
Look at that face –
Just look at it,
Look at that fabulous face of yours.
I knew first look I took at it,
This was the face that the world adores.
Look at those eyes –
As wise and as deep as the sea.
Look at that nose –
It shows what a nose should be.
As for your smile, it’s lyrical –
Friendly and warm as a summer’s day –
That face is just a miracle.
Where could I ever find words to say
The way that it makes me happy
Whatever the time or place?
I’ll find in no book
What I find when I look
At that face.
But then the lyrics turn to how the portrait might appear to someone else:
Look at that face –
Just look at it.
Look at that funny old face of yours.
I knew first look I took at it
You’ve got a face like a kitchen door’s.
Look at those eyes –
As close as the closest of friends.
Look at that nose –
It starts where a good nose ends.
As for your smile – spectacular!
One grin would frighten the birds away.
You’ve got a face like Dracula!
And I mean that in the nicest way!
To say that there’s no one like you
Would not even state the case.
No wonder I shook
When I first took a look
At that face.
Seriously, a final critical comment—-
What is so sad about this is that I have seen pictures of a man who seemed relaxed and friendly, charming and smiling—before he allowed the darkness of power to overtake him.