# Time magazine and Chris Christie as "The Elephant in the room." **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 10, 2013, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-magazine-and-chris-christie-as-the-elephant-in-the-room/673576 "2013-11-10T14:55:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-magazine-and-chris-christie-as-the-elephant-in-the-room/673576/1 "2013-11-10T14:55:12Z")
> **[Time’s ‘Elephant’ Cover Stirs Big Reaction | TIME.com](https://swampland.time.com/2013/11/07/times-elephant-cover-stirs-big-reaction/)** > > Readers and media outlets debate the magazine's cover which comments on the size of Chris Christie's influence What is your opinion about the times article on Chris Christie? Is it fat shaming or just clever use of the term? I kind of liked it, but I was not the subject, so maybe I’d feel differently then. Christie has not taken offense, by the way. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-magazine-and-chris-christie-as-the-elephant-in-the-room/673576/2 "2013-11-10T14:58:09Z")
Clever, considering the symbol of the Republican party is an elephant, and no one in the Republican party wants to talk about the success Christie has achieved through semi-moderate governance. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-magazine-and-chris-christie-as-the-elephant-in-the-room/673576/3 "2013-11-10T15:10:20Z")
It’s a triple word play and thus quite clever. I might have been more put out except that Christie himself has never hid or downplayed that he is fat, that it’s not a desirable condition, and he himself has made fun of it. He’s been open about trying to deal with it and self-mocked on occasion while discussing it. I suspect Christie had a laugh over it, fully appreciating the word play. If Christie steps up and voices an objection - and I have trouble imagining him hesitant to do so - then I’ll say it is objectionable. If he doesn’t, though, I’ll continue to think it a clever headline. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-magazine-and-chris-christie-as-the-elephant-in-the-room/673576/4 "2013-11-10T15:14:44Z")
As someone who admittedly tends to be hypersensitive to fat shaming, I see the the cover as solely referencing Chris Christie being a Republican. When I first read the thread title, I thought the TIME cover might actually depict Chris Christie as an elephant, which would have bothered me. But I think the actual cover and headline are fine. It’s not Christie’s fault (or TIME’s) that the symbol of his party can have an alternate meaning. ---
**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-magazine-and-chris-christie-as-the-elephant-in-the-room/673576/5 "2013-11-10T15:17:03Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > Christie has not taken offense, by the way. Two things I have really admired about Christie: Eating a doughnut on Letterman (“[I didn’t know this was going to be this long.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QY7jQPpmHw8)”) And setting politics aside after hurricane [Sandy](http://www.thewhirlingwind.com/2012/11/02/how-a-real-president-responds-to-crisis/obama_meets_christie/). The main thing I _didn’t_ like about the headline is that it [implies](http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/elephant+in+the+room.html) that people aren’t talking about Christie, which is BS. He is headline news material. The only reason for using that idiom was to subtly (or not) mention his weight. There may be some defense in that the elephant is a political symbol, which, I admit, was clever… In the end, I guess it’s better than skirting the issue or pretending it’s not there. Now that would be an elephant in the room! ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-magazine-and-chris-christie-as-the-elephant-in-the-room/673576/6 "2013-11-10T19:30:01Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > It’s a triple word play and thus quite clever. I might have been more put out except that Christie himself has never hid or downplayed that he is fat, that it’s not a desirable condition, and he himself has made fun of it. He’s been open about trying to deal with it and self-mocked on occasion while discussing it. > > I suspect Christie had a laugh over it, fully appreciating the word play. > > If Christie steps up and voices an objection - and I have trouble imagining him hesitant to do so - then I’ll say it is objectionable. If he doesn’t, though, I’ll continue to think it a clever headline. I agree, and I’m speaking as an overweight guy who also engages in self-directed fat humor. I don’t particularly like having things in common with Christie, but in this matter, we both try to be big about it.