Subject: Take a closer look
It's all in one's perspective...
A couple attending an art exhibition at the National Gallery were
staring at a portrait that had them completely confused. The painting
depicted three very black and totally naked men sitting on a park
bench. Two of the figures had black penises, but the one in the middle
had a pink penis.
The curator of the gallery realized that they were having trouble
interpreting the painting and offered his assessment. He went on for
nearly half an hour explaining how it depicted the sexual emasculation
of African-Americans in a predominately white, patriarchal society.
"In fact," he pointed out, "some serious critics believe that the pink
penis also reflects the cultural and sociological oppression
experienced by gay men in contemporary society."
After the curator left, a rather unpolished (some might say a
hillbilly) man wearing a West Virginia T-shirt approached the couple
and said, "Would you like to know what the painting is really about?"
"Now why would you claim to be more of an expert than the curator
of the gallery?" asked the couple.
"Because I'm the guy who painted it," he replied. "In fact, there
are no African-Americans depicted at all. They're just three West
Virginia coal-miners. The only difference is that the guy in the
middle went home for lunch
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