Jessica

Vozel

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January 21, 2008

Dean Hrbacek, Carmen Kontur-Gronquist: The Borrowed Body and the Lingerie Mayor

Two photos. One is heavily photoshopped, with the head of a man transposed on the body of another, slimmer man. The other is a woman in black lingerie, sitting on a fire truck. Generally, such images are not unusual in our visually stimulated culture. However, these images aren’t from light beer print ads. In fact, they are photos of politicians, and both have sparked controversy this week. 

The first – a campaign photo of Dean Hrbacek, mayor of Sugar Land, Texas and Republican congressional candidate – was confirmed to be a photoshopped creation with Hrbacek’s head affixed to the body of a slimmer man. His campaign manager insists that Hrbacek was simply too busy to pose for an original photo dressed in the obligatory suit and tie, so they found a photo of an appropriately dressed man and blended the photos to create a complete image. Visually, they did well. At first, it’s not obvious that the photo is doctored. However, the public was not fooled and the mayor’s sudden slim-down raised a few eyebrows. Somehow, this is controversial. 

The second photo is controversial for a completely different reason. Carmen Kontur-Gronquist, mayor of Arlington, Oregon (population 500), had a photo on her MySpace profile in which she was posing at the wheel of a fire truck in her underwear. Although Kontur-Gronquist’s profile is now private, the image in question was leaked before it was. Her constituents are not happy about it and are, in fact, trying to get her removed from office.  

Good or bad, photographs are that – a permanent artifact that gives testimony to who you are as a person. Photographs also have a tendency to not go away, and to reappear at the most inconvenient times. Those in – or aspiring to – public office probably should take this into consideration. However, I don’t think that either Hrbacek or Kontur-Gronquist deserve ruined careers as a result of their photographic mishaps. 

About Hrbacek, Allen Blakemore, a Republican political consultant in Texas, says that although doctored photographs are not illegal or even unethical, such seemingly innocuous things can have a “negative effect on polling numbers and popularity.” It seems unbelievable that something so inconsequential could have drastic effects on Hrbacek’s congressional campaign. Surely there are photoshopped images out there of every candidate running for president right now. One could perhaps argue that a disingenuous photo might be representative of other dishonest behavior on the part of the politician, but in this case, I think it was just an innocent touch-up, and maybe he really did just run out of time to pose for a photograph (although I wonder why the photo’s creator didn’t search for a more appropriately sized body if that were the case). 

As for Kontur-Gronquist, her photo is a bit more scandalous and difficult to wave away, especially because she is posed half-naked on property belonging to the town of which she is mayor. One who aspires to political office should probably refrain from half-naked photographs of any sort, let alone ones that you showcase on your MySpace profile. However, according to Kontur-Gronquist, the photo was taken before she was appointed to her mayoral post, and I’m sure she never imagined it being plastered on every major news outlet in America. 

I also can’t help but question what the reaction would be if it were a male politician posed shirtless in front of a fire truck for a MySpace photo. Would it cause an uproar worthy of national news? I doubt it. It might get a 10-second spot on The Daily Show for its comedic value. But a woman displaying that much skin is a scandal. Kontur-Gronquist claims that the photo was taken after a day at the beach, although the news is reporting that she was wearing lingerie as opposed to a swimsuit. Would a swimsuit be a different story? What if the photo was taken at the beach instead of at the firehouse? Politicians are, after all, people too. And sometimes they take photos they end up regretting. But they shouldn’t have to regret it for the rest of their careers. 

In the end, both of these previously unknown people have gotten some time in the national spotlight for her small town and his political campaign. Their constituents should probably overlook these small matters and look toward more important things, at least until someone transposes Hrbacek’s head onto Kontur-Gronquist’s underwear-clad body for a campaign ad.   

© 2008 North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.

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